Ring Railway Could Be Late in Delhi

Ring Railway Could Be Late in Delhi

New Delhi: The wait for a fully-functional ring railway in the city could take some time. While both Delhi government and the ministry of railways have been talking about improving the existing system as a viable mode of transport, on ground, the sticking point of encroachment could play spoilsport.

Speaking on the sidelines of a seminar organised by CII, Arun Arora of the Delhi division of Northern Railway said a plan of action was being worked out to improve the ring railway system. "The priority is to develop it as a fully-functional alternative to surface transport. At present, the stations are encroached upon and the connectivity to these stations is an issue. With the help of the Delhi government, these issues can be resolved, so that the ring rail becomes easily accessible. Thereafter, augmentation of the system by adding more tracks and trains can be planned," said Arora.

Delhi transport minister Gopal Rai has been making a case for the ring rail for some time now. "A meeting between the minister and the railways is expected shortly in which the plan of action and how the Delhi government can help us improve the system will be discussed," added Arora.

Rai, incidentally, has been talking about connectivity between the stations and the main roads via feeder services like battery-operated rickshaws and autorickshaws. In the Union Budget presented last week, the Centre had announced funds to improve the ring rail. Rai had then said that the Delhi government was committed to ensuring better last-mile connectivity between ring rail stations and main roads leading to them.

The sticking point, however, could be the issue of encroachment on the railways' land. Last year, Northern Railway's encroachment drive in Shakurbasti had angered the AAP government. However, Arora highlighted this issue at the CII event, saying one of the major points to ensure improvement would be "removal of heavy encroachment from platform and nearby tracks in Naraina Vihar, Inderpuri, Kirti Nagar halt and between Patel Nagar".

However. Transport department officials said the issue of encroachment hasn't been discussed yet. Said a senior official, "The encroachment is on the railways' land, which needs to be taken up through proper channels."

Source:http://railanalysis.com/railindia/news_detail/673