Page 28 - NIS English 16-31 May 2023

Cover Story Sankalp years
Shakti of

RAILWAYS

1, 26,366 2579
2.4 is the track length of km is being built
lakh crore Indian Railways every year.
9 Times Railway budget

km section of the new line,
2013-14 2023-24 20,638 gauge cover, and doubling
has been done during the
year 2014 to 2022.

n Indian Railways is the fourth largest railway 2014, the work on connectivity infrastructure
system in the world, after the US, Russia, and accelerated.
China. n Now 7 state capitals are connected to the rail
n Tracks are being laid on an average of 14.4 km network, and work on the Sivok-Rangpo (45 km)
daily. line in the eighth state, Sikkim, is progressing at
n During the years 2014 to 2023, 1544 km of new a fast pace.
lines, gauge conversion and doubling work, n In the Northeast, railway lines are being laid
falling fully or partially in the North East, was three times faster, and doubling of lines is being
done at an average of 193 km per year. done 10 times faster.
n All eight northeastern states were lagging n Before the year 2014, the electrification of railway
behind in the development till 2014 as lines was 600 km annually, in 2023, 6000 km is
connectivity was neglected. After the year being done annually.

n The 16th indigenous semi-high-speed Vande Bharat train has been
flagged off, the target is to start 475 Vande Bharat trains.
Indigenous technology n Developed its own Automatic Train Protection (ATP) system named
'Kavach', It has been deployed for a 1,455 km route and the work is in
progress on a 3,000 km route.

WATERWAYS

n 100 waterways are being developed across the
country. Work has also been done to establish a
waterway link between Ganga and Brahmaputra
rivers.
n The country's first Kochi Water Metro was dedicated
to the nation. This is a first-of-its-kind project
Ganga Vilas- A 3200 km cruise started from
connecting 10 islands around Kochi through
battery-operated electric hybrid boats. Varanasi to Dibrugarh via Bangladesh,
which is the world's largest river cruise.

26 New India Samachar May 16-31, 2023