GAYA: The Railway Board has approved Gaya-Chatra(new BG line)project. Around Rs5,452 Crores have been approved for the project, which includes Rs926 crore for land acquisition.
The 99.345-km-long new rail line from Gaya to Chatra will likely get an extension up to Tori as the board has also approved the proposal to start surveying the Tori-Chatra-Gaya rail line.
Minister of Railways, communication, Electronics, and information technology Ashwini Vaishnaw has sent a letter to Chatra MP Sunil Kumar Singh regarding the project. In the letter, the minister said,” The Chatra-Gaya project now stands ‘defreezed’ and steps are being taken for the progress of the project.”
The MP, who has been instrumental in completing the project, would promote tourism in and around Chatra. Many Buddhist devotees and tourists visit Bodh Gaya but do not visit Kauleswari and Bhadrakali, the places of Buddhist and Jain importance. The Buddhists prefer to get ‘mundan’ (head tonsuring) rituals performed at Kauleshwari.”
The new rail line to originate from the nearby station of Gaya
The project would connect places,
| Project | Connecting places |
| Gaya-Bodhgaya-chatra Rail line | including gaya, Parsawan,Bodhgaya, Kamauts, Sherghati, Hunterganj,jorikala,Berio and Chatra. |
It had been sanctioned in 2008-09 with an estimated outlay of around Rs450 crore. RET survey was conducted in 1998 by RITES at a cost of Rs284.21 crores, while the RET was updated in 2005 at an accost of 383.6 core. According to the description of the project made available to the MP by the railways, there would be 197 bridges, including 9 major and 109 minor ones, 30 ROBs, 40 RUBs, and 3 tunnels of 150 meters, 130m, and 300m respectively.
The Gaya-Chatra rail line would originate from nearby stations of Gaya, including Kastha and Paraiya.
The information provided to the MP mentions.” it was observed that a lot of hard infrastructures have been cropped up near Gaya, Bodh Gaya, Thus, the construction will not only be costlier but also a time taking. As such it was decided to connect/originate the new line from nearby stations of Gaya i.e, Kastha and Paraiya.
