Varanasi, Feb. 13 -- Railway minister Ashwini Vaishnav has approved the construction of a third line between Aurihar and Varanasi City, covering 31.36 km, at a cost of Rs.497.07 crore under the Infrastructure Expansion Work Plan. The information was shared by Pankaj Kumar Singh, chief public relations officer, North Eastern Railway (NER), on Thursday. The project is located in Varanasi and Ghazipur districts of eastern Uttar Pradesh. Singh said that once the work begins, it will generate significant employment in the region.Officials said the third line will help prevent train detention and improve passenger services. It will also lead to revenue savings and allow additional trains to run between eastern and north-eastern India. Ashok Kumar, public relations officer of Varanasi division of NER, said the development of Varanasi and Ghazipur districts will get a boost with this project. The Aurihar-Varanasi double line section currently handles a large number of passenger and freight trains. Aurihar is a major junction and connects trains to several cities, including Darbhanga, Raxaul, Jaynagar, Chhapra, Gaya, Tatanagar, Kolkata, Mau, Gorakhpur, Ballia, Azamgarh, Ghazipur, Prayagraj, Lucknow, Kanpur, Durg, Pune, Mumbai, Gondia, Guwahati and New Delhi. Due to heavy traffic on this route, there has been demand for a third line. To meet this demand, the Railway ministry has approved the construction of the third line between Aurihar and Varanasi City. The station also has a MEMU shed, Kumar said.Officials added that the third line will increase the capacity of the section. It will allow more passenger trains to run and support an additional freight traffic of 1.99 million tonnes per year, leading to higher railway revenue....