Lok Sabha Question No. 55 (STARRED), answered on 2019-11-20
Subject: Rail Connectivity along Border Areas
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Nihal Chand Chauhan

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.55

## TO BE ANSWERED ON 20.11.2019

## RAIL CONNECTIVITY ALONG BORDER AREAS

- †*55.  SHRI NIHAL CHAND:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has prepared any blueprint to connect border areas with railways and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) the  number  of  railway  projects  under  implementation  in  the country including Rajasthan at present;
- (c) whether the Government has fixed any time limit in this regard and if so, the details thereof; and
- (d) whether any scheme is proposed for introduction of new trains or expansion of rail network in Rajasthan, especially in Sriganganagar, Hanumangarh, Churu and Bikaner districts in the near future and if so, the details thereof?

## 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 STARRED QUESTION NO.55 BY SHRI NIHAL CHAND TO BE ANSWERED IN  LOK  SABHA  ON  20.11.2019  REGARDING  RAIL  CONNECTIVITY ALONG BORDER AREAS

(a)  and  (b):  Presently,  Indian  Railways  have  taken  up  498  Railway projects  including  188  New  Lines,  55  Gauge  Conversion  and  255 Doubling Projects which are in different stages of execution/planning/sanction.  This  also  includes  31  projects  falling fully/partly  in  the  State  of  Rajasthan  consisting  of  11  New  Lines,  06 Gauge Conversion & 14 Doubling projects.

India share international border with Pakistan, China, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh  and  Myanmar.  Presently,  India  has  International  Rail connectivity with Pakistan at 02 locations, Nepal at 01 location and with  Bangladesh  at  04  locations.  Similarly,  rail  infrastructure  exists along  the  border  areas  in  the  State  of  Rajasthan,  Punjab,  Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal and Assam and North Eastern Region.

To further strengthen the Railway infrastructure in border areas and to promote international rail connectivity, 14 projects have been commissioned/taken up. Details of these projects are appended.

(c): The timely 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 particular  project  site  due  to  climatic considerations, encountering unforeseen  conditions like earthquake,

flooding, excessive rains, strikes of labour, orders of Hon'ble Courts, situation and conditions  of working agencies/contractors etc. and all these factors affect the completion of the project. Hence, no confirmed time frame be fixed for completion of projects.

(d):  Indian  Railways  do  not  run  trains  on  State-wise  or  district-wise basis as railway network and trains run across State/district boundaries. However, to cater inter alia to the needs of passengers of stations  of  Sriganganagar,  Hanumangarh,  Churu  and  Bikaner  and catchment  areas  thereof,  06  pairs  of  Mail/Express  and  03  pairs  of Passenger trains have been introduced and 06 pairs of Mail/Express and 02 pairs of Passenger trains have been extended during the period April, 2017 to November, 2019 (till date).

In addition, Indian Railways have decided to extend 12259/60 SealdahNew Delhi Duronto Express upto Bikaner and 54604/05 Ludhiana-Churu Passenger upto Ratangarh located on the Churu-Bikaner section.

Besides,  introduction  of  trains  is  an  ongoing  process  on  Indian Railways subject to traffic justification, operational feasibility, availability of resources, etc.

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APPENDIX  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  AND  (b)  OF STARRED QUESTION NO.55 BY SHRI NIHAL CHAND TO BE ANSWERED IN  LOK  SABHA  ON  20.11.2019  REGARDING  RAIL  CONNECTIVITY ALONG BORDER AREAS

(a)  &  (b):  Details  of  on-going  projects  taken  up  for  connectivity  in Border Areas of India are as follows:-

|   SN | Name of Project                                                   |   Length (km) | State                     | Current Status                                                              |
|------|-------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------|---------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|    1 | Agartala-Sabroom new line                                         |           115 | Tripura                   | Commissioned in July 2019                                                   |
|    2 | Radhikapur (India)-Birol (Bangladesh) rail link                   |            08 | West Bengal to Bangladesh | Commissioned in April 2017                                                  |
|    3 | Eklahi-Balurghat New Line                                         |            87 | West Bengal               | Commissioned in December 2004                                               |
|    4 | Haldibari Internation Border New Line                             |            03 | West Bengal               | Civil Work completed & Engine rolling done.                                 |
|    5 | Agartala (India)-Akhuara (Bangladesh) New Line                    |            12 | Tripura to Bangladesh     | Work has been taken up.                                                     |
|    6 | Jogbani (India) to Biratnagar (Nepal) New Line                    |            19 | Bihar to Nepal            | Work in Indian portion (8 km) completed & work taken up in balance portion. |
|    7 | Jayanagar (India) to Bardibas (Nepal) Gauge Conversion & New Line |            69 | Bihar to Nepal            | 35 km completed & work taken up in balance portion.                         |
|    8 | Udhampur-Srinagar- Baramula Rail Link - New Line                  |           272 | Jammu & Kashmir           | 161 Km Commissioned & work taken up in balance portion                      |
|    9 | Rishikesh-Karanprayag new line                                    |           125 | Uttarakhand               | Work taken up                                                               |
|   10 | Thiyat-Hamira-Sanu new line                                       |            59 | Rajasthan                 | Work taken up                                                               |
|   11 | Balurghat-Hilli New Line                                          |            30 | West Bengal               | Land acquisition not yet completed.                                         |

|   SN | Name of Project                                   |   Length (km) | State                 | Current Status                                                                  |
|------|---------------------------------------------------|---------------|-----------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|   12 | Jaynagar-Darbhanga- Narkatiaganj Gauge Conversion |           282 | Bihar                 | 260 Km Gauge Conversion commissioned. Narkatiaganj-Guhana (22km) work taken up. |
|   13 | Bahraich Nanpara- Nepalganj Road Gauge Conversion |            56 | Uttar Pradesh         | Included in budget subject to requisite Government approval                     |
|   14 | Kapilvastu-Basti New Line                         |            91 | Uttar Pradesh & Nepal | Included in budget subject to requisite Government approval                     |

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