Lok Sabha Question No. 2373 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-08-01
Subject: Foreign Trip to Railway Officials
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: A.T. (NANA) PATIL, SUNIL KUMAR SINGH

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2373 TO BE ANSWERED ON 01.08.2018

## FOREIGN TRIP TO RAILWAY OFFICIALS

2373. SHRI A. T. NANA PATIL: SHRI SUNIL KUMAR SINGH:

## Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) the  details  of  the  number  of  delegations  comprising  railway officials  gone  abroad  in  connection  with  study  and  training relating  to  high  speed  rail  technology  and  operations  during the last five years;
- (b) the outcome  of these tours along with the tour notes presented in connection with the visit, if any, visit-wise; and
- (c) the fresh steps taken by the  Government  to  speed  up execution of pending projects relating to high speed, electrification and doubling of railway lines?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS (SHRI RAJEN GOHAIN)

(a) and (b):  The training programme for young railway officers in Japan for  High  Speed  Rail  Technology  was  started  in  the  year  2017  with Japan International Co-operation Agency's assistance. During the year 2017-18,  287  officers  were  trained  in  08  batches.  All  the  08  batches have  provided  feedback  on  their  training  in  Japan.  In  general,  the officers have been highly satisfied with the training and exposure given in  the  course  of  the  training  in  Japan. Besides, the  programme  for …contd…2/-

young  officers,  four  senior  officers  of  Railway  Board  and  Research, Designs and Standards Organisation(RDSO) have also attended separate training programme in Japan. Ministry of Railways also had deputed a batch of 40 officers to Southwest Jiaotong University, China for  training  in  2017  which  covered  high  speed  training.  Based  on the feedback from officers, the University has been asked to improve the curriculum and training schedule before further batches are considered for training.

(c): A number of high level Committees including a Joint Committee co-chaired by Vice-Chairman, NITI Aayog and Special Adviser to Prime Minister of Japan at the apex level have been constituted to monitor the progress of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail Project. The project is targeted for completion in the year 2022/23.

Steps  taken  to  expedite  electrification  of  railway  lines  in  the country  include  award  of  Engineering  Procurement  and  Construction (EPC)  contracts,  better  project  monitoring  mechanism,  delegation  of powers to field units for award of contracts and sanction of estimates. Besides,  the  number  of  executing  agencies  has  been  enlarged  from existing  three  to  six  by  entrusting  electrification  works  to  new agencies  such  as  IRCON  International,  Rail  India  Technical  and Economic  Services  (RITES)  and  Power  Grid  Corporation  of  India Limited (PGCIL).

For Doubling/Line capacity enhancement  projects, last mile connectivity etc., institutional financing has been arranged by tying up loan from M/s Life Insurance Corporation of India Limited for ₹ 1.5 lakh crore,  which  has  increased  Railways'  capacity  for  committed  fund provision for essential projects.

****