Muz – Sugauli, Sugauli- Valmiki Nagar lines doubling with electrification

Speed Post News Network

New Delhi : The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the 100.6 km long Muzaffarpur-Sugauli & 109.7 km Sagauli-Valmiki Nagar lines doubling projects with electrification at of Rs 1,347.61 crore and Rs 1,381.49 crore respectively. These projects will cover the districts of Muzaffarpur, East Champaran (Motihari) and West Champaran (Bettiah) in North Bihar.

Areas served by this route are densely populated regions of north Bihar. At present, passenger trains suffer congestion and stoppages on Muzaffarpur to Valmiki Nagar route as the line capacity utilization is up to 213%. Thirtyeight (38) mail/express trains are running on this section with thousands of passengers travelling daily. Additional capacity will ease congestion and allow faster and reliable movement with minimum delays. In addition, it will enhance safety through more availability of maintenance blocks, according to a PIB release.

In addition to decongesting the entire route from Muzaffarpur to Valmiki Nagar, doubling will improve capacity and connectivity thus paving way for economic prosperity and overall development of the region. Development of eastern regions of the country is important for achieving the ‘New India’ vision of the Prime Minister by 2022.Champaran is on the border with Nepal thus doubling of this line will lead to better connectivity with neighbouring country as well.

Electrification will lead to faster trains, reduce carbon emissions and promote sustainable environment. Further, it will reduce fuel import dependence and result in energy costs savings for Railways and forex savings for the country.

In addition, Muzaffarpur-Sugauli & Sugauli-Valmiki Nagar projects will generate direct employment during construction for 24.14 lakh mandays and 26.33 lakh mandays respectively.