Cabinet nod for 122-km Haryana Orbital Rail Corridor linking Palwal to Sonipat

NEW DELHI: The Union Cabinet on Tuesday approved the 122-km Haryana Orbital Rail Corridor project connecting Palwal to Sonipat via Sohna, Manesar and Kharkhoda. Manesar near Gurugram and Kharkhoda in Sonipat are two major industrial hubs in Haryana.
The broad gauge double railway line for passenger and freight movement will have design speed of 160 kmph and will have the capacity to carry 60 million tonnes of freight and 40 million passengers each way annually.

The project will cost around Rs 5,617 crore and it is likely to be completed in five years.
The rail corridor project — to be implemented by Haryana Rail Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (HRIDC), a joint venture company set up by the Union railways ministry with the Haryana government — will not only improve regional connectivity and decongest NCR, but also foster economic growth by improving the freight movement and developing the entire area into a multi-model logistics hub, say industrialists.
Announcing the decision, Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted in Hindi saying, “This is good news for people of Haryana. The Cabinet has approved the orbital corridor project from Palwal to Sonipat. This will help reduce traffic congestion in the Delhi-NCR and will also help development of multi-modal logistics parks.”
The corridor will start from Palwal and end at the existing Harsana Kalan station on Delhi-Ambala section. This will also give connectivity en route to existing Patli station on Delhi-Rewari line, Sultanpur station on Garhi Harsaru-Farrukhnagar line and Asaudha station on Delhi Rohtak line.
While chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar tweeted that the project will promote Atmanirbhar Bharat, accelerate economic activities and will attract investment from multi-national industries, deputy CM Dushyant Chautala expressed his gratitude towards the Union government via a tweet, saying this project will help in the development of the region and also increase the chances of bigger companies investing here. He said five districts — Palwal, Nuh, Gurugram, Jhajjhar and Sonepat — will benefit from this rail line.
“And not just that, it will also facilitate export-import by opening travel vistas from NCR to Indian ports while reducing travel time and cost. This will also facilitate travellers and every day 20,000 people will be able to travel on this rail line,” he said.
Industries too have welcomed the move and called the project “ground breaking”. IMT Manesar Industrial Association president PK Yadav said, “This move will give a much-needed bounce back to the fall in the investor sentiments. Apart from the advantages of this project upon completion, it has sent a positive message among the industrialists in this region that better times can be expected in days to come.”
(With inputs from Siddharth Tiwari )