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Which is easier? Shifting some 250 residential and 40 industrial establishments with one religious complex, or simply moving just one railway station?
Well, the second option seems easier, according to Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Ltd (DFCCIL) and North Western Railway.
Both the organisations – which required land to build a portion of the rail freight corridor – chose to shift the railway station near Kishangarh, near Ajmer. Kishangarh has many stone-mining and marble-based firms.
New location
“In consultation with North Western Railway, DFCCIL has decided to shift the Kishangarh railway station by 3.6 km. The new station will be located in an area where newer portions of the city are getting developed,” said a DFCCIL official.
The job of relocating the station would cost Rs 58 crore and DFCCIL has already deposited the funds with North Western Railways, which had invited a tender for the same.
The stretch forms a part of the 1,483 km Western Freight Corridor being built between Dadri and JN Port, part-funded by Japanese agency JICA.
Three options
DFCCIL had three options to implement route alignment in this region.
One was to build a train line along the existing track and Kishangarh station, which would have affected 250 residential and 40 industrial units and a religious structure.
“This option had the high risks of project delays, apart from adding to the congestion,” the official said. Moreover, there was no scope for further expansion of the railway station and other facilities.
The other option was to divert the track alignment along Kishangarh, which is like building a bypass.
What it involves
But, this involved building two railway flyovers, two road under-bridges and a two-km-stretch through forest land (requiring environmental clearance).
Additionally, this option would have required more land in the industrial area.
Hence, DFCCIL and North Western Railway decided to go in for the third option, which simply called for moving the station by 3.6 km to an area which had more available land.
The relocation includes setting up newer platforms and related facilities, and shifting the control room, amongst others.
For similar reasons, DFCCIL may also relocate another railway station – at Unjha in Gujarat.
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