PM Modi inaugurated, laid the foundation stone, and dedicated to the nation over 2000 railway infrastructure projects worth around Rs 41,000 crores on Monday.
According to Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, the Amrit Bharat Station Scheme (ABSS) is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to rehabilitate a railway station on a grand scale.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's inauguration of a station and the laying of the foundation stone for 553 stations, which Vaishnaw praised on Monday (February 26), marked substantial progress under the ABSS. In addition, 1500 underpasses and road-over-bridges (ROBs) were either begun by or laid by Prime Minister Modi.
The Amrit Bharat Station Scheme aims to improve transportation
In 2023, the railway ministry launched the ABSS with the goal of finding and selecting stations to be renovated in order to improve passenger amenities and services. The foundation stone was laid for 553 stations, and out of the 7,000 that were considered, 1321 will undergo reconstruction. Many of these stations are now in various phases of construction.
Public investment, which Vaishnaw emphasized as the backbone of the growth strategy, accounts for more than 30% of GDP. Capital investment (Capex) on the railway has increased dramatically over the last decade, reaching 2 lakh 52,000 crores, and the results are visible. While this sum was negligible a decade ago, "Capex in railways has reached up to 2 lakh 52 thousand crore," as Viashnaw put it.
Speed of track laying in Indian railroads
The speed of railway track laying has increased significantly, the minister said, going from 4 km/day in 2004–2014 to 15 km/day currently. An additional accomplishment of the recent decade is the electrification of 41,000 kilometers of railway track.
The present government has accomplished as much in the last decade as it did in the previous sixty, he continued.
Flyover and underpass construction
When talking about flyovers and underpasses, Vaishnaw highlighted the impressive progress, noting that there has been a significant increase in the construction of these structures, with over a thousand being built each year. This is a marked improvement over the 400 that were built each year between 2004 and 2014.
Constructing first-rate stations is no easy feat, but the government instituted a number of changes to make it happen. Additionally, Vaishnaw stated that all stations, regardless of size or location, are undergoing tremendous renovation.
While acknowledging the difficulty of constructing first-rate stations, Vaishnaw brought attention to the reforms enacted by the government and the continuous massive effort being made at stations around the country. Displaying ongoing initiatives at different sites across the country, he educated about the equal treatment of big, middle, and small-sized stations for development.
Only the larger stations were given priority a decade ago. When it comes to development activities, though, this government has treated stations of all sizes equally, according to Vaishnaw.
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