South Western Railway (SWR) in a vritual press conference held has claimed that quantum of coal being transported has been continously declining.
SWR further said that doubling of the tracks will be a game changer for the state of Goa, taking the development to new heights, by giving impetus to trade and enabling easier and faster passenger movement. Existing rail network is constrained due to single line long ghat sections severely limiting train running capacity.
On being asked about the purpose of doubling the track, it has been informed by Railway officials that the same is to strengthen connectivity to facilitate easy and faster movement of the public ,in the most energy efficient way.
When queried on the quantity of coal that will be transported ,Shri Mishra stated that presently Emphasis is being given for usage of environment friendly sources of energy /resources for power generation.
“As a result ,the use of coal is gradually reducing and the share of non-conventional energy sources is gradually increasing . In the year 2015-16, SWR carried 12 Million Tonnes of coal which has reduced to 9 Million Tonnes in the year 2019-20 showing a reduction of 25% within a span of 4 years,” SWR said
Doubling is being done predominantly in Railway land, there is no additional impact on the environment. Care will be taken to ensure least disturbance during construction and alignment will be decided to avoid trees to the extent possible.