Patna: Construction of another railway bridge on the river Ganga in Bihar will begin shortly. The Indian Railways (IR) has invited tender for construction of a new rail bridge over the river Ganga near the existing Vikramshila road bridge in Bhagalpur.
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the bridge on August 9, 2024.
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Tender for constriction of rail bridge
The IR has floated a tender to invite the expression of interest of reputed construction firms to build the rail bridge between Vikramshila and Katareah stations in Bhagalpur. After the completion of the tender process, the construction work of the rail bridge will be started.
The construction of an additional mega-bridge over the Ganga River through this project will increase mobility between North Bihar, West Bengal and Northeast India to South Bihar, Jharkhand and Odisha.
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Bridge is part of Vikramshila-Katareah new line
The railway bridge is part of the 26-km-long Vikramshila-Katareah new line. It will be built at an estimated cost of ₹2549 crore. Under this project, a 2.44 km long double-line bridge is also to be constructed over the Ganga River.
Bridge will connect Bhagalpur with Katihar rly line
The new railway line with bridge will connect Vikramshila on the Bhagalpur-Sahibganj railway line with Katareah station of the Katihar-Barauni railway section. The rail bridge will be constructed over the Ganga River under this project will be Y-shaped, which will connect Katareah and Navgachiya in the north direction and Vikramshila and Shivnarayanpur stations in the south direction. Construction of this bridge will greatly benefit the people of Kosi and Seemanchal regions.
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Significance of new rail bridge
A senior officer of the east central railway (ECR) zone, Hajipur, said the new rail bridge will provide direct connectivity and improve mobility, providing enhanced efficiency and service reliability for the national transporter. It will further boost the transportation of commodities and minimize the logistics cost of the country.
