L C Trivedi, the General manager of the East Central Railway, reviewed the alignment of the proposed rail bridge on the Ganges River in Bhagalpur between Vikramashila-Kataria on 6th march. The Vikramashila – Kataria rail bridge was sanctioned in 2016 but no actual work has started yet. As per the plan, there will be double Y rail connectivity in both directions, connecting Kataria and Navagachia in North Bihar with Vikramshila and Shivnarayanpur stations in South Bihar.
Along with this, two new stations named Bateshwarsthan in the south of the river Ganges and Kaluchak in the north will also be built. A train coming from Howrah will be able to cross the river Ganges directly without going to Bhagalpur and that too without loco reversal. Simultaneously, crossing the river Ganges from Bhagalpur will be possible to operate trains towards the Katihar – Barauni area.
This will provide an additional rail route between North and South Bihar. The construction is proposed on PPP mode at an estimated cost of Rs 2300 crores.
A 4.367 km four-lane road bridge parallel to Vikramshila Setu in Bhagalpur has also been cleared. The 15 km approach road to the proposed bridge is also planned to be accorded the national highway status. The project is handled by the Bihar Rajya Pul Nirman Nigam Ltd. This is the second bridge approved in recent times over River Ganga. The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) had announced to start the construction of a six-lane bridge parallel to Rajendra Setu in Mokama over the Ganga at Rs 1,161 crore.