Ahmedabad, 1 October 2014

Railway Minister D. V. Sadananda Gowda addressed media in Ahmedabad Gujarat on Tuesday. Following are the main takeaway points from his interaction with press. A video of his address to press and entire interaction session is attached to this post.

-All the ongoing projects in Gujarat are given priority.

-So far as Gujarat is concerned, this year nearly Rs. 912 crore for the ongoing works, Rs. 105 crore for the new lines, Rs. 572 crores for doubling, and Rs. 139 crore for gauge conversion.

-Six new trains especially for Gujarat are announced. Ahmedabad Patna weekly, Ahmedabad Chennai Express, Hapa Bilaspur Express, Mumbai Patiala Express, Rajkot Rewa, Ahmedabad Darbhanga Jan Sadharan Express. These are the new trains announced. We will see that all announcement are executed during the budget year. New trains announced in budget will be operated by November end.

-About bullet train, an interim study report will be received by Railways by the end of the next month. A small frontal report has been received by the Railways. Feasibility study report will be received by July 15. That report will cover the commercial, technical and financial studies. Stoppage and other things are already looked after by earlier studies. Interim report on feasibility studies conducted by JICA(Japan International Cooperation Agency) will be received by end of next month.

-We have announced in our budget that the project of diamond quadrilateral connectivity across the metro cities will be taken up. Out of which Mumbai-Ahmedabad sector will be taken up in priority. With a maximum speed of about 300-350 kms, we will like to take up this project. As of now, the total cost of the project will be round about 60 to 65000 crores. We will take it up through PPP model.

-We are also planning Ahmedabad-Mumbai high speed corridor. We want to take up some semi-high speed trains at 160 km/hour speed. Proposal for safety certificate is already sent to CRS for Rajdhani, Shatabdi and double decker trains. As per our Delhi-Agra experience, we will be able to scale up the speed using the existing tracks only. New track will be needed only for bullet train.

-We have taken some initiatives in catering. Some branded items are introduced as pilot project in some express trains.

-Sabarmati station in Ahmedabad will be upgraded. Tenders for two pit lines and one platform are floated, tender will open in mid-November.

– All out 13 lakh employees with me will join cleanliness campaign from 2 October. I addressed the DRMs and asked them to see that they should visit one railway station a day across the country to ensure cleanliness. Whenever I visit railway stations, I go to general toilet first, followed by kitchen and then I proceed to other places. 2nd October will be a golden day in the history of railway so far as cleanliness is concerned.