Kumar Bahukhandi
Raipur MP Brijmohan Agarwal on Wednesday August 7 raised the issue of public problems and facilities related to Chhattisgarh Railways in the Lok Sabha. During the Question Hour in the Lok Sabha, Brijmohan Agarwal sought information related to irregular operation and cancellation of trains in Chhattisgarh for the last three years and upgradation/extension/maintenance of existing rail routes and operation of new trains and revenue collection in Bilaspur, Raipur Railway Division.
On which Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav informed that the Modi government has allocated 22 times more amount to Chhattisgarh than the UPA government. While Rs 311 crore was allocated in 2014, Rs 6,922 crore has been allocated in 2024. While 6 km of railway line was laid in a year during the UPA government, it has now become 100 km annually.
At present, there are 25 projects worth about Rs 37 thousand crore in Chhattisgarh, which include 8 new lines and 17 doubling, whose total length is 2,731 km. The Railway Minister also informed that the reason for train cancellation is interlocking during doubling and tripling of railway lines for which new technology is being worked on and soon the railway passengers will get relief from the problems and rail travel will become more comfortable than before.
The Railway Minister also informed that the revenue from other non-fare revenue activities such as railway display network, out of home advertising, advertising on trains, ATMs and stalls etc. by Raipur and Bilaspur divisions has seen an increase in the past few years.
