Indian Railways has cleared a series of infrastructure and technology modernisation projects worth more than Rs 765 crore, aimed at strengthening power supply systems, improving freight capacity and upgrading digital communication networks across several high-traffic routes.
The approved works focus primarily on electric traction upgrades and expansion of the railway communication backbone, both considered crucial for improving operational efficiency and supporting the increasing demand for freight and passenger movement across the network.
One of the major projects involves the Rs 318.07 crore upgrade of the electric traction system on the 106 km Duvvada-Visakhapatnam-Vizianagaram section under the East Coast Railway.
This stretch lies on the busy Howrah-Chennai main line, which carries significant freight volumes, particularly minerals and industrial cargo from Odisha and Chhattisgarh to the port city of Visakhapatnam.
The existing 1×25 kV traction system will be replaced with the more advanced 2×25 kV system, allowing trains to haul heavier loads while improving speed potential and reliability.
A similar upgrade has been sanctioned for the 126 km Raichur-Guntakal section, which runs across Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh under the Guntakal Division of South Central Railway.
The project, valued at Rs 259.39 crore, will also shift the corridor from a 1×25 kV to a 2×25 kV traction system, enabling higher train loads and more efficient train operations along the Mumbai-Chennai route.
Officials say the upgrade will support future high-speed services, including Vande Bharat trains, while contributing to the railways' broader target of increasing freight loading to 3,000 million tonnes annually.
In addition to traction improvements, Indian Railways has sanctioned Rs 187.88 crore to strengthen the optical fibre communication backbone across the Vadodara and Mumbai Central Divisions of Western Railway.
The project involves the installation of a 4×48 core Optical Fibre Cable architecture over more than 1,000 route km, including 692 km in Vadodara Division and 308 km in Mumbai Division.
The enhanced network will provide higher bandwidth and redundancy, supporting LTE-based communication systems and enabling wider implementation of Kavach, India's indigenous train collision avoidance system.