Minister inaugurated/dedicated a lot of railway projects before assembly election in West Bengal

Indian Railways is aimed at modernisation of infrastructure development -Piyush Goyal

Kolkata: Piyush Goyal, Minister of Railways, Commerce & Industry, Consumer Affairs and Food & Public Distribution, Government of India inaugurated 2nd Foot Over Bridge at Santragachi station, Sankrail Freight Terminal (Phase-I) and Vivekananda Meditation Centre at Howrah and dedicated to the Nation Executive Lounge at Sealdah Station.

Two Escalators at Sealdah station, two Lifts at Sealdah station, Premium Lounge at Kolkata station, Integrated Security System at Bardhaman station, Foot Over Bridges at Jhamatpur Baharan and Nimo stations.

Extension of platform sheds at Balagarh and Guptipara stations and Escalators at Bardhaman, Tarakeswar and Nabadwip Dham stations through video conferencing on Friday, 19th February, 2021.

Shri Goyal at the outset condemned the incident of Nimtita and expressed his hope that the culprits would be nabbed soon. He said that Indian Railways is aimed at modernisation of infrastructure development.

All the projects either inaugurated or dedicated to the Nation will have direct benefit to the people of West Bengal. He pointed out that Sealdah station has been modernised thoroughly and in the very near future will emerge as one of the vital stations over Indian Railways system.

The executive lounge and premium lounge will provide all facilities and comfort to the users at the station itself. He also said that there is no complaint among the passengers regarding cleanliness and supply of drinking water at stations as all these have been successfully ensured.

Electrification work is being executed at a faster pace. Railway network in entire West Bengal will be electrified by 2023. It will stop running diesel locomotives which in turn will help to preserve fuel energy.

The process of implementation of modern signalling system is in progress all over the Indian Railways.

Finally, he said that availability of land is a major constraint towards completion of unfinished projects. If land is available, there will be no shortage of funds for completion of different projects in West Bengal.

Suneet Sharma, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, Railway Board also spoke on the occasion and expressed his satisfaction over progress on ongoing Railway Projects in West Bengal.

It is stated that the second Foot Over Bridge at Santragachi station constructed at a cost of ₹20 crores is 12 metre wide and 166 metre long connected to all the platforms of Santragachi station.

This facility will improve the dispersal & mobility of incoming and outgoing passengers at Santragachi station.

Sankrail Freight Terminal (Phase-I) has been developed with modern facilities for freight rake handling to ensure faster turn-around of rakes for speedy transportation of inward & outward consignments serving 40 sqkm of industrial belt spreading over Kolkata and Howrah.

The freight terminal has been constructed at a cost of ₹109 crores.

The executive lounge at Sealdah station constructed at a cost of ₹1.5 crores is another novel initiative of Railways to provide more comfort to the passengers.

Not only the passengers but also other people coming to Sealdah station for seeing off or receiving their dear ones will get the opportunity of enjoying comfortable stay on payment of nominal charges.

This has been developed in PPP model.

In order to facilitate commuters visiting Sealdah station, two escalators have been provided at Sealdah station at a cost of ₹1.19 crores.

Two lifts are provided at Sealdah station near South Booking Office at a cost of ₹34 lakhs for the benefit of passengers specially ladies and divyangjan.

In an endeavour to provide world class facilities for Railway passengers, a fully air-conditioned premium waiting lounge has been set up at Kolkata station.

This has been developed at a cost of ₹85 lakhs on a covered area of 2000 sq. ft. It will enrich the journey experience for both the domestic and international passengers at Kolkata station.

This has been constructed through Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) Mode.

With a view to reduce stress and anxiety and to re-direct the thoughts to calm the human minds, Vivekananda Meditation Centre at Howrah has been constructed at cost of ₹65 lakhs.

In order to augment security of passengers and Railway property, an Integrated Security System at a cost of ₹2.3 crores has been commissioned at Bardhaman station.

This will strengthen security checking at all entry/exit gates, frisking of passengers through hand held metal detector, screening of passengers luggage through luggage scanning machine, Door-Framed Metal Detector screening etc.

Foot Over Bridges at Jhamatpur Baharan station in Bandel-Katwa section and at Nimo station in Howrah-Bardhaman main line section has been constructed at a cost of ₹92 lakhs and ₹1.2 crore respectively.

For the sake of convenience of commuters, Platform Sheds have been extended at Balagarh and Guptipara stations in Bandel-Katwa section at a cost of ₹42 lakhs.

In order to facilitate commuters visiting Barddhaman, Tarakeswar and Nabadwip Dham stations of Eastern Railway, Escalators have been provided at these stations each at a cost of ₹91 lakhs.

Escalators at these stations will relive the passengers from climbing stairs. It will be especially helpful for the senior citizens, differently abled persons and children for accessing the platform. Early dispersal of passengers from the platforms is also an added advantage.

Manoj Joshi, General Manager, Eastern Railway and Sanjay Kumar Mohanty, General Manager, South Eastern Railway along with other senior officers joined the video conferencing from Headquarters at Kolkata.

Photo Caption: Inauguration of 2nd Foot Over Bridge at Santragachi by Piyush Goyal, Minister of Railways, Commerce & Industry, Consumer Affairs and Food & Public Distribution, Govt. of India, through video conferencing on 19th February, 2021.