Northern Railways start construction of new four-lane railway over bridge near Somnath Dwar

With an aim to manage the increasing load of trains on the Charbagh station-Dilkusha line, Northern Railways has announced the laying of two more rail tracks on the route. This will require the construction of a new Rail over Bridge (RoB) in place of the 150-year-old Katai bridge in front of Somnath Dwar in Lucknow.

This new four-lane railway bridge will be constructed keeping in mind the addition of new rail tracks and will be done in a phased manner. Read on to know more about this development.

The 150-year-old Katai bridge is the only connecting link for the commuters travelling between Arjunganj and Hazratganj side. This new two-lane RoB will be constructed at an estimated cost of ₹14.50 crore, catering to the needs of both rail and road commuters.

Suresh Kumar Sapra, DRM Northern Railways said, "Construction of a new two-lane bridge next to Katai Wala Bridge started on February 15 and will be ready by December this year."

In phase 1, the construction of a two-lane RoB is already in progress. Once this two-lane segment is ready for public use, the old Katai bridge will be demolished, making way for the laying of new tracks.

Reportedly, construction of another two-lane RoB will be started after demolition of the Katai bridge in phase 2. This bridge is expected to be completed by March 2023.

As of now, there is just one up and one down line on the aforementioned route, due to which trains from Sultanpur, Rae Bareli, Gorakhpur and Faizabad have to face indefinite halts between 6:00 AM to 8:00 AM and 6:00 PM to 12:00 AM. Reportedly, over 60 trains have to go through this halt, impacting several time-bound services.

In order to avoid this hassle, the Northern Railways have decided to build two new platforms at Charbagh station under yard remodeling and to lay one entry and another exit line till Dilkusha station.