Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated two railway projects worth Rs 2,900 crore to the nation at Asarwa in Ahmedabad on October 31, 2022. Aimed to benefit lakhs of people and provide relief from lack of broad-gauge lines in a large area, the projects include the Ahmedabad (Asarva) – Himmatnagar – Udaipur Gauge converted line and Lunidhar-Jetalsar Gauge converted line.
The entire route is rejuvenated, and the meter gauge line from Asarwa to Udaipur through Himmatnagar has been converted into a broad gauge, announced Prime Minister Narendra Modi while addressing the people gathered on the occasion of Ekta Diwas. This part of the state will get connectivity directly with the neighbouring state of Rajasthan and across the country, he added.
Trains operating on the broad gauge will bolster industrial development in Gujarat and make tourism accessible by providing connectivity to areas that were cut off.
With the conversion of the 300 kms railway line from Asarwa to Udaipur into a broad gauge, the tribal regions of Gujarat and Rajasthan will be linked to Delhi and other parts of north India. Also, with direct rail connectivity has been established between the tourist places of Kutch and Udaipur resulting in growth of tourist locations of Kutch, Udaipur, Chittorgarh and Nathdwara, he said.
Modi also highlighted that the traders in the region would benefit from direct connectivity to major industrial centres such as Delhi, Mumbai and Ahmedabad. This will create an alternate route for Ahmedabad and Delhi. With the conversion of the Lunidhar-Jetalsar rail line to a broad gauge, the Dhasa-Jetalsar section is fully converted into a broad gauge. The railway line passes through Botad, Amreli and Rajkot districts that had limited rail connectivity until now. The completion of this line will benefit the people of Bhavnagar and Amreli by offering direct connectivity to Somnath and Porbandar, Modi said.
The route will reduce the distance from Bhavnagar to Veraval from nearly 470 kms to less than 290 kms. It will cut down the travel time from 12 to 6.5 hours. Similarly, the distance from Bhavnagar to Porbandar has been reduced by around 200 kms, and the distance between Bhavnagar to Rajkot by around 30 kms.
