Lok Sabha Question No. 2100 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2020-03-04
Subject: Gauge Conversion
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Sougata Ray

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2100 TO BE ANSWERED ON 04.03.2020

## GAUGE CONVERSION

2100. PROF. SAUGATA RAY:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) the  details  of  existing  Metre  Gauge  railway  lines  in  the  country, zone wise;

(b) the details of Metre Gauge converted into Broad Gauge since the last five years, zone wise;

- (c) whether the conversion works are far behind the proposed target; and
- (d) if so, the reasons therefor and action taken by the Government in this regard?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF RAILWAYS AND COMMERCE & INDUSTRY

(SHRI PIYUSH GOYAL)

- (a) to (d):  A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

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STATEMENT    REFERRED    TO    IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS    (a)  TO    (d)  OF UNSTARRED  QUESTION      NO.  2100  BY  PROF.  SAUGATA  RAY  TO  BE ANSWERED  IN   LOK  SABHA    ON      04.03.2020    REGARDING    GAUGE CONVERSION

## (a) The details  of  existing  Metre  Gauge  railway  lines  in  the  country, zone-wise as on 31.03.2019,  is as follows:-

| Railways   |   East Central |   North Central |   North Eastern |   North Frontier |   North Western |   Southern |   South Central |   Western |   Total |
|------------|----------------|-----------------|-----------------|------------------|-----------------|------------|-----------------|-----------|---------|
| MG KM      |         265.58 |           11.48 |          483.52 |             0.34 |          499.61 |     247.37 |          175.93 |   1154.96 | 2838.79 |

(b)  :    The  details  of  Metre  Gauge  railway  lines  converted  into  Broad Gauge during last five years, zone-wise, are appended.

(c) and (d) : No, Sir. Presently, Indian Railways have taken up 55 ongoing Gauge Conversion Projects (Metre Gauge & Narrow Gauge) of 7,275 km length, costing ` 56,135 crore, which are in different stages of execution/planning/sanction,  out  of  which,  commissioning  of  3,573  km length  has  been  achieved  and  expenditure  of ` 19,640  crore  has  been incurred up to March, 2019.

The completion of any Railway project depends on various factors like  quick  land  acquisition  by  State  Government,  forest  clearance  by officials of forest department, shifting of infringing utilities (both underground and over ground), statutory clearances from various authorities, geological and topographical conditions of area, law and

order situation in the area of project site, number of working months in a year for a particular project site due to climatic conditions, encountering unforeseen conditions like earthquake, flood, excessive rains, strikes of labour,  orders  of  Hon'ble  Courts,  situation  and  conditions  of  working agencies/contractors etc. All these factors vary from project to project and site to site and affect the completion time and cost of the project, which is finally worked out at the completion stage.

In the overall interest of the nation and to ensure that projects are completed  in  time  without  cost  overrun,  lot  of  monitoring  is  done  in Railways  at  various  levels  (field  level,  divisional  level,  zonal  level  and Board  level)  and  regular  meetings  are  held  with  the  officials  of  State Government  and  concerned  authorities  to  resolve  the  pending  issues that are obstructing the progress of projects.

To ensure that projects are completed even before time, Railway has adopted the concept of incentives to the contractor in the form of bonus  clause  in  contracts  which  will  further  enhance  the  pace  of execution of projects.

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APPENDIX REFERRED  TO  IN REPLY TO PART  (b) OF UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.  2100  BY  PROF.  SAUGATA RAY  T0  BE  ANSWERED   IN    LOK  SABHA    ON 04.03.2020  REGARDING  GAUGE CONVERSION

| Sl. No.   | Railway   | SECTION                      | YEAR    |
|-----------|-----------|------------------------------|---------|
| 1         | ER        | BARDHAMAN-KAWE               | 2017-18 |
|           |           | KAWE-AHMEDPUR                | 2017-18 |
| 2         | NER       | CHHAPRA JN-THAWE             | 2016-17 |
|           |           | AISHBAG-MAILANI              | 2019-20 |
|           |           | BARHNI-GONDA JN              | 2015-16 |
|           |           | BAREILLY-KASHGANJ            | 2015-16 |
|           |           | BHOJIPUR-PILIBHIT            | 2016-17 |
|           |           | PILIBHIT-TANAKPUR            | 2017-18 |
| 3         | NFR       | RANGIYA-RANGAPARA            | 2013-14 |
|           |           | LUMDING JN-SILCHAR           | 2015-16 |
|           |           | BADARPUR JN-AGARTALA         | 2016-17 |
|           |           | KATAKHAL JN-BHAIRABI         | 2016-17 |
|           |           | ARUNACHAL-JIRIBAM            | 2016-17 |
|           |           | KARIMGANJ JN-MAISHASHAN      | 2016-17 |
|           |           | BRAIGRAM-DULLABCHERA         | 2016-17 |
|           |           | RANGAPARA NORTH-MURKONGSELEK | 2015-16 |
|           |           | BALIPARA-BHALUKPONG          | 2015-16 |
|           |           | NEW MAL JN-CHANGRABANDHA     | 2016-17 |
| 4         | NWR       | SIKAR-LOHARU                 | 2014-15 |
|           |           | SURATPURA-HANUMANGARH        | 2015-16 |
|           |           | MAKARANA-PARBATSAR           | 2015-16 |
|           |           | RATANGARH-SARDARSAHAR        | 2016-17 |
|           |           | SIKAR-FATHAPUR               | 2016-17 |
|           |           | SIKAR-CHURU                  | 2016-17 |
|           |           | FATHAPUR-SEKHAWATI-CHURU     | 2016-17 |
|           |           | SIKAR-PALSANA                | 2017-18 |
|           |           | PALSANA-RINGAS               | 2017-18 |
|           |           | RINGAS-DHERAJKABAG           | 2019-20 |
|           |           | HIMATNAGAR-RAIGHADH RD       | 2019-20 |
|           |           | UDAIPUR CITY-KHARWA CHANDA   | 2019-20 |
| 5         | SECR      | JABALPUR-GONDIA              | 2019-20 |
|           |           | NAINPUR-CHALAIDONGRI         | 2017-18 |
|           |           | ETWARI-BHIMALGONDI           | 2018-19 |
|           |           | CHHINDWARA-BHANDARKUD        | 2017-18 |
| 6         | SR        | POLLACHI-PALAKKAD            | 2015-16 |
|           |           | SENGOTTAI-NEW ARYANKAVU      | 2016-17 |
|           |           | EDAMANN-PUNALUR              | 2016-17 |
|           |           | POLLACHI-PODANUR             | 2017-18 |
|           |           | NEW ARYANKAVU-EDAMANN        | 2017-18 |
|           |           | PUTTUKOTTAI-KARAIKKUDI       | 2017-18 |
|           |           | PUTTUKOTTAI-TIRUTHURAIPUNDI  | 2019-20 |
| 7         | WR        | RATLAM-MAU JN-KHANDWA        | 2014-15 |
|           |           | RAU-AMBEDKAR NAGAR           | 2015-16 |
|           |           | LAXMIBAINAGAR-INDORE         | 2014-15 |
|           |           | DHOSAWA-RATLAM               | 2016-17 |
|           |           | INDORE-RAU                   | 2016-17 |
|           |           | BHUJ-DESALPUR                | 2017-18 |
|           |           | ASWARWA-RAKHIAL              | 2018-19 |
|           |           | RAKHIAL-HIMMAT NAGAR         | 2018-19 |
|           |           | NIMARKHERI-MATHELA           | 2019-20 |

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