Lok Sabha Question No. 1331 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-02-09
Subject: Railway Projects in West Bengal
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Prasun Banerjee

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1331 TO BE ANSWERED ON 09.02.2022

## RAILWAY PROJECTS IN WEST BENGAL

1331.  SHRI PRASUN BANERJEE:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) the details of new rail projects, sanctioned for West Bengal since 2014; zone and year-wise;
- (b) the  number  of  projects,  out  of  the  above,  on  which  work  is  going  on along with the amount spent thereon so far and the steps being taken by the  Government  for  timely  completion  of  these  projects;  project-wise; and
- (c) the  details  of  the  operation  of  new  trains  announced  during  the  last three years in West Bengal?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, COMMUNICATIONS AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

(SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

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

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STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (c) OF UNSTARRED QUESTION  NO.  1331  BY  SHRI  PRASUN  BANERJEE  TO  BE  ANSWERED  IN LOK  SABHA  ON  09.02.2022  REGARDING  RAILWAY  PROJECTS  IN  WEST BENGAL

(a)  and  (b):  Railway  projects  are  not  sanctioned  State-wise.    Projects  are sanctioned and executed Zonal Railway wise as railway projects may span across State boundaries.  However, since 2014, 09 Railway projects falling fully/partly  in  the  State  of  West  Bengal  have  been  sanctioned.  Details  are appended herewith.

As on 01.04.2021, 53 projects (16 new lines, 04 gauge conversions and 33 doublings),  costing ₹ 55,174  crore,  covering  a  length  of  4,463  Km,  falling fully/partly  in  the  State  of  West  Bengal  including  those  projects  included since  2014,  are  in  different  stages  of  planning/approval/execution.  Out  of which  2,001  Km  length  has  been  commissioned  and  an  expenditure  of ₹ 19,176 crore has been incurred upto March'21. These include:

-  16  new  line  projects  covering  a  length  of  1,538  Km,  costing ₹ 21,626 crore,  out  of  which,  683  Km  length  has  been  commissioned  and  an expenditure of ₹ 8,556 crore has been incurred upto March'21.
-  4  gauge  conversion  projects  covering  a  length  of  1,200  Km,  costing ₹ 7,848  crore,  out  of  which,  838  Km  length  commissioned  and  an expenditure of ₹ 3,534 crore has been incurred upto March'21.
-  33  doubling  projects  covering  a  length  of  1,725  Km,  costing ₹ 25,700 crore,  out  of  which,  480  Km  length  has  been  commissioned  and  an expenditure of ₹ 7,086 crore has been incurred upto March'21.

Railway Infrastructure  Projects  in  the  state  of  West  Bengal  is  covered  by Eastern Railway (ER), South Eastern Railway (SER) and Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) Zones of Indian Railways.  The project-wise details including cost,  expenditure  and  outlay  are  available  in  public  domain  on  Indian Railways  website  i.e.  www.indianrailways.gov.in  >  Ministry  of  Railways  >

Railway  Board  >  About  Indian  Railways  >  Railway  Board  Directorates  > Finance  (Budget)>Pink  Book  (year)>Railways-wise  Works,  Machinery  & Rolling Stock Programme (RSP). Completion of any Railway project/s depends on various factors like quick land  acquisition  by  State  Government,  forestry  clearance  by  officials  of forest  department,  deposition  of  State  share  by  the  State  Government  in cost  sharing  projects,  shifting  of  infringing  utilities,  statutory  clearances from  various  authorities,  geological  and  topographical  conditions  of  area, law  and  order  situation  in  the  area  of  project/s  site,  number  of  working months in a year for particular project site due to climatic conditions, etc. All these factors affect the completion time of the project/s. Nevertheless, Railways are making all efforts to complete these projects at the earliest. Railways have taken up various steps for effective and speedy implementation of rail projects which include (i) prioritisation of projects, (ii) substantial increase in allocation of funds, (iii) delegation of powers at field level, (iv) close monitoring of progress of project at various levels (v) regular follow up with State Governments and concerned authorities for expeditious land  acquisition,  forestry  and  Wildlife  clearances  and  for  resolving  other issues pertaining to projects. (c):      Indian  Railways  do  not  run  train  services  on  State-wise  basis  as Railway  network  straddles  across  State  boundaries.    However,  16  train services  (in  single  on  originating/terminating  basis)  have  been  introduced during (last three years) 2019-20 to 2021-22 (till Dec. 2021), serving various stations located in the State of West Bengal.

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APPENDIX REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) AND (b) OF UNSTARRED QUESTION  NO.  1331  BY  SHRI  PRASUN  BANERJEE  TO  BE  ANSWERED  IN LOK  SABHA  ON  09.02.2022  REGARDING  RAILWAY  PROJECTS  IN  WEST BENGAL

New Projects falling fully/partly in West Bengal since 2014-15.

|   S. No. | Rly   | PH   | Name of Project                                |   Length of project (in Km) | Year of Sanction   |
|----------|-------|------|------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------|--------------------|
|        1 | NFR   | NL   | Haldibari- Int. Border                         |                           3 | 2016-17            |
|        2 | SER   | DL   | Mohsila-Kalipahari                             |                           5 | 2015-16            |
|        3 | ER    | DL   | Sagardighi- Malda Town (Nimtita - New Farakka) |                          25 | 2016-17            |
|        4 | NFR   | DL   | New Mainaguri- Gumanihat remaining portion     |                          52 | 2017-18            |
|        5 | SER   | DL   | Kharagpur-Adityapur 3 rd line                  |                         132 | 2016-17            |
|        6 | SER   | DL   | Narayangarh-Bhadrak 3rd line                   |                         153 | 2018-19            |
|        7 | SER   | DL   | Damodar-Mohisila                               |                           8 | 2016-17            |
|        8 | SER   | DL   | Purulia-Kotshila                               |                          39 | 2019-20            |
|        9 | ER    | DL   | Byepass at Sainthia,                           |                          24 | 2018-19            |

Note:   SER for South Eastern Railway, NFR for Northeast Frontier Railway ER  for Eastern Railway DL for Doubling NL for New Line ******