Lok Sabha Question No. 195 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-12-07
Subject: Railway Projects in West Bengal
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Navneet Ravi Rana, Locket Chatterjee, Sunil Kumar Pintu, Riti Pathak, Geeta Kora, Ajay Kumar Mandal, Ramesh Chander Kaushik

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 195 TO BE ANSWERED ON 07.12.2022

## RAILWAY PROJECTS IN WEST BENGAL

## †195. SHRIMATI NAVNEET RAVI RANA:

MS. LOCKET CHATTERJEE:

SHRI SUNIL KUMAR PINTU:

SHRIMATI RITI PATHAK:

SHRIMATI GEETA KORA:

SHRI AJAY KUMAR MANDAL:

SHRI RAMESH CHANDER KAUSHIK:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government proposes to lay new Rail Lines and operate new trains in West Bengal;
- (b) if so, the details thereof;
- (c)  the  project-wise  funds  allocated  towards new Railway Projects for the  States  of  West  Bengal,  Bihar,  Madhya  Pradesh,  Jharkhand  and Haryana during the last five years and the current year; and
- (d) whether the Government proposes to resume the services of trains which were discontinued during the period of Covid?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, COMMUNICATIONS AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

(SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

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

*****

STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  TO  (d)  OF UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 195 BY SHRIMATI NAVNEET RAVI RANA, MS. LOCKET CHATTERJEE,  SHRI SUNIL KUMAR PINTU, SHRIMATI RITI PATHAK,  SHRIMATI  GEETA  KORA,  SHRI  AJAY  KUMAR  MANDAL  AND SHRI RAMESH CHANDER KAUSHIK TO BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 07.12.2022 REGARDING RAILWAY PROJECTS IN WEST BENGAL (a) to (d): Railway projects are sanctioned and executed Zonal Railway wise  and  not  State  wise  as  Railway  projects  may  span  across  State boundaries. Railway projects are taken up on the basis of remunerativeness,  last  mile  connectivity,  missing  links  and  alternate routes,  augmentation  of  congested/saturated  lines,  socio-economic considerations etc. depending upon throwforward of ongoing projects, overall availability of funds and competing demands. However, as on 01.04.2022, 50 Railway projects (16 new lines, 04 gauge conversions  and  30  doublings),  costing ₹ 51,645  crore,  covering  total length of 4,365 Km, falling fully/partly in the State of West Bengal are in different stages of planning/approval/execution, out of which 2,065 Km length  have  been  commissioned  and  an  expenditure  of ₹ 20,974  crore has been incurred upto March'22. Since 2014, there has been substantial increase in allocation of funds and  commensurate  commissioning  of  Infrastructure  projects.  Average Annual  Budget  allocation  for  Infrastructure  projects  &  safety  works, falling  fully/  partly  in  State  of  West  Bengal,  during  2014-19  has  been enhanced  to ₹ 4,612  crore  per  year  from ₹ 4,380  crore  per  year  during 2009-14,  which  is  5%  more  than  Average  Annual  Budget  allocation during  2009-14.  These  allocations have been increased to ₹ 5,033  crore in  Financial Year 2019-20 (15% more than the Average Annual Budget allocation  of  2009-14), ₹ 5,246  crore  in  Financial  Year  2020-21  (20% more than the Average Annual Budget allocation of 2009-14) and ₹ 6,988 crore  in  Financial  Year  2021-22  (60%  more  than  the  Average  Annual

Budget  Outlay  of  2009-14).  For  Financial  Year  2022-23,  highest  ever Budget outlay  of ₹ 10,262  crore  has  been  provided  for  these  projects, which is 134% more than the Average Annual Budget Outlay of 2009-14 ( ₹ 4,380 crore per year).

During  2014-22,  998  km  sections  (88  km  new  line,  151  km  Gauge conversion and 759 km doubling) falling fully/partly in the state of West Bengal have been commissioned at an average rate 124.75 km per year.

Railway  Infrastructure  Projects  in  the  State  of  West  Bengal,  Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand and Haryana are covered as under:-

|   S. No. | State          | Railway Zones Concerned                                                                                                                                                                                                 |
|----------|----------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|        1 | West Bengal    | Eastern Railway (ER), South Eastern Railway (SER) and Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR)                                                                                                                                  |
|        2 | Bihar          | East Central Railway (ECR), Eastern Railway (ER), North Eastern Railway (NER) and Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR)                                                                                                      |
|        3 | Madhya Pradesh | South East Central (SECR), Western Railway (WR), West Central Railway (WCR), South Central Railway (SCR), North Central Railway (NCR), North Western Railway (NWR), East Central Railway (ECR) and Central Railway (CR) |
|        4 | Jharkhand      | East Central Railway (ECR), Eastern Railway (ER), South Eastern Railway (SER) and South East Central Railway (SECR)                                                                                                     |
|        5 | Haryana        | Northern Railway (NR), North Central Railway (NCR) and North Western Railway (NWR)                                                                                                                                      |

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). Indian  Railways  do  not  operate  train  services  on  state-wise  basis  as Railway network straddles across state boundaries. However, subject to operational feasibility, traffic justification and availability of resources,  introduction  of  train  services  is  an  ongoing  process  over Indian Railways. To  prevent  the  spread  of  COVID-19  pandemic,  Indian  Railways  had discontinued  all  regular  passengers  carrying  trains  w.e.f.  23 rd   March, 2020.  Since  November,  2021  Mail/  Express  trains  are  being  operated with regular numbers as per rationalized time table. Besides, passenger train services are being oprationalized in a phased manner. *****