Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd. has submitted a project report to the Railway Board for construction of infrastructure facilities for the proposed Railway Division in Kalaburagi at a cost of Rs. 81 crore.
Solapur Divisional Railway Manager John Thomas, addressing presspersons here on Saturday, said that the construction would be commissioned after obtaining clearance from the board.
He said the Kalaburagi-Secunderabad Intercity Express would start operations soon after the completion of works on the Kalaburagi Railway pit line — that is, by the end of July this year.
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Mr. Thomas said that the electrification of 36.63 km from Wadi Junction to Kalaburagi Railway Station would be completed by March 2017. This would bring the entire Secunderabad-Wadi-Kalaburagi route under the electrification network on the 25 kV AC traction. He said the Railway Ministry had commissioned 1,983 km of new lines and electrified 1,375 km in 2014-15, and had improved the target operating ratio from 91.1 per cent in 2014-15 to 93.6 per cent in the previous financial year. The total allocation for passenger amenities in the recent budget was up by 67 per cent, he said.
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The Ministry of Railways under the ‘Swachch Rail Swachch Bharat’ campaign, plans to replace the existing toilets with environment-friendly bio-tiolets, Mr. Thomas said. Besides increasing the number of mobile charging facilities in sleeper class compartments and AC coaches, the non reserves coaches would also be provided with charging facility, he said.
The passengers can call 138 to register complaints related to food and cleanliness, and 182 for security, which will be attended by the nearest divisional headquarters.