15 October,2015 11:43 PM IST | | A Correspondent
Union minister for railways Suresh Prabhu said that double-tracking of the Konkan Railway (KR) route will commence from October 31
On the occasion of 25th anniversary of Konkan Railway Corporation Limited (KRCL), Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu on Thursday announced that work on the doubling of the 740-km long track will commence from October 31, 2015.
Emphasizing on the importance of both doubling and electrification, Prabhu further said that it will increase traffic volume and generate 50% more profit with additional turnover of around Rs 100-200 crore every year. This will also increase the cargo handling capacity to 1.5 billion tonnes from present 1 billion tonnes, Prabhu added.
He further stressed on the importance of port connectivity and also aimed at making Konkan railway far better in next 25 years than what it is today.
"The next biggest investments in railways anywhere in the world would be in India, as countries like Japan, Europe and USA already have developed rail infrastructure. Hence Konkan railway too can benefit from it," Prabhu said while addressing Konkan Railway's silver jubilee function at Vashi in Navi Mumbai.
Apart from doubling and electrification of Konkan railway, the corporation has also introduced various commuter friendly services at select stations including computerized reservation centers (PRS), ATM, Janasadharan ticket booking sevak (JTBS), town booking agency, bio-toilets, CCTV surveillance, Wi-Fi services and many more.
