Lok Sabha Question No. 2632 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-03-10
Subject: National Rail Plan for India - 2030
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Rajveer (Raju Bhaiya) Singh, Jayanta Kumar Roy, Bhola Singh, Sangeeta Kumari Singh Deo, Sukanta Majumdar, Vinod Kumar Sonkar, Shobha Karandlaje, Sarmistha Sethi, Vellalath Kochukrishnan Nair. Sreekandan, Raja Amareshwara Naik

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION  NO. 2632 TO BE ANSWERED ON  10.03.2021

## NATIONAL RAIL PLAN FOR INDIA - 2030

## 2632. SHRI RAJVEER SINGH (RAJU BAAIYA):

DR. JAYANTA KUMAR ROY:

SHRI BHOLA SINGH:

SHRIMATI SANGEETA KUMARI SINGH DEO:

DR. SUKANTA MAJUMDAR:

SHRI VINOD KUMAR SONKAR:

KUMARI SHOBHA KARANDLAJE:

SHRIMATI SARMISTHA SETHI:

SHRI V.K.SREEKANDAN:

SHRI RAJA AMARESHWARA NAIK:

## Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Railways has prepared a National Rail Plan for India-2030 to create a 'future ready' Railway system by the year, 2030;
- (b) if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether the Railways proposes to monetise its Infrastructure Assets and Dedicated  Freight  Corridor  (DFC)  assets  for  operations  and  maintenance, after its commissioning and if so, the details thereof;
- (d) whether the Government has also launched Vision 2024 for accelerated implementation  of  certain  critical  projects  by  2024  and  if  so,  the  details thereof;
- (e) the expected time by which the new DFCs will be commissioned and the funds  allocated and  spent  for this infrastructure project as on  31st December, 2020;
- (f) whether the Government has proposed to introduce two new technologies  'MetroLite'  and  'MetroNeo'  to  provide  metro  rail  systems  at much lesser cost and if so, the details thereof; and
- (g) the other steps being taken by the Government to reform Railways in the country?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, COMMERCE & INDUSTRY AND CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD & PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION

(SHRI PIYUSH GOYAL)

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

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STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  TO  (g)  OF  UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2632 BY SHRI RAJVEER SINGH (RAJU BAAIYA), DR. JAYANTA KUMAR ROY, SHRI BHOLA SINGH, SHRIMATI SANGEETA KUMARI SINGH DEO, DR.  SUKANTA  MAJUMDAR,  SHRI  VINOD  KUMAR  SONKAR,  KUMARI  SHOBHA KARANDLAJE,  SHRIMATI  SARMISTHA  SETHI,  SHRI  V.K.SREEKANDAN  AND SHRI  RAJA  AMARESHWARA  NAIK  TO  BE  ANSWERED  IN  LOK  SABHA  ON 10.03.2021 REGARDING NATIONAL RAIL PLAN FOR INDIA - 2030.

- (a) and (b): Indian Railways have prepared a National Rail Plan (NRP) for India - 2030. The Plan is to create a 'future ready' Railway system by 2030.  The NRP is aimed to formulate strategies based on both operational capacities and commercial policy initiatives to increase modal share of the Railways in freight to 45%. The objective of the Plan is to create capacity ahead of demand, which in turn would also cater to future growth in demand right up to 2050 and also increase the modal share of Railways to 45% in freight traffic and to continue to sustain it. The draft plan has been put up in the public domain (The Indian Railways website) and is also being circulated amongst stakeholders for comments/remarks.

## The key objectives of the National Rail Plan are:-

-  Formulate strategies based on both operational capacities and commercial policy initiatives to increase modal share of the Railways in freight to 45%.
-  Reduce  transit  time  of  freight  substantially  by  increasing  average speed of freight trains to 50Kmph.
-  As part of the National Rail Plan, Vision 2024 has been launched for accelerated implementation of certain critical projects by 2024 such as 100% electrification, multi-tracking of congested routes, upgradation of speed to 160 kmph on Delhi-Howrah and Delhi-Mumbai routes, upgradation of speed to 130kmph  on  all other Golden Quadrilateral-Golden  Diagonal  (GQ/GD)  routes  and  elimination  of  all Level Crossings on all GQ/GD route.
- 
- Identify new Dedicated Freight Corridors.
-  Identify new High Speed Rail Corridors.
-  Assess  rolling  stock  requirement  for  passenger  traffic  as  well  as wagon requirement for freight.
-  Assess  Locomotive  requirement  to  meet  twin  objectives  of  100% electrification (Green Energy) and increasing freight modal share.
-  Assess  the  total  investment  in  capital  that  would  be  required  along with a periodical break up.
-  Sustained involvement of the Private Sector in areas like operations and ownership of rolling stock, development of freight and passenger terminals, development/operations of track infrastructure etc.

(c): Yes, Sir. The same has been announced in the budget speech of 2020-21,

{para 47 (b) & 47 (d) (v)}. The details have not been worked out yet.

(d):  Yes,  Sir.  58  Super  critical  Projects  of  a  total  length  of  3750  kms  costing ` 39,663  Crore,  out  of  which  commissioning  of  2279  km  length  has  been achieved  and  an  expenditure  of  Rs.28,891  Crore  has  been  incurred  upto March,2020. Similarly, 68 Critical Projects of a total length of 6913 kms costing ` 75,736 Crore, out of which commissioning of 838 km length has been achieved and an expenditure of Rs.25,434 Crore has been incurred upto March,2020. Till date 25 Super Critical Projects and 3 Critical projects have been completed. (e): The work related to preparation of Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the following Dedicated Freight Corridors (DFCs) have been entrusted to Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Limited :-

- (i)
- East Coast Corridor - Kharagpur - Vijaywada- Length 1115 Kms.
- (ii) East-West sub Corridor
- Bhusawal-Wardha-Nagpur-Rajkharswan-Kharagpur-Uluberia-
- a. Dankuni - Length-1673 Kms.
- b.
- Rajkharswan-Kalipahari-Andal- 195 Kms.
- (iii)   North South Sub Corridor- Vijaywada -Nagpur-Itarsi - Length - 975 Kms.
- The  decision  with  regard  to  taking  up  the  new  DFCs  and  mode  of implementation and financing is based on the final outcome of the DPR. (f):  Urban transport is an integral part of urban development which is a state subject. Respective state governments are, therefore, responsible for initiating and developing urban transport infrastructure, including metro rail projects/MetroLite/MetroNeo  in  cities  or  urban  agglomerates.  The  Central Government  considers  financial  assistance  for  metro  rail  proposals,  on  the basis  of  the  feasibility  of  the  proposal  and  availability  of  resources,  as  and when posed by the concerned state governments. Details of new technologies are as under:(i)  MetroLite - Standards for Light Urban Rail Transit system called "MetroLite" have been issued by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs in July, 2019. This low-cost solution is suitable for cities with lower projection of ridership that are aspiring for rail-based mass transit system. This system can also be used  as  feeder  to  high  capacity  metro  rail  system.  State  Governments  have been requested to adopt MetroLite as a prime mode of mass transit in smaller cities.  Cost  of  its  construction  is  about  40%  of  high  capacity  metro  system. This  system  is  more  viable  and  sustainable  due  to  its  very  less  capital, operation and maintenance costs. (ii) MetroNeo- MetroNeo is rubber-tyred electric coach powered by overhead traction system running on a road slab with an exclusive right of way, standard specification  of  which  has  been  issued  in  November  2020  by  the  Ministry  of Housing  and  Urban  Affairs.  It  will  provide  a  similar  experience  and  ease  of travel  in  terms  of  comfort,  convenience,  safety,  punctuality,  reliability,  & environment-friendliness  as  that  of  a  conventional  metro  system.  This  is suitable for tier-2 cities with lower Peak Hour Peak Direction Traffic (PHPDT). Low capital cost of MetroNeo is attributed to much lighter civil structure due to lesser axle load (10 ton), absence of track and  Communications Based Train Control (CBTC) signaling, open and simple station structure, requirement of low power rated electrical equipment, etc. like MetroLite. This system can also be

developed either At-Grade or elevated with low curve radius thus avoiding the need for underground construction. (g):  Other  steps  taken  by  the  Government  to  reform  Railways  in  the  country are:

-  Process  reforms  to  improve  project  execution-  Projects  have  been prioritized into super critical and critical from the point of view of freight traffic  and  these  have  been  provided with prioritized fund allocation for time-bound completion.
-  Business  Development  Units  (BDUs)  have  been  set  up  to  attract  new business by providing compelling value-for-money logistics solutions.
-  Indian Railways is undertaking a Public Private Partnership (PPP) approach  for  Passenger  Train  Operations  to  enhance  overall  service quality and operational efficiency.
-  Proliferation of indigenously developed automatic train protection system that eliminates train collision due to human error.
-  Indian Railways has leveraged digital platforms to encourage transparency  in  all  the  facets  of  functioning  to  enhance  customer satisfaction and outreach.
-  In order to provide integrated multi modal solution - end to end planning of  transport  infrastructure  across  modes,  Indian  Railways  is  part  of  the Sectoral  Group  comprising  of  Infrastructure  Ministries  such  as  Civil Aviation  (Convener),  Shipping,  Road  Transport  and  Highways,  Housing and Urban Affairs.

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