# Centre gives Hubballi-Ankola railway project special status 2026-08-12T23:01:44+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 1 independent outlet The union government has notified the 163-km Hubballi-Ankola broad-gauge double railway line as a special railway project under the Railways Act, 1989. The Deccan Herald reports that the status allows South Western Railway to begin land acquisition for the Rs 18,424-crore project, which passes through 13 villages in Hubballi taluk and 56 more across Dharwad and Uttara Kannada districts. The project still requires clearance from the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and final recommendations from the Wildlife Institute of India, as 586 hectares of forest land must be diverted in the biodiversity hotspot. Work on a 47-km stretch between Hubballi and Kirawati is already complete. SWR expects to issue acquisition notices and offer 30 days for landowner objections before finalising compensation. ## Coverage - deccanherald.com Tags: Hubballi-Ankola railway, land acquisition, PM Gati Shakti, special railway project, SWR, Western Ghats Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/centre-gives-hubballi-ankola-railway-project-special-status/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/centre-gives-hubballi-ankola-railway-project-special-status/#story-in-brief Review state: restored archive article, accurate at time of publication, not offered to search indexes.