Team Herald
PANJIM: With government firm to go-ahead with the three linear projects, a government data has revealed that with railway infrastructure of 6.72 kms per lakh population, Goa not only ranks lower among its other coastal peers, the existing rail network in Goa is also heavily constrained due to a single line long ghat sections limiting the trains’ running capacity.
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The data, compiled for the 2018-19 and released just recently, also states Goa has only 98 total track kms and only 6.72 track km per lakh of its population.
“There is a need for Goa to enhance this ratio to create better connectivity for its people. This will not only help in improving domestic mobility from an employment point of view but also boost tourist travel between various centres and link Goa with other States more effectively,” an official said.
Improving trade will benefit the State economically and the Multi Modal Logistics Park at Balli Station near Margao is said to be a good pilot example. The Logistics Park currently handles both domestic and export-import container traffic.
The information further states that Goa has a 6 per cent equity participation in Konkan Railway Corporation Limited (KRCL) along with Ministry of Railways (51 per cent), Maharashtra (22 per cent), Karnataka (15 per cent) and Kerala (6 per cent). With 6 per cent equity in KRCL, Goa’s share in total revenues of Konkan Railway Corporation is only Rs 174 crore.
Further, total revenue of KRCL increased to Rs 2,899 crore during the year 2018-19 from Rs 2,483 crore in the preceding year. The corporation has earned a net profit of Rs 102 crore during 2018-19 compared to Rs 126 crore profit in the financial year 2017-18.
