Lok Sabha Question No. 4236 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-03-26
Subject: Railway Station Redevelopment Programme in Tamil Nadu
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Thiru Dr. S Jagathratchakan

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4236

## TO BE ANSWERED ON 26.03.2025

RAILWAY STATION REDEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME IN TAMIL NADU 4236.   SHRI S JAGATHRATCHAKAN:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a)  the  number  of  railway  stations  in  Tamil  Nadu  identified  for redevelopment under the Railway Station Redevelopment Programme;
- (b) the current status of these projects including timelines completion;
- for
- (c) whether there have been any delays or budget overruns;
- (d)  if  so,  the  steps  taken/being  taken  by  the  Government  to  address these issues and ensure timely completion of the projects; and
- (e) the status of Tindivanam-Nagari Railway Line project?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, INFORMATION & BROADCASTING AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

(SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

(a)  to  (e)  Ministry  of  Railways  has  launched  Amrit  Bharat  Station Scheme.  So  far,  1337  stations  have  been  identified  for  development under  Amrit  Bharat  Station  Scheme,  out  of  which  77  stations  are located in the state of Tamil Nadu. The names of stations identified for development under Amrit Bharat Station Scheme in the state of Tamil Nadu are as following:

| State      |   No. of Amrit Stations | Names of Amrit Stations                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       |
|------------|-------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Tamil Nadu |                      77 | Ambasamudram, Ambattur, Arakkonam Jn, Ariyalur, Avadi, Bommidi, Chengalpattu Jn, Chennai Beach, Chennai Egmore, Chennai Park, Chidambaram, Chinna Salem, Chrompet, Coimbatore Jn, Coimbatore North, Coonoor, Dharmapuri, Dr. M.G. Ramachandran Central, Dindigul, Erode Jn, Guduvancheri, Guindy, Gummidipundi, Hosur, Jolarpettai Jn, Kanniyakumari, Karaikkudi, Karur Jn, Katpadi, Kovilpatti, Kulitturai, Kumbakonam, Lalgudi, Madurai Jn, Mambalam, Manaparai, Mannargudi, Mayiladuturai Jn, Mettupalayam, Morappur, Nagercoil Jn, Namakkal, Palani, Paramakkudi, Perambur, Podanur Jn, Pollachi, Polur, Pudukkottai, Rajapalayam, Ramanathapuram, Rameswaram, Salem, Samalpatti, Sholavandan, Srirangam, Srivilliputtur, St. Thomas Mount, Tambaram, Tenkasi, Thanjavur Jn, Thiruvarur Jn, Tiruchendur, Tirunelveli Jn, Tirupadripulyur, |

| Tirupattur, Tiruppur, Tirusulam, Tiruttani, Tiruvallur, Tiruvannamalai, Tuticorin, Udagamandalam, Vellore Cantt, Villupuram Jn, Virudhunagar, Vriddhachalam Jn   |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

Development  works  at  railway  stations  under  Amrit  Bharat  Station Scheme in the state of Tamil Nadu have been taken up at a good pace. For example,

-  At  Madurai  station,  structural  works  of  east  side  multi-level two-wheeler parking and electric substation have been completed and works of east side terminal building, both sides multi-level car parking, air concourse, parcel Foot Over Bridge, subway, etc. have been taken up.
-  At Chennai Egmore station, structural work of parcel building has  been  completed  and  works  of  both  sides  multi-level  car parking, GI Road side terminal building, etc. have been taken up.
-  At Rameshwaram station in the state of Tamil Nadu, structural works of north side terminal building, electric sub-station and construction of parcel office have been completed and works of construction of east side terminal building, arrival forecourt, platform improvement, etc. have been taken up.
-  At  Samalpatti  station,  works  of  construction  of  new  main terminal  building  and  main  entry  side  circulating  area  have been  completed  and  works  of  two  wheeler  parking  area,
- raising  of  platform,  construction  of  compound  wall,  etc.  have been taken up.
-  At  Karaikkudi  Station,  works  of  improvement  of  platform shelters,  seating  arrangement,  circulating  area,  parking  area, construction  of  new  porch,  entry  and  exit  gates,  lifts  and installation  of  coach  indication  boards  have  been  completed. The works for  waiting  hall,  covered  pathway,  etc.  have  been taken up.
-  At Ariyalur and Mannargudi stations, works of construction of new  entry  gates,  entrance  porch,  improvement  of  circulating area with approach road, parking area, concourse area, booking counters, platform surface, waiting halls and platform shelters have been completed.

Amrit Bharat Station Scheme envisages development of stations on a continuous basis with a long-term approach. It involves preparation of master  plans  and  their  implementation  in  phases  to  improve  the amenities at the stations like improvement of station access, circulating  areas,  waiting  halls,  toilets,  lift/escalators  as  necessary, platform  surfacing  and  cover  over  platform,  cleanliness,  free  Wi-Fi, kiosks  for  local  products  through  schemes  like  'One  Station  One Product',  better  passenger  information  systems,  executive  lounges, nominated spaces for business meetings, landscaping, etc. keeping in view the necessity at each station.

The scheme also envisages improvement of building, integrating the station with both sides of the city, multimodal integration, amenities for Divyangjans, sustainable and environment friendly solutions, provision  of  ballastless  tracks,  etc.  as  per  necessity,  phasing  and feasibility and creation of city centre at the station in the long term.

Development/upgradation  of  stations  including  under  Amrit  Bharat Station  Scheme  is  generally  funded  under  Plan  Head-53  'Customer Amenities'. The details of allocation and expenditure under Plan Head53  are  maintained  Zonal  Railway-wise  and  not  work-wise  or  stationwise  or  state-wise.  The  state  of  Tamil  Nadu  is  covered  under  two zones  viz.  Southern  Railway  and  SouthWestern  Railway.  For  these zones, an allocation of Rs 1,909 Crores (Revised Estimate) has been made for the financial year 2024-25 under Plan Head-53.

Development/upgradation  of  railway  stations  is  complex  in  nature involving safety of passengers & trains and requires various statutory clearances  such  as  fire  clearance,  heritage,  tree  cutting,  airport clearance  etc.  The  progress  also  gets  affected  due  to  brownfield related challenges such as shifting of utilities (involving water/sewage lines,  optical  fibre  cables,  gas  pipe  lines,  power/signal  cables,  etc.), infringements, operation of trains without hindering passenger movement,  speed  restrictions  due  to  works  carried  out  in  close proximity  of  tracks  and  high  voltage  power  lines,  etc.  and  these factors  affect  the  completion  time.  Therefore,  no  time  frame  can  be indicated at this stage.

Tindivanam-Nagari (184 Km) new line project has been sanctioned at a cost of Rs 3,631 Crores. Out of total 184 Km length, 6 km length from Walajah  Road  to  Ranipet  has  been  completed.  An  expenditure  of  Rs 764 Crores has been incurred up to March, 2024. Work has been taken up in the available land.

Further,  as  on  01.04.2024,  22  Railways  infrastructures  projects  (10 new line, 03 Gauge conversion and 09 doubling) of total length 2,587 Km, costing Rs 33,467 Crores, falling fully/partly in the State of Tamil Nadu are in different stages of planning/sanctioning/ execution, out of which 665 Km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of Rs 7,153 Crores has been incurred up to March, 2024. The summary is as under:-

| Category                 |   No. of proj- ects | Total Length   | Length Commiss -ioned   | Balance to complete   | Expenditure upto March 2024 (Rs in Crores)   |
|--------------------------|---------------------|----------------|-------------------------|-----------------------|----------------------------------------------|
| New line                 |                  10 | 872 Km         | 24 Km                   | 848 Km                | 1,223                                        |
| Gauge conversion         |                   3 | 748 Km         | 604 Km                  | 144 Km                | 3,267                                        |
| Doubling / multitracking |                   9 | 967 Km         | 37 Km                   | 930 Km                | 2,664                                        |
| Total                    |                  22 | 2587 Km        | 665 Km                  | 1922 Km               | 7,153                                        |

In  last  three  years  (i.e.  2021-2022,  2022-2023,  2023-24  and  current Financial Year i.e. 2024-25), total 21 Nos. of Surveys (4 New Line and 17  Doubling)  falling  fully/partly  in  the  State  of  Tamil  Nadu  having  a total  length  of  1813  Km  have  been  sanctioned  and  survey  work  has been taken up.

Execution of important infrastructure projects falling fully/partly in the State of Tamil Nadu is held up due to delay in land acquisition. Status of land acquisition in Tamil Nadu is as under:

| Total Land required for Projects in   | 4288 Ha       |
|---------------------------------------|---------------|
| Tamil Nadu                            |               |
| Land Acquired                         | 991 Ha (23%)  |
| Balance Land to be acquired           | 3297 Ha (77%) |

Support of the Government of Tamil Nadu is needed to expedite the land acquisition.

Details  of  some  major  projects  which  are  delayed  due  to  land acquisition are as under:-

|   SN | Name of the project                          |   Total land required (in Ha) |   Land acquired (in Ha) |   Balance Land to be acquired (in Ha) |
|------|----------------------------------------------|-------------------------------|-------------------------|---------------------------------------|
|    1 | Tindivanam - Tiruvannamalai new line (71 km) |                           273 |                      33 |                                   240 |

|   2. | Attiputtu - Puttur New Line (88 km)   |   189 |   0 |   189 |
|------|---------------------------------------|-------|-----|-------|
|    3 | Morappur - Dharmapuri (36 km)         |    93 |   0 |    93 |
|    4 | Mannargudi - Pattukkottai (41 km)     |   152 |   0 |   152 |
|    5 | Thanjavur - Pattukottai (52 km)       |   196 |   0 |   196 |

Government  of  India  is  geared  up  to  execute  projects,  however success depends upon the support of the Government of Tamil Nadu.

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