Lok Sabha Question No. 1341 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-12-14
Subject: Railway Projects in Maharashtra
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Ajay Kumar Mandal, Navneet Ravi Rana, Ram Kripal Yadav, Locket Chatterjee, Sunil Kumar Pintu, Dileshwar Kamait

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1341

TO BE ANSWERED ON 14.12.2022

## RAILWAY PROJECTS IN BIHAR AND MAHARASHTRA

†1341.  SHRI AJAY KUMAR MANDAL: SHRIMATI NAVNEET RAVI RANA: SHRI RAM KRIPAL YADAV: MS. LOCKET CHATTERJEE: SHRI SUNIL KUMAR PINTU: SHRI DILESHWAR KAMAIT:

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

- (a) the details of train operations discontinued during COVID-19 pandemic in the year, 2020;
- (b) the details of the train operations that have been resumed particularly regarding Amravati;
- (c) the  details  of  the  trains  in  which  the  facilities  of  providing  onboard bedrolls  and  catering  have  not  been  resumed  yet,  State  and  divisionwise;
- (d) the details of the train operations that have not been resumed yet, State and division-wise;
- (e) the status of work  regarding all the rail projects sanctioned in Maharashtra during the last five years including date of sanction by the Railway Board and funds allotted/utilized in this regard;
- (f) the status of acquisition of land for all the ongoing projects;
- (g) whether  the  Government  has  received  any  proposals  from  the  railway zones or Members of Parliament to run a direct Rajdhani or Vande Bharat Express from Bhagalpur in Bihar; and
- (h) if  so,  the  details  of  the  action  being  taken  by  the  Railways  in  this regard?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, COMMUNICATIONS AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

(SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

(a)  to (h) A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

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STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (h) OF UNSTARRED QUESTION  NO.  1341  BY  SHRI  AJAY  KUMAR  MANDAL,  SHRIMATI  NAVNEET RAVI  RANA,  SHRI  RAM  KRIPAL  YADAV,  MS.  LOCKET  CHATTERJEE,  SHRI SUNIL KUMAR PINTU AND SHRI DILESHWAR KAMAIT TO BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 14.12.2022 REGARDING RAILWAY PROJECTS IN BIHAR AND MAHARASHTRA

(a)  to  (d)  With  a  view  to  contain  the  spread  of  Covid-19  pandemic,  Indian Railways  had  discontinued  the  operation  of  all  regular  passenger  carrying trains with effect from 23rd March, 2020 and only special train services were being operated.  Since November-2021, Mail/express train services are being operated  as  per  rationalized  timetable  and  regular  numbers.  The  passenger services  are  being  operationalised  in  a  phased  manner.    Indian  Railways  is keeping  a  close  watch  on  the  situation  and  regulating  operations  of  trains accordingly.  Indian Railways do not operate trains on State-wise basis.  As on 08.12.2022,  Indian  Railways,  on  a  daily  average  basis,  operated  10293  train services which includes 1954 Mail/Express trains and 2680 Passenger trains. At present, Amravati is being served by 11 pairs of Mail/Express trains.  Since November-2021,  Mail/express train services are being operated as per rationalized timetable and regular numbers. The passenger services are being operationalised  in  a  phased  manner.  The  Zone-wise/Division-wise  details  of trains not restored as on 07.12.2022 are : Central Railway (Pune-4), East Coast Railway  (Sambalpur-4, Khurda  Road-2,  Waltair-10), East Central  Railway (Danapur-2, Deen Dayal Upadhyaya-4, Dhanbad-4), Eastern Railway (Asansol-2), North Eastern Railway(Lucknow-8), North Western Railway (Jodhpur-10, Jaipur-2),  South  East  Central  Railway  (Nagpur-10,  Raipur-2),  South  Central Railway (Secunderabad-2, Hyderabad-2, Vijayawada-6, Guntakal-2), South Eastern  Railway  (Ranchi-4),  West  Central  Railway  (Jabalpur-4,  Bhopal  -2), South  Western  Railway  (Mysuru-1,  Hubli-2),  Northern  Railway  (Lucknow-4, Delhi-6, Firozpur-5), North Central Railway (Prayagraj-8).

Linen/Bedrolls are being provided in all trains of Divisions falling in the State  of  Maharashtra  except  Train  Nos.  12767/12768  (Hazur  Sahib  Nanded  Santragachi Jn), 17619/17620 (Aurangabad -Hazur Sahib Nanded),

17621/17622  (Aurangabad  -  Tirupati),  12751/12752  (Hazur  Sahib  Nanded  Jammu  Tawi),  12753/12754  (Hazur  Sahib  Nanded  -  Hazrat  Nizamuddin). Catering services in trains  have  resumed  from  the  respective  date  of resumption of train services after the COVID-19 pandemic.  These services are provided  either  through  Pantry  Cars/Mini  Pantries  or  Train  Side  Vending  or static catering units at en-route stations.  In addition, e-catering facilities have also been resumed.

(e)    &  (f)  The  Railway  projects  are  sanctioned  Zonal  Railway  wise  and  not State wise/UT wise as the Railways' projects may span across various state boundaries.  During  the  last  5  years  i.e.  2017-18  till  2021-22  and  upto November,  2022-23,  8  projects (3 New  line,  3  Doubling  and  2  Gauge Conversion) of total length 918 km costing ₹ 10,468 Crore falling fully/partly in the state of Maharashtra have been sanctioned.  As on 01.04.2022, 34 projects (16  New  Lines,  02  Gauge  Conversions  and  16  Doubling),  of  total  length  of 6,118 Km, costing ₹ 80,079 crore falling fully/partly in Maharashtra are under different stages of planning/ approval/ execution, out of which 1,155 km length has  been  commissioned  and  an  expenditure  of ₹ 21,296 crore  has  been incurred  upto  March,  2022.    The  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 (RSP).  Since 2014, there has been substantial increase in Budget allocation and commensurate commissioning of projects across Indian Railways. Average Budget allocation for Infrastructure projects and safety works, falling fully/ partly in Maharashtra,  during  2014-19  has  been  enhanced  to ₹ 4,801  crore  per  year from ₹ 1,171 crore per year (during 2009-14) which is 310% more than average allocation  during  2009-14  ( ₹ 1171  crore/year).  These  allocations  have  been increased  to ₹ 7,281  crore  in  Financial  Year  2019-20  (522%  more  than  the Average Annual Budget allocation of 2009-14), ₹ 6,700 crore in Financial Year

2020-21 (472% more than the Average Annual Budget allocation of 2009-14) and ₹ 8,547  crore  for  Financial  Year  2021-22  (630%  more  than  the  Average Annual Budget allocation of 2009-14). For Financial Year 2022-23, highest ever budget outlay of ₹ 11,903 crore has been provided for these projects, which is 916% more than the Average Annual Budget Outlay of 2009-14 ( ₹ 1171 crore per  year).    During  2014-22,  1,141  km  sections  (118  km  New  Line,  136  km Gauge  Conversion  and  887  km  Doubling)  falling  fully/partly  in  Maharashtra have  been  commissioned  at  an  average  rate  142.69  km  per  year,  which  is 144% more than average commissioning during 2009-14 (58.4 km/year). For Railway infrastructure projects such as construction of New Lines, Gauge  Conversion  and  Multi  tracking  works,  acquisition  of  land  including private land is done by the Railways through concerned State Governments. The process of land acquisition for Railway projects is continuous and some land  has  been  acquired  and  some  are  in  various  stages  of  acquisition  for execution of various Railway projects across the Maharashtra State. Railways  is  closely  and  regularly  following  up  with  State  Governments  and concerned  authorities  for  expeditious  land  acquisition  /  demarcation  for Infrastructure projects. (g) & (h) Rajdhani Express services are premium services which provide direct connectivity between the National Capital and State Capitals.  Requests for introduction of Rajdhani or Vande Bharat Express originating from Bhagalpur including  that  from  the  Hon'ble  Member  of  Parliament,  Shri  Ajay  Kumar Mandal,  have  been  received.    Introduction  of  Rajdhani  or  Vande  Bharat Express  from  Bhagalpur,  is  not  feasible,  at  present,  due  to  operational  and resource  constraints.  However,  introduction  of  trains  including  Rajdhani Express and Vande Bharat Express is an ongoing process on Indian Railways, which  is  dependent  on  operational  feasibility,  resource  availability,  traffic pattern, competing demand etc,

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