GUWAHATI: The Railway Budget 2020-21 has proposed a gross budgetary allocation of Rs 6549 crore for Northeast Frontier Railway which include Rs. 2597 crore for construction of new BG lines. The budget has put adequate emphasis on asset maintenance for ensuring safety. Rs 490 crore has been proposed for Track Renewal works, Rs. 103.16 crore for road safety works like Road Over/Under Bridge works and improvement of level crossing works, and Rs. 37.24 crore for works related to improvement of Signal and Telecommunication. The allocation for undertaking passenger amenities related works has been set at Rs. 144.60 crore.
Some of the important new line projects where funds have been allocated are as follows:
* Rs. 800.00 crore for Jiribam-Imphal new railway line project (97.9 km).
* Rs. 100.00 crore for Teteliya- Byrnihat new BG railway line project (21.5 km).
* Rs. 300.00 crore for Dimapur- Kohima new railway line project (88 km).
* Rs. 400.00 crore for Bhairabi- Sairang new BG railway line project (51.38 km) in Mizoram.
* Rs. 607.00 crore for Sivok- Rangpo new BG railway line project (44.39 km) which will provide first rail connectivity to Sikkim.
* Rs. 200.00 crore for the Murkongselek- Pasighat new BG railway line project (30.617 km).
* Rs. 100.00 crore proposed for the Agartala- Akhaura (Bangladesh) new BG railway line project (13 km) which will provide international connectivity between India and Bangladesh.
* Rs. 90.00 crore for Jogbani- Biratnagar (Nepal) new BG railway line project (18 km) which will provide international connectivity between India and Nepal.
Apart from new BG railway line works, adequate fund has also been provided for various track doubling works. Some of them as follows:
* Rs.200.00 crore for New Bongaigaon- Rangiya- Kamakhya doubling works (142.97 km).
* Rs. 450.00 crore for New Bongaigaon- Goalpara- Guwahati (Kamakhya) double line works (176 km).
* Rs. 400.00 crore for Digaru- Hojai double line works (102 km).
* Rs. 200.00 crore for New Maynaguri- Gumanihat doubling of remaining portion (51.65 km).
* Rs. 83.00 crore for Lumding- Hojai patch doubling (44.92 km).
Moreover, Rs. 24.11 crore has been proposed for soft up gradation of stations and Rs. 73.43 crore has been proposed for provision of foot over bridges and high level platforms at various stations.