Lok Sabha Question No. 4555 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-03-30
Subject: New Railway Lines in Tamil Nadu
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: M. Selvaraj, T. R. Paarivendhar

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4555 TO BE ANSWERED ON 30.03.2022

## NEW RAILWAY LINES IN TAMIL NADU

4555. SHRI M. SELVARAJ:

DR. T.R. PAARIVENDHAR:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Railways is on the process of laying of new railway lines, gauge conversion, doubling of railway lines, electrification and signaling in Indian Railways across the country including Tamil Nadu during the last three years;
- (b) if so, the details thereof;
- (c) the  total  number  of  new  railway  lines,  gauge  conversion,  doubling  of railway lines, electrification and signaling in new railway lines that have been undertaken/under process completed in Tamil Nadu during the last three years;
- (d) whether the Railways has faced any impediments and hardships while implementing the above schemes in Tamil Nadu; and
- (e) if so, the details thereof and the measures taken by the Government to overcome these hardships?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, COMMUNICATIONS AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

(SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

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

*****

STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (e) OF UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4555 BY SHRI M. SELVARAJ AND DR. T.R. PAARIVENDHAR  TO  BE  ANSWERED  IN  LOK  SABHA  ON  30.03.2022 REGARDING NEW RAILWAY LINES IN TAMIL NADU

(a) & (b): Yes, Sir. The Railway projects are sanctioned Zonal Railway wise  and  not  State  wise  as  the  Railways'  projects  may  span  across various state boundaries.

## INDIAN RAILWAYS

As  on  01.04.2021  across  Indian  Railways  including  Tamil  Nadu,  484 Railway  projects  (187  New  Line,  46  gauge  Conversion  and  251 Doubling) of 51,165 Km length, costing approx. ` 7.53 lakh crore are in different  stages  of  planning/sanction/execution,  out  of  which,  10,638 Km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of approx. ` 2.14 lakh crore has been incurred upto March, 2021.

The status of commissioning of New lines/Gauge Conversion/Doubling projects across Indian Railways including Tamil Nadu during the last three years and current is summarized below:-

| Plan Head        |   2018-19 (Km) |   2019-20 (Km) |   2020-21 (Km) |   2021-22 (upto Feb'2022) (Km) |
|------------------|----------------|----------------|----------------|--------------------------------|
| New Lines        |            480 |            360 |            286 |                            148 |
| Gauge Conversion |            597 |            408 |            470 |                            358 |
| Doubling         |           1519 |           1458 |           1614 |                           1493 |
| Total            |           2596 |           2226 |           2370 |                           1999 |

At present, 97 Railway Electrification projects across Indian Railways including Tamil Nadu of 18,245 Route Km costing ` 23,288 Crore are in different stages of planning/ execution.

The status of Electrification projects during the last three years and current year across Indian Railways including Tamil Nadu is summarised below:-

| Year-wise Electrification   | Year-wise Electrification   | Year-wise Electrification   | Year-wise Electrification        |
|-----------------------------|-----------------------------|-----------------------------|----------------------------------|
| 2018-19 (Route              | 2019-20 (Route Km)          | 2020-21 (Route Km)          | 2021-22 (upto Feb'22) (Route Km) |
| Km)                         |                             |                             |                                  |
| 5276                        | 4378                        | 6015                        | 3224                             |

Likewise,  the  status  of  Modernisation  of  Signalling  System  across Indian Railways including Tamil Nadu during the last three years and the current year is summarised below:-

|    |                                                 | Year- wise Modernisation   | Year- wise Modernisation   | Year- wise Modernisation   | Year- wise Modernisation   |
|----|-------------------------------------------------|----------------------------|----------------------------|----------------------------|----------------------------|
| SN | Items                                           | 2018-19                    | 2019-20                    | 2020-21                    | 2021-22 (Upto Feb'22)      |
| 1  | Electronic Interlocking Station (Numbers)       | 393                        | 417                        | 355                        | 364                        |
| 2  | Block Proving by Axle Counter (Block Sections). | 400                        | 375                        | 240                        | 231                        |

|    |                                            | Year- wise Modernisation   | Year- wise Modernisation   | Year- wise Modernisation   | Year- wise Modernisation   |
|----|--------------------------------------------|----------------------------|----------------------------|----------------------------|----------------------------|
| SN | Items                                      | 2018-19                    | 2019-20                    | 2020-21                    | 2021-22 (Upto Feb'22)      |
| 3  | Level Crossing Gate interlocking (Numbers) | 413                        | 108                        | 190                        | 209                        |
| 4  | Intermediate Block Signaling (Numbers)     | 49                         | 40                         | 60                         | 55                         |
| 5  | Automatic Signaling                        | 147                        | 279                        | 200                        | 178                        |

Zonal Railway wise details of Railway projects including cost, expenditure and outlay are made 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) >Rail Budget/Pink Book (Year)> Railway wise Works Machinery and Rolling Stock Programme.

## TAMIL NADU

- (c): Tamil Nadu is covered by Southern Railway (SR), South Western Railway  (SWR)  and  South  Central  Railway  (SCR)  zone  of  Indian Railways.

As on 01.04.21, 25 projects (09 new line, 4 Gauge conversion and 12 28,307  crore  falling fully/partly  in  the  State  of  Tamil  Nadu  are  under  different  stages  of doubling)  of  total  length  3,077  Km  costing ` planning/approval/execution. These include:-

-  9 New Line Projects of total length of 871 km at a cost of ` 7,910 crore. An expenditure of ` 575 crore has been incurred upto March 2021.
-  4  Gauge  Conversion  Project  of  total  length  of  839  km  at  a  cost  of ` 5,838 crore, out of which 604 Km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of ` 2,972 crore has been incurred upto March 2021.
-  12 Doubling Projects of total length of 1,367 km at a cost of ` 14,559 crore,  out  of  which  246  Km  length  has  been  commissioned  and  an expenditure of ` 3,299 crore has been incurred upto March 2021.

During 2014-21, 996 km sections (404 km of Gauge Conversion and 592 km  of  Doubling)  falling  fully/partly  in  the  State  of  Tamil  Nadu  have been commissioned at an average rate 142.29 km per year.

Out  of  3864  Broad  Gauge  Route  Km,  3064  Route  km  has  been electrified  and  Electrification  works  on  the  balance  Broad  Gauge Railway  electrification falling routes have  been  taken  up.  Presently, 7 projects  of  1,169  Km  Route  length  costing ` 1,595 crore fully/partly in Tamil Nadu are under execution.

The status of electrification works in Tamil Nadu during the last three years and current year is summarized below:-

| Year-wise Electrification (in Tamil Nadu)   | Year-wise Electrification (in Tamil Nadu)   | Year-wise Electrification (in Tamil Nadu)   | Year-wise Electrification (in Tamil Nadu)   |
|---------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------|
| 2018-19                                     | 2019-20                                     | 2020-21 (Route                              | 2021-22 (upto Feb'22)                       |
| (Route Km)                                  | (Route Km)                                  | Km)                                         | (Route Km)                                  |
| 196                                         | 167                                         | 263                                         | 404                                         |

Likewise,  36  Signaling  projects  of  approx.  cost  of ` 1,315  Crore  are under various stages of execution in Tamil Nadu.

There has been substantial increase in budget allocation since 2014. Average annual Budget allocation for Infrastructure and safety works, falling  fully/  partly  in  State  of  Tamil  Nadu,  during  2014-19  has  been enhanced  to ` 1,979  crore  per  year  from ` 879  crore  per  year  during 2009-14,  which  is  125%  more  than  average  annual  budget  outlay  of 2009-14.  For Financial Year 2019-20 budget allocation of ` 2410 crore (174%  more  than  average  annual  allocation  of  2009-14)  and  for Financial Year 2020-21, budget outlay of ` 2812 crore (220% more than average  annual  budget  allocation  of  2009-14)  has  been  provided  for these works. For Financial Year 2021-22, highest ever budget outlay of ` 3730 crore (original BE ` 2,972 crore and additional outlay ` 758 Crore has been provided for these works, which is 324% more than average annual budget outlay of 2009-14.

(d) & (e): The completion of any Railway project(s) depends on various factors like quick land acquisition by State Government,  forest clearance by officials of forest department, deposition of cost share by

State Government in cost sharing projects, priority of 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. and all these  factors  affect  the  completion  time  and  cost  of  the  project(s). However, Railways is making all the efforts for expeditious completion of projects.

Various steps being taken by the Government for effective and speedy implementation of rail projects include (i) prioritisation of projects (ii) substantial  increase  in  allocation  of  funds  on  priority  projects  (iii) delegation of powers at field level (iv) close  monitoring  of  progress of  project  at  various  levels,  and  (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.

******