A fresh survey undertaken for Mhow-Khandwa route gauge conversion

“If the gauge conversion had been done based on the old survey, trains would have had to negotiate a sharp slope and this would have hit the traffic” -Anil Kumar Lahoti, GM/WR

Indore, March 4, 2022 (PTI): A fresh survey is underway to do away with the shortcomings in the plan to convert metre gauge into broad gauge on Mhow-Khandwa rail route and the construction is expected to be completed in the next three to four years, an official of the Western Railway said on Friday.

Speaking to reporters here, the General Manager, Western Railway, Anil Kumar Lahoti said, “if the gauge conversion had been done based on the old survey, trains would have had to negotiate a sharp slope and this would have hit the traffic”.

“Hence, after a review, a fresh survey has been undertaken for the project that was rolled out 15 years ago”, he said.

“The contract for the fresh survey has been awarded and it is expected to be completed in May, following which the contract for gauge conversion work will be awarded”, the official said.

“It will take three to four years to complete the construction”, he added.

The project will bolster rail connectivity between Madhya Pradesh and southern India, the official said.

“The doubling of the rail track between Indore and Ujjain is expected to get over in the next fiscal”, he said, adding that the plan to run the DEMU train from Sanawad to Itarsi is in the final stage. PTI