Lok Sabha Question No. 3877 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-12-11
Subject: Gauge Conversion
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Ramdas Chandrabhanji Tadas, Chandra Prakash Joshi

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3877 TO BE ANSWERED ON 11.12.2019

## GAUGE CONVERSION

†3877. SHRI RAMDAS C. TADAS: SHRI CHANDRA PRAKASH JOSHI:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a)  whether  trains  are  still  being  operated  on  meter  gauge  railway lines in the country;
- (b) if so, the details thereof;
- (c)  the  reasons  for  non-conversion  of  meter  gauge  lines  into  broad gauge along with the details thereof;
- (d)  the  details  of  the  projects  of  Railways  with  regard  to  gauge conversion;
- (e) the time by which these projects are likely to be completed;
- (f)  the  routes where difficulties are being faced in gauge conversion;
- and
- (g) the steps taken by Railways to overcome these difficulties?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF RAILWAYS AND COMMERCE & INDUSTRY

(SHRI PIYUSH GOYAL)

(a)  & (b) Yes, Sir. At present, 30 pairs of trains are operating on the various Meter Gauge sections over Indian Railways.

(c) to (g) Presently,  Indian  Railways  have  taken  up,  55  Gauge Conversion  projects  of  7,275  Km  length  and  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  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 conditions, encountering unforeseen conditions like earthquake, flooding, 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, extensive 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. For  capacity  enhancement  projects,  institutional  financing  has  been done  by  arranging  loan  of ` 1.5  lakh  crore,  which  has  increased Railways' capacity for committed fund provision for essential projects.

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