Lok Sabha Question No. 3297 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-08-09
Subject: Railway Zones
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Dinesh Lal "Nirahua" Yadav

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3297 TO BE ANSWERED ON 09.08.2023

## RAILWAY ZONES

†3297. SHRI DINESH LAL YADAV 'NIRAHUA':

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a)  the details of railway zones in operation in the country;
- (b)  whether  the  Railway  Board  has  assessed  the  factors  like  size, workload, traffic systems, operation and administrative requirements of the present railway zones;
- (c)  if so, the details thereof;
- (d)  whether the Government proposes to sanction more railway zones as per requirement and demands of States;
- (e)  if so, the details thereof; and
- (f)  the  steps  taken  by  the  Government  to  improve  overall  works performance of all railway zones to make the Railways more beneficial?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, COMMUNICATIONS AND

ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

(SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

[

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

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STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  To  (f)  OF  UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.3297 BY SHRI DINESH LAL YADAV 'NIRAHUA' TO BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 09.08.2023 REGARDING RAILWAY ZONES

(a): There are 17 Railway Zones in the country. Details are as under:

|   S.No. | Zonal Railway              | Headquarter   |
|---------|----------------------------|---------------|
|       1 | Central Railway            | Mumbai        |
|       2 | Eastern Railway            | Kolkata       |
|       3 | East Central Railway       | Hajipur       |
|       4 | East Coast Railway         | Bhubaneswar   |
|       5 | Northern Railway           | New Delhi     |
|       6 | North Central Railway      | Prayagraj     |
|       7 | North Eastern Railway      | Gorakhpur     |
|       8 | Northeast Frontier Railway | Guwahati      |
|       9 | North Western Railway      | Jaipur        |
|      10 | Southern Railway           | Chennai       |
|      11 | South Central Railway      | Secunderabad  |
|      12 | South Eastern Railway      | Kolkata       |
|      13 | South East Central Railway | Bilaspur      |
|      14 | South Western Railway      | Hubli         |
|      15 | Western Railway            | Mumbai        |
|      16 | West Central Railway       | Jabalpur      |
|      17 | Metro Railway              | Kolkata       |

(b)  to  (f):  Assessment  of  Railway  Zones  workload,  traffic  patterns,  administrative requirements and other factors affecting operation, is a continuous process.

Apart from above, except for South Coast Railway (SCoR) Zone, with its headquarter at  Visakhapatnam,  no  other  proposal  to  increase  the  number  of  zones  is  under consideration at present.

To improve overall performance of Railway zones and profitability of Railways, thrust is on setting targets for all zones in the beginning of the Financial Year for freight loading,  passenger  traffic,  earnings,  expenditure,  punctuality  and  infrastructure creation.  Further,  annual  targets  are  also  being  set  for  improving  asset  utilization and  productivity.    The  performance  is  evaluated  and  monitored  regularly  through review meetings. Issues and constraints faced by zones regarding performance are also addressed regularly.

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