Lok Sabha Question No. 1611 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-12-13
Subject: Expanding Rail Network
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Bharatiben Dhirubhai Shyal, Arvind Kumar Sharma, Shankar Lalwani

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1611 TO BE ANSWERED ON 13.12.2023

## EXPANDING RAIL NETWORK

1611. DR. BHARATIBEN DHIRUBHAI SHIYAL: DR. ARVIND KUMAR SHARMA: SHRI SHANKAR LALWANI:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government is actively addressing the challenges that  India  may  encounter  in  maintaining  and  expanding  its extensive rail networks;
- (b) if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether  the  Government  has  identified  it  as  vital  for  the continuous enhancement of the country's transportation infrastructure; and
- (d) if so, the steps taken in this direction?

## 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.

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STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  TO  (d)  OF UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1611 BY DR. BHARATIBEN DHIRUBHAI SHIYAL, DR. ARVIND KUMAR  SHARMA  AND  SHRI  SHANKAR LALWANI TO BE ANSWERED  IN LOK SABHA  ON  13.12.2023 REGARDING EXPANDING RAIL NETWORK

(a) to (d): Railways  is  giving  thrust  on  infrastructure  creation  and capacity augmentation.

As on 01.04.2023, across Indian Railways, 459 Railway Infrastructure projects (189 New Line, 39 Gauge Conversion and 231 Doubling) of total length 46,360 Km, costing approx.  7.18 lakh crore are in planning/approval/construction stage, out of which, 11,872 Km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of approx. 2.61 lakh crore has been incurred upto March, 2023. Zone-wise details of all Railway Projects including cost, expenditure and outlay are made available in public domain on Indian Railways website.

Railway  Infrastructure Projects are taken  up  on  the basis of remunerativeness, last mile connectivity, missing links and alternate routes, augmentation of  congested/saturated  lines  socioeconomic considerations etc. depending upon liabilities of ongoing projects, overall availability of funds and competing demands.

The Average Annual Budget allocation for New  Line, Gauge Conversion  and  Doubling  Projects  across  Indian  Railways  is  given below:

| Period   | Average Outlay    | Percentage more as compared to average allocation during 2009-14   |
|----------|-------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 2009-14  | 11,527 crore/year | -                                                                  |
| 2014-23  | 36,432 crore/year | 216% more                                                          |
| 2023-24  | 67,199 crore      | 483% more                                                          |

During 2014-23, across Indian Railways, 25,871 km sections (5,785 km New Line, 5,749 km Gauge Conversion and 14,337 km Doubling) has  been  commissioned  at  an  average  of  2,875  km/year  which  is 89%  more  than  the  average  commissioning  during  2009-14  (1,520 km/year).

To  meet  the  challenges  of  expansion  and  maintenance  of  rail network,  mechanization  of  track  laying,  maintenance  and  renewal has been taken up in a big way.

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