Rlys to build another bridge over Yamuna to ease congestion

NEW DELHI: Aiming to speed up train movement over the Yamuna and to decongest the Ghaziabad-New Delhi rail corridor, one of the busiest in the country, Indian Railways has proposed an additional rail bridge over the river in Delhi.

While the old Yamuna rail bridge – also known as Loha Pul – will give way to a new double-line rail bridge by March next year, another bridge is set to come up near the existing Nizamuddin rail bridge to ensure faster and seamless movement of about 150 outbound and inbound passenger and freight services.

Currently, train movement between Ghaziabad and New Delhi station takes more than an hour, sometimes even two hours, due to over-congestion on the route, causing much inconvenience to passengers.

There has been the demand to ensure an additional path for Delhi-bound trains to improve punctuality. The proposed 600-metre bridge near the existing Nizamuddin rail bridge, to be constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 425 crore, will provide an additional path for Delhi-bound services and ensure that trains negotiate the bridge at above 100 km per hour.

"The hydraulic study for the proposed new rail bridge is underway and we are expecting the construction to start by year-end," a senior Railway Ministry official said. The construction of this new bridge along the Nizamuddin bridge is expected to claim about 2,000 kikar trees on the dry riverbed.

As far as the replacement of the old Yamuna bridge is concerned, the 800-m new double-line rail bridge, being built at an estimated cost of Rs 200 crore, is expected to be operational by March 2018, as the work is going on in full swing.

Popularly called Loha Pul, the old bridge gets affected during floods, as train movement slows down. If the Yamuna water level touches the danger mark, traffic is barred on the bridge. The upcoming new rail bridge will be an all-weather bridge where "train movement would not be affected even in a flood situation", said an official.