Rail link plan to Paonta Sahib, Kala Amb shelved due to poor traffic projection: Vaishnaw in Lok Sabha

Plans to lay new lines for Paonta Sahib and Kala Amb in Himachal Pradesh were not taken forward after a survey showed poor traffic projections, railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw informed the Lok Sabha in a written reply on Wednesday.

Bharatiya Janata Party MP Suresh Kumar Kashyap raised the issue, saying Paonta Sahib and Kala Amb in Himachal Pradesh’s Sirmaur district are important industrial areas.Yet, despite their being a long-standing demand, they are not connected by a rail network, he said.

Kashyap wanted to know the progress made in this regard and the time by which the areas were likely to be connected by rail.

In response, Vaishnaw said, “Survey for a new line between Jagadhari and Paonta Sahib (62 km) has been completed. Another survey from Ghanoli to Dehradun via Kala Amb and Paonta Sahib (216 km) was carried out. However, as per the survey reports, the projects have poor traffic projections. Therefore, (they) could not be taken forward.”

“The Railways’ projects are surveyed/sanctioned/executed zonal railway-wise and not state-wise/district-wise as the Railways’ projects may span across state boundaries. Sanctioning of Railways projects is a continuous and dynamic process of the Indian Railways,” he added.

Vaishnaw said railway infrastructure projects are taken up based on remunerativeness, last-mile connectivity, missing links and alternate routes, augmentation of congested/saturated lines and socio-economic considerations, depending on liabilities of ongoing projects, overall availability of funds and competing demands.