Lok Sabha Question No. 1129 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-02-08
Subject: Gauge Conversion
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Ravi Kishan Shukla, Ravindra Kushawaha

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1129 TO BE ANSWERED ON 08.02.2023 GAUGE CONVERSION

†1129. SHRI RAVI KISHAN:

SHRI RAVINDRA KUSHWAHA:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether several trains are still running on meter gauge line;
- (b) if so, the details of the such routes;
- (c) the reasons not converting these meter gauge lines into broad gauge;
- (d)  the  details  of  the  scheme  chalked  out  for  gauge conversion  and the time by which it is likely to be completed;
- (e) the names of train routes facing bottleneck of gauge conversion; and
- (f) the effective steps taken by the Government to remove such
- bottlenecks?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, COMMUNICATIONS AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

## (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

(a) to (f)  Passenger train services are presently being operated on the MG  sectors,  namely,  Mathura-Vrindavan,  Mailani-Bichia,  BahraichNepalganj Road, Marwar-Mavli, Mettupalayam-Udagamandalam, Coonoor- Udagamandalam, Veraval-Amreli, Veraval- Delvada, DelvadaJunagadh, Junagadh -Amreli of Indian Railways.

The  policy  for  Project  Uni-gauge  was  taken  up  in  the  year  1992  to convert selected routes for conversion into broad gauge except those identified  as  Heritage  lines  or  passing  through  Wildlife  Sanctuaries/ National Parks.

As  on  01.04.2022  across  Indian  Railways,  42  Gauge  Conversion projects  of  5,667  Km  length,  costing  ₹50,250  crore,  are  in  different stages of  planning/sanction/execution,  out  of  which  3,488  Km  length has been commissioned and an expenditure of ₹19,235 crore has been incurred upto March, 2022. 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,  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), which is finally worked out  at  the  completion  stage.  As  such,  the  confirmed  time  frame  for completion of projects cannot be ascertained at this stage. However, Railways  is  making  all  the  efforts  for  expeditious  completion  of projects. Various  steps  taken  by  the  Government  for  speedy  sanction  and implementation  of  rail  projects  include  (i)  setting  up  of  Gati  Shakti units (ii) prioritisation of projects (iii) substantial increase in allocation of funds on priority projects (iv) delegation of powers at field level (v) close  monitoring  of  progress  of project at various levels, and (vi) 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.  This  has  led  to substantial increase in rate of commissioning since 2014.

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