Chandigarh, April 25 (IANS): Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu on Saturday said an investment of Rs.8.5 lakh crore would be made in the Indian Railways to strengthen and modernise the railway network.

Prabhu said this while addressing the gathering at the Rohtak railway station, 75 km from New Delhi, where he inaugurated the Rs.294-crore electrification of the Rohtak-Bathinda-Lehra Mohabbat rail line.

"In the past, not much investment was made on railways. Resultantly, rail and railway network, instead of strengthening, has weakened.

"In the next five years, target of electrification of 2,000 km railway line every year has been fixed which is the highest so far. The country's development is directly linked to development of railways," Prabhu said.

He said the pace of railway projects in Haryana, including the setting up of a proposed rail coach factory, will be further accelerated with an agreement for setting up a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) between the railway ministry and the Haryana government.

Prabhu, who was elected to the Rajya Sabha from Haryana last year, said various railway projects were being discussed for the state.