JOIN USThe long awaited Bidar-Kalaburagi railway line project was initially sanctioned by the Railways in 2001-02 at an original estimated cost of Rs 386 crore.
Nearly 16 years later, and after a cost escalation of Rs 1,150 crore, the 107-km new line with a two-km tunnel will be dedicated to the nation by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Bidar on Sunday.
Besides connecting two major cities in the Hyderbad-Karnataka region, the railway line will reduce the distance between New Delhi and southern states by 380 km and travel time by three to four hours when services begin on the route. At present, trains from Kalaburagi travel via Daund Junction in Maharshtra and enter Madhya Pradesh. Now, trains will go directly from Kalaburagi to Bidar and through Nanded in Maharashtra to enter Madhya Pradesh.
The line has 13 railway stations between Bidar and Kalaburgi. The railway line has been a long standing demand of the people of the two districts.
According to Industries Minister R V Deshpande, the Karnataka government, considering the importance of the railway line, decided to share 50% of the cost of the project in 2014. The revised estimate of the project was fixed at Rs 1,541 crore of which the state government’s share stood at Rs 771.2 crore. The state has so far released Rs 589 crore as its share, Deshpande said.
The line has 14 major bridges, 183 minor bridges, 13 over-bridges and 53 under bridges along the way.