Overview
- The CCEA approved fourth-line works on Sainthia–Pakur and Santragachi–Kharagpur, adding about 192 km of track across West Bengal and Jharkhand at a cost of ₹4,474 crore, with completion planned by 2030–31.
- The capacity boost is expected to enable roughly 31 MTPA of additional freight, improve reliability on high‑density routes and extend connectivity to around 5,652 villages, according to official statements.
- Indian Railways begins a new weekly Amrit Bharat Express between Nagercoil and Cherlapalli with the inaugural run on March 11, using sleeper and general second‑class coaches and stopping at 30 stations across Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
- A Cherlapalli–Kamakhya Amrit Bharat Express will be inaugurated on March 13, providing a weekly link between Telangana/Andhra Pradesh and Assam with stops through Odisha; departures are scheduled from Kamakhya on Sundays and Cherlapalli on Wednesdays.
- Separate sanctions exceeding ₹765 crore fund traction upgrades to 2×25 kV on the Duvvada–Visakhapatnam–Vizianagaram and Raichur–Guntakal sections and expand the OFC backbone in Vadodara and Mumbai Central divisions to support systems such as Kavach, while a Podanur–Dhanbad Amrit Bharat service has also been approved.