PATNA: The railways has decided to expedite the execution of its 43 pending projects, including those in Bihar, which have been languishing for long due to fund crunch.
Railway minister Suresh Prabhu has directed the Railway Board to take up the projects on cost-sharing basis with the states concerned. According to a Railway Board official, 16 states have agreed to share the project cost with the railways to develop their stations and lay new railway lines.
While Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh have already shared the cost of few railway projects, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana,...
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Kerala and Odisha have evinced similar interest.
In Bihar, sources said, projects like Dehri-Banjari new rail line, Ara-Bhabhua- Mundeshwari Dham new line, Gaya-Chatra new line and Gaya-Rafiganj-Daltonganj new line can be completed on priority basis if the railways and the state government share the cost of these projects. "These Bihar projects were sanctioned in 2008, but they could not be taken up due to lack of funds," a Railway Board official told TOI on Saturday.
Also, the railways approved the survey work for the Dehri- Bhawnathpur-Daltonganj new line in 2014. But the survey plan could not be completed for one reason or another, the sources said and added the completion of these new projects would prove a boost to industrial growth in Bihar.
The estimated cost of the pending 43 projects is Rs 62,379 crore. "The railways has made joint venture initiatives to complete some of these projects after the states concerned agreed to share their costs. These projects can now be executed under the specific subsidiary company project," the Railway Board official said.
In this regard, a memorandum of understanding has been signed with the Jharkhand government after it agreed to share with the railways 50% of the costs of pending railway projects worth over Rs 3,771 crore. The Bihar government has so far shared the costs of road over bridges in the state.

DALTONGANJ: Members of the National Federation of Indian Railway Men (NFIRM) demanded adequate safety and security for the railway personnel in the East Central Railway zone under Dhanbad division, during their conference in Barwadeeh block in Latehar district on Thursday.
Hajipur zone's general secretary P S Chaturvedi and joint secretary Navin Kumar along with Mithilesh Kumar Singh of Moghulsarai zone were also present at the conference. The working president of NFIRM, Balmukund Pandey's special train ticket examiner Daltonganj and general secretary Suresh K Paswan jointly said "Railway personnel faces a lot of perils. For instance one train guard was murdered in a running train while a railway fitter was hammered to death by a passenger aboard the Bhopal Howrah express."
Pandey...
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said apart from these two fatalities this year, numerous incidents were reported where the engine crew were stoned by ruffians, stolen cash and belongings of guards and gatemen of railway crossings subjected to abuses of all kinds.