On January 06 2025, Prime Minister(PM) Narendra Modi inaugurated and laid the foundation stones for various railway projects including Jammu Railway Division, Jammu & Kashmir (J&K), Rayagada Railway Division Building of East Coast Railway, Odisha &Â Charlapalli New Terminal Station, Telangana via video conferencing in New Delhi (Delhi).
- These projects aim to create employment opportunities, infrastructure development, promote tourism and lead to overall socio-economic development of the region
Key Dignitaries:
Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, Ministry of Railways (MoR);Union Minister of State (MoS) G Kishan Reddy, Ministry of Science & Technology (MoS&T),Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES);Union MoS Dr. Jitendra Singh, (MoES), MoS&T, Prime Minister’s Office (PMO); Union MoS V. Somanna, MoR ,Union MoS Ravneet Singh Bittu, MoR; Union MoS Bandi Sanjay Kumar, Ministry of Home Affairs (MoHA); Governor of Odisha Hari Babu Kambhampati;Governor of Telangana Jishnu Dev Varma;Lieutenant Governor of J&K, Manoj Sinha; Chief Minister (CM) of J&K Omar Abdullah;CM of Telangana A Revanth Reddy and CM of Odisha Mohan Charan Majhi were present among other dignitaries at the event.
Jammu Railway Division:
i.PM Narendra Modi inaugurated the new Jammu Railway Division spanning a total length of 742.1 kilometers(km).
ii.The division includes:
- Pathankot-Jammu-Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla section (USBRL) (423 route km)
- Bhogpur-Sirwal-Pathankot section (87.21 route km)
- Batala (excluding)-Pathankot section (68.17 route km)
- Pathankot-Joginder Nagar narrow gauge section (163.72 route km)
iii.The USBRL is a milestone in India’s engineering, technological and infrastructural strength.
- It involves the construction of 38 tunnels spanning a total length of 119 km, including India’s longest transportation tunnels, the Sumber-Arpinchala T49 (12.75 km) and the Pir Panjal T-80 (11.2 km).
- Additionally, the project features 931 bridges with a combined length of 13 km, including the world’s highest railway bridge, the Chenab Bridge, and India’s first cable-stayed rail bridge, the Anji Bridge.
iv.This project, worth Rs.11,000 crores, is part of India’s ‘Made in India’ initiative aims to improve connectivity, create jobs, boost tourism, and drive socio-economic development.
Note: As of December 2024, the Indian Railways (IR) operates 17 zones with 68 divisions across India. With the creation of this division, the IR will have 70 divisions.
Charlapalli Terminal Station :
i.PM Narendra Modi also inaugurated the Charlapalli New Terminal Station in the Medchal-Malkajgiri District of Telangana ,a new coaching terminal along with provision of second entry with a cost of around Rs 413 crore.
iii.With this new terminal, Cherlapalli will handle an additional 15 pairs of train services. .It will serve to ease the growing demand for rail transport in the Hyderabad–Secunderabad twin city region.
iii.The station now has 4 new high-level platforms, and the existing 5 platforms have been extended to accommodate full-length trains.
- Additionally, the station has 10 more lines, bringing the total capacity to 19 lines.
Rayagada Railway Division Building in Odisha:
i.PM Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for the Rayagada Railway Division Building under the East Coast Railway, Odisha, valued at Rs 107 crore.
ii.This state-of-the-art facility will serve as the division’s new headquarters, offering modern amenities such as a Divisional Control Office, a G+2 Digital Rights Management (DRM) Office Building with 12,000 square metres (sqm) of space, and dedicated housing for officers and staff.
iii.The new headquarters will streamline railway operations across Odisha, Andhra Pradesh (AP), and surrounding regions.
Points to Note:
i.The inauguration of the ‘Namo Bharat’ train in Delhi-NCR (National Capital Region) along with the launch of Delhi Metro project in January 2025, India has been expediting its initiatives in connectivity, with its metro rail network expanding to over 1,000 km across 11 states and 23 cities.
- Now India has the third-largest metro network in the world after China and the United States of America(USA).
ii.In 1984, the first metro line in India, covering 3.4 km between Esplanade and Bhowanipur, opened in Kolkata, West Bengal(WB).
iii.Kochi(Kerala) became the first city in India to launch a Water Metro Project, connecting 10 islands around the city with electric hybrid boats. This initiative ensures seamless connectivity, with the first boat launched in December 2021.
iv.In 2020, India launched its first-ever driverless metro service on Delhi Metro’s Magenta Line, setting a new benchmark for automation in public transport.
v.In 2024, India’s first under-water metro tunnel was inaugurated in Kolkata, where the Esplanade-Howrah Maidan section passes beneath the Hooghly River.
