Title - Gulbarga to get rail division HQ: Mallikarjun Kharge

Gulbarga: Promising to  improve the railway network of the state to bring it on par with  national standards, railway minister Mallikarjun Kharge assured on Tuesday that he would see to it that the long pending demand of the region for a  divisional railway headquarters was fulfilled soon."In addition to the Central, South Central and South Western Railway zones, efforts are being made to carve out a new zone," he told reporters.  The proposed  headquarters at Gulbarga would cover Yadgir, Bidar, Raichur,  parts of Bijapur, besides Gulbarga.While the state has three railway divisions for over 3,150 kms of  railway tracks, Maharashtra  has seven  and Andhra Pradesh,  six.Kharge, who laid the foundation stone for doubling of the Gulbarga-Hotgi  railway line and modernisation of the railway station here, announced that a  pilot project connecting Naded with Yavatmal in Maharashtra would be  launched soon as well.As for the work on the doubling of the 98 km long Gulbarga-Hotgi line, which forms  part of the Mumbai -Chennai trunk route, Kharge said the project was scheduled to be completed in 30 months at a cost of Rs 350 crore.

"This line  forms part of the Daund-Gulbarga doubling project which is partly funded by  ADB. The doubling will enable more freight-traffic to Mumbai and Delhi sections," he explained.