Maruti Suzuki's Manesar plant gets cargo rail link

Mint

6 hours ago

Railways minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Tuesday inaugurated India's largest automobile in-plant railway siding, developed under the PM Gati Shakti mission, at Maruti Suzuki India Ltd's Manesar facility in Haryana.
The Gati Shakti Multi-Modal Cargo Terminal, with a loading capacity of 450,000 vehicles per annum, is a key infrastructure development that significantly enhances the logistics efficiency of automobile transportation.
The Maruti Suzuki facility has been connected to Patli railway station through a 10-kilometre dedicated rail link, which forms part of the 121.7 km Haryana Orbital Rail Corridor being developed by the Haryana Rail Infrastructure Development Corp. (HRIDC) Ltd.
The construction of this 10-km link involved an investment of ₹ 800 crore, with HRIDC contributing ₹ 684 crore and Maruti Suzuki funding the remaining amount.
'Before 2014, Indian Railways' annual budget hovered around ₹ 24,000–25,000 crore. Now, it has been increased to ₹ 2.5 trillion. In the last two and a half years, a focused campaign has been launched to increase the number of general coaches. More than 1,200 general coaches were added in just the past year,' Vaishnaw said.
He added that a major decision was taken recently to upgrade passenger train services. Over 100 MEMU (Mainline Electric Multiple Unit) trains will now be augmented—increasing their composition from 8 to 12 coaches to 16 to 20 coaches—greatly benefiting short-distance commuters.
A new factory has been set up at Kazipet, Andhra Pradesh, for the manufacturing of these trains.
Referring to the successful roll-out of Namo Bharat trains, he said: 'Encouraged by the strong public response to the two operational Namo Bharat trains, we have decided to produce 50 new Namo Bharat trains to cater to growing passenger demand.'
On the passenger and freight performance, he said: 'In 2024-25, Indian Railways transported approximately 7,200 million passengers and 1,617 million tonnes of freight. This performance helped Indian Railways achieve the second-highest freight volume globally, marking the fiscal year a historic year.'
Talking about passenger convenience, the minister announced a significant reform in Tatkal ticket booking, to be implemented from 1 July. 'As per the new rule, only Aadhaar-authenticated and KYC-verified users will be allowed to book Tatkal tickets during the first 30 minutes of the booking window. This measure will help ensure tickets are available to genuine passengers,' he said.
He also spoke about an ongoing pilot project in the Bikaner Division, where passenger reservation charts are now being prepared 24 hours in advance, replacing the earlier norm of 4 hours before train departure. The initiative has received highly positive feedback from citizens and public representatives and is expected to significantly improve the travel experience.
Discussing the roll-out of the Amrit Bharat trains, the minister stated, 'Three Amrit Bharat trains are currently operational and have received overwhelming public response. In the coming days, six more Amrit Bharat trains will be launched. Production of 50 more trains is underway, and more batches will follow.'
Turning to developments in Haryana, he said prior to 2014, the annual railway budget allocation for the state was merely ₹ 300 crore. 'This year, Haryana has received a record allocation of ₹ 3,416 crore. In the last 11 years, 823 km of new rail lines have been laid in the state, and 100% of Haryana's railway network is now electrified,' he said.
Highlighting ongoing infrastructure investment, he added: 'Currently, projects worth ₹ 11,800 crore are underway in Haryana. Redevelopment of 34 railway stations is in progress under the Amrit Bharat Station Scheme. In addition, 540 road overbridges and underpasses have been constructed across the state's railway network.'
Vaishnaw also mentioned that the rail coach factory in Sonipat is undergoing modernization. 'The upgraded facility will soon be ready for inauguration and will play a key role in enhancing our coach production capacity,' he said.