North East Frontier Railway and Assam Government to undertake Road Overbridge jointly

GUWAHATI: A meeting was held recently at Dispur between NF Railway and Assam Government about the construction of road over-bridges in Assam in lieu of existing Level Crossing gates for the benefit of people. While Government of Assam delegation was led by Himanta Biswa Sarma, Minister in-charge of PWD, the Railway side was led by Rajen Gohain, Minister of State of Railways, an NFR press release state.

It may be mentioned here that there are 53 level crossing gates in Assam which qualify for replacement with road over-bridge (ROB) on 50:50 cost-sharing basis as they are having Train Vehicle Unit (TVU) of more than 1 lakh each. The concept of Train Vehicle Unit (TVU) defines the traffic density movement on a particular level crossing which is defined by the multiplication of the “number of train units” and the “number of vehicle units” passing through that level crossing in 24 hours period. The busier the level crossing gate, the higher the TVU.

Out of these, 6 ROBs will be constructed by Railways by replacing existing level crossing gates during construction of a double line from Digaru to Lumding. 11 level crossing gates between Kamakhya and New Guwahati are also likely to be eliminated after the construction of the proposed Quadrupled Elevated Corridor. Preparation of Detailed Project Report (DPR) for construction of 7 ROBs on 50: 50 cost-sharing basis by Govt of Assam with railways are underway. N.F. The railway is likely to receive the DPRs by the end of next month. Joint Inspection by Railways and PWD officials of 21 level crossing gate sites for construction of ROBs has been completed. Preparation of DPRs will be initiated by the PWD after necessary concurrence of the State Finance Ministry. Out of the balance 9 locations, some already have sanctioned ROBs and in few cases, ROBs are not technically feasible. During the course of the meeting, it was decided that although the cost of construction will be shared, either the State Government or the Northeast Frontier Railway will undertake construction of some ROBs on ‘single entity basis’, the release added.