{"id":59758,"date":"2025-02-04T05:12:34","date_gmt":"2025-02-04T05:12:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/earlypostdaily.com\/?p=59758"},"modified":"2025-02-04T05:12:34","modified_gmt":"2025-02-04T05:12:34","slug":"rail-budget-2025-ushers-in-a-new-era-for-odishas-railway-infrastructure-says-union-minister-ashwini-vaishnaw","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/earlypostdaily.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/04\/rail-budget-2025-ushers-in-a-new-era-for-odishas-railway-infrastructure-says-union-minister-ashwini-vaishnaw\/","title":{"rendered":"Rail Budget 2025 Ushers in a New Era for Odisha\u2019s Railway Infrastructure, Says Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Rail Budget 2025 marks the beginning of a new era for Odisha\u2019s railway infrastructure, bringing with it unprecedented growth, modernization, and connectivity, Union Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announced on Monday.<\/p>\n<p>During a press conference held via video conferencing from New Delhi, Vaishnaw shared key highlights of the 2025 Rail Budget for Odisha. He emphasized that the ongoing and future projects would strengthen Odisha\u2019s position as a key player in India\u2019s railway network, contributing significantly to regional economic growth.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3><strong>Record Investment in Odisha&#8217;s Railway Sector<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Vaishnaw revealed a record budgetary allocation of <strong>Rs. 10,599 crore<\/strong> for railway development in Odisha. This represents a 12.5-fold increase from the <strong>Rs. 838 crore<\/strong> allocated during the 2009-2014 period.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally, he highlighted that Odisha has received over <strong>Rs. 10,000 crore<\/strong> annually for railway development over the past three years, leading to a total investment of <strong>Rs. 78,000 crore<\/strong> in the state&#8217;s railway sector. Furthermore, projects worth <strong>Rs. 20,000 crore<\/strong> have been sanctioned during the current government\u2019s tenure.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3><strong>Key Infrastructure Developments<\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Electrification Progress:<\/strong> Odisha\u2019s railway electrification has increased <strong>4.5 times<\/strong>, with <strong>138 km of track electrified<\/strong> between 2014-2025, compared to just <strong>29 km<\/strong> in the previous period. Odisha has now achieved <strong>100% electrification<\/strong> with <strong>1,516 km<\/strong> of electrified track.<\/li>\n<li><strong>New Tracks Construction:<\/strong> Over <strong>2,046 km of new tracks<\/strong> have been constructed since 2014, surpassing the total rail network of Malaysia in scale.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Track Projects &amp; Investments:<\/strong> More than <strong>48 new track projects<\/strong> are currently underway, covering a total of <strong>4,784 km<\/strong> with an investment of <strong>Rs. 73,723 crore<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Station Development:<\/strong> <strong>Rs. 2,379 crore<\/strong> has been allocated for the development of <strong>59 railway stations<\/strong>, including major hubs like <strong>Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Puri, Sambalpur, and Rourkela<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Safety Enhancements:<\/strong> The <strong>Kavach safety system<\/strong> has been sanctioned for <strong>1,898 km<\/strong> of railway tracks, with ongoing work and tendering for <strong>645 km<\/strong>. Additionally, <strong>1,000 locomotives<\/strong> will be integrated with Kavach to further enhance railway safety.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<h3><strong>Passenger Comfort and Connectivity<\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Passenger Convenience:<\/strong> Since 2014, a total of <strong>522 rail flyovers and under-bridges<\/strong> have been constructed. <strong>43 lifts, 18 escalators<\/strong>, and <strong>Wi-Fi<\/strong> have been installed at <strong>234 stations<\/strong> to improve passenger convenience.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Vande Bharat Trains:<\/strong> Six <strong>Vande Bharat trains<\/strong> now operate across Odisha, connecting <strong>17 districts<\/strong> with <strong>25 unique stoppages<\/strong>, offering modern, high-speed travel.<\/li>\n<li><strong>New Amrit Bharat Express:<\/strong> A new <strong>Amrit Bharat Express<\/strong> running between <strong>Malda Town and Bengaluru<\/strong> will enhance connectivity across five states.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<h3><strong>Progress on Major Railway Projects<\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Kolkata to Chennai Multi-Tracking Project:<\/strong> The multi-tracking project from <strong>Kolkata to Chennai<\/strong> is progressing rapidly, with significant work completed between <strong>Kolkata and Bhadrak<\/strong>. Third-line work is underway, and planning for a fourth line is also in progress.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<h3><strong>Acknowledgments and Future Vision<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Vaishnaw expressed his gratitude to the <strong>Prime Minister<\/strong>, the <strong>Finance Minister<\/strong>, and <strong>Odisha\u2019s Chief Minister<\/strong> for their unwavering support in transforming Odisha\u2019s railway infrastructure. He emphasized the vital role of the \u201c<strong>Double Engine Government<\/strong>\u201d model in driving this massive development, underscoring the collaborative efforts that have led to these unprecedented strides in railway growth for the state.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Rail Budget 2025 marks the beginning of a new era for Odisha\u2019s railway infrastructure, bringing with it unprecedented growth, modernization, and connectivity, Union Railways Minister&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":59759,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-59758","post","has-post-thumbnail","category-national"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/earlypostdaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59758","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/earlypostdaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/earlypostdaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/earlypostdaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/earlypostdaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59758"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/earlypostdaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59758\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":59760,"href":"https:\/\/earlypostdaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59758\/revisions\/59760"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/earlypostdaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59759"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/earlypostdaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59758"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/earlypostdaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59758"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/earlypostdaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59758"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}