North Central Railway Budget for the new financial year 2018-19

The North Central Railway, (NCR) has something to cheer about in the Union Budget for the new financial year (2018-19). As per the figures released in late afternoon, Tuesday, 6th February, 2018, NCR has received an Original Budget Grant (OBG) of Rs: 5314.49 (Five thousand, three hundred and fourteen point four nine) crore, which is 43.27% more than the OBG of Rs: 3,817.42 (Three thousand eight hundred and seventeen point four two) Crore received in the last financial year. What is even more heartening is that in the crucial plan head 53, which deals with passenger amenities, the OBG received in the budget is 26.14% higher than the OBG in the last FY. The focus o­n safety, especially that of tracks, is also clear in this budget as the OBG for track renewal has been hiked by a whopping 60.45% compared to last FY. Augmentation of infrastructure by doubling, 3rd line and quadruplingis another thrust area that is clearly visible in the budget. Allahabad Divisionof NCR has received a sanction of 12km long 4th line from ChipiyanaBuzurg to Dadri-a work which will decongest this crucial and highly saturated interchange point between NCR and NR o­n o­ne of the busiest trunk routes of the country. A 2.5km line connecting the New Coaching Complex at Kanpur to the Kanpur Central Station has also been sanctioned, which will decongest the existing system and improve the movement of coaches from and to the complex. Apart from these, Rooma-Chakeri-Chandari 3rd line, Aligarh-Daud Khan 3rdline with flyover at Daud Khan, and Allahabad-Bamhrauli 4th line with flyover at Subedarganj are important works sanctioned in the new budget that will decongest the system of NCR o­n the main trunk route from Ghaziabad to Mughalsarai and serve to increase throughput. Agra division has also received sanction of important capacity augmentation works like doubling of Agra Fort-Bandikui section (150km) ), Bhandai-Flyover for Etawah bound down trains (10km), and 4th line between Mathura and Dhaulpur (107km). Similarly, Jhansi Division has received sanction for Dilwara-Berari-Chord line (5.2km), and  Dholpur-Jhansi-Bina 4thline (321.80km). Construction of new ROBs in NCR has also received a fillip with  sanction of 26 new ROBs along with works of maintenance (regirdering, fabrication etc) of 17 bridges-a move that promises to reduce the rail-road conflict and improve the safety of trains crossing bridges. In plan head 53, important works that have been sanctioned are setting up of quick watering arrangements at 25 railway stations o­n Indian Railways, Provision of escalators 2589 platforms of stations over IR, Provision of 1000 lifts at 500 stations of IR and Provision of washable aprons over Indian Railways; all of which will benefit stations of NCR. So far as the states are concerned, NCR serves 4 states, namely U.P, M.P, Rajasthan, and Haryana. State wise, Uttar Pradesh has received a sanction of 8 works with a sanctioned cost of Rs: 6837.14 crore. M.P has been sanctioned o­ne work costing 4869.95 crore and Rajasthan has received sanction of 3 works costing 9204.51 crore, of which o­ne work costing 4869.95 crore (4th line between Dhaulpur-Jhansi-Bina) is common to the states of U.P. and Rajasthan. o­n the electrification side, Both M.P and U.P have received sanction of o­ne work each 168.2 and 36.9 crore respectively. U.P has benefitted greatly in terms of construction of new Road Over Bridges, 26 of which are sanctioned in NCR-all lying within U.P.Total works with an anticipated cost of Rs. 12320 Crore have been included in Budget 2018-19. Speaking o­n the budget, GM/NCR Shri M.C.Chauhan said that it is a progressive budget, which is focussed o­n Capacity Enhancement, Safety Improvement and Improvement in Passenger Amenities. “NCR will benefit greatly from this year’s budget as will the states of U.P, M.P, Rajasthan and Haryana which are served by the Zonal Railway” he added.