Lok Sabha Question No. 2845 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-12-17
Subject: Electrification/Broad Gauge Lines in Punjab
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Shri Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2845

## TO BE ANSWERED ON 17.12.2025

## ELECTRIFICATION/BROAD GAUGE LINES IN PUNJAB

## †2845. SHRI SUKHJINDER SINGH RANDHAWA:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) the  details  of  the  number  of  such  railway  lines  in  Punjab  which have  not  been  converted  into  broad  gauge  lines/electrified  till date;
- (b) the  details  of  steps  being  taken  by  the  Government  to  connect these lines into broad gauge lines; and
- (c) the details of the steps being taken/proposed to be taken by the Government to strengthen railway services in Punjab especially in border areas?

## ANSWER

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

## (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

(a)  to  (c):  Railway  projects  are  surveyed/  sanctioned/executed  Zonal Railway  wise  and  not  State-wise  as  the  Railways'  projects  may  span across State boundaries.

There is only one narrow gauge rail line falling fully/partly in the state of Punjab i.e. Pathankot to Joginder Nagar (200 km). The survey for gauge conversion of this line has been sanctioned and survey work has been taken up for preparation of Detailed Project Report.

After  preparation  of  Detailed  Project  Report  (DPR),  sanctioning  of project requires consultation with various stake-holders including State Governments  and  necessary  approvals  viz.  appraisal  of  NITI  Aayog, Ministry of Finance etc. As sanctioning of projects is a continuous and dynamic process, exact timelines depend upon appraisals and approvals by various stakeholders.

Sanction of any railway project depend upon many parameters/factors which include the following:

-  Anticipated  traffic  projections  and  Remunerativeness  of  the proposed route
-  First and last mile connectivity provided by the project
-  Connection of missing links and providing additional route
-  Augmentation of congested/saturated lines
-  Demands raised  by  State  Governments/Central  Ministries/Public representatives,
-  Railway's own operational requirements
-  Socio-economic considerations
-  Overall availability of funds

Electrification of railway network on Indian Railways has been taken up in mission mode. So far, about 99.2% of Broad Gauge (BG) network has been  electrified.  The  electrification  in  remaining  network  has  been taken up. Electrification carried out during 2014-25 and before 2014 is as under:

| Period                       | Route Kilometer   |
|------------------------------|-------------------|
| Before 2014 (about 60 years) | 21,801            |
| 2014-25                      | 46,900            |

In Punjab, entire existing BG network has been electrified. Further, all new line / multitracking projects are being sanctioned and constructed with electrification.

Budget allocation  for  Infrastructure  projects  and  safety  works,  falling

Punjab fully/partly in the State of Punjab is as under:

| Period   | Outlay                           |
|----------|----------------------------------|
| 2009-14  | ₹225 crore/year                  |
| 2025-26  | ₹ 5,421 Cr. (More than 24 times) |

As  on  01.04.2025,  09  projects  (04  new  line  and  05  doubling)  of  total length 714 Km, costing Rs.21,926 crore, falling fully/partly in the State of Punjab are in different stages of planning/sanctioning/execution, out of which 115 Km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of Rs.8,079 crore has been incurred upto March' 2025. The summary is as under:-

| Category                |   No. of projects | Total Length   | Length Commissio ned   | Expenditure upto March 2025 (Rs.in Crore)   |
|-------------------------|-------------------|----------------|------------------------|---------------------------------------------|
| New line                |                04 | 252 Km         | 64 Km                  | 7359                                        |
| Doubling /multitracking |                05 | 462 Km         | 51 Km                  | 720                                         |
| Total                   |                09 | 714 Km         | 115 Km                 | 8,079                                       |

Details of some of the recently completed projects falling fully/partly in the State of Punjab are as under:

|   S. No. | Project                             |   Cost (Rs. in Cr.) |
|----------|-------------------------------------|---------------------|
|        1 | Chakki Bank-Bharoli Doubling (3 Km) |                  15 |

|   2 | Jakhal- Mansa Doubling (45 Km)                                      |   163 |
|-----|---------------------------------------------------------------------|-------|
|   3 | Mirthal-Bhangala Beas River Doubling (2.5 Km)                       |    74 |
|   4 | Ambala-Dhapper-chandigarh Doubling (45 Km)                          |   339 |
|   5 | Mansa - Bhatinda Doubling (49 Km)                                   |   216 |
|   6 | Amritsar - Chheharta Doubling (7 Km)                                |    31 |
|   7 | Jallandhar-Pathankot-Jammu Tawi Doubling (209 km)                   |   850 |
|   8 | Kathua-Madhopur Punjab - doubling including Bridge on Ravi (2.5 Km) |   257 |
|   9 | Rajpura-Bhatinda Doubling (173 Km)                                  |  2459 |

## Some  of  the  projects  falling  fully/partly  in  the  State  of  Punjab  which have been taken up are as under:

|   SN. | Project                                                                 |   Cost (Rs. in Cr.) |
|-------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------|
|     1 | Nangal Dam-Talwara - Mukerian New line (143 Km)                         |                2018 |
|     2 | Bhanupalli-Bilaspur-Beri New Line(63 Km)                                |                6753 |
|     3 | Qadian-Beas New Line(40 km)                                             |                 842 |
|     4 | Ferozpur-Patti New Line (26 Km)                                         |                 300 |
|     5 | Rama Mandi( Raman)-Maur Mandi(Maur) via Talwandi Sabo ( 29 km) New Line |                 154 |
|     6 | Ludhiana-Kila Raipur doubling (19 Km)                                   |                 238 |
|     7 | Ludhiana-Mullanpur doubling (21 Km)                                     |                 235 |
|     8 | Rajpura-Mohali New Line (18 km)                                         |                 443 |

Government of India is geared up to execute projects, however success depends  upon  the  support  of  Government  of  Punjab.  For  instance,

--5/-

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 | Firozpur-Patti new line                    |                           166 |                       0 |                                   166 |
|    2 | Alal-Himmatana Chord line                  |                            20 |                       0 |                                    20 |
|    3 | Qadian-Beas New Line                       |                           151 |                       0 |                                   151 |
|    4 | Rama Mandi( Raman)- Talwandi Sabo New Line |                            85 |                       0 |                                    85 |

Firozpur-Patti New line (26 km) situated fully in Punjab is an important project near the international border. Land for project was to be handed over free of cost for this project by State Govt. of Punjab. Total 166 Ha land is to be acquired in the districts of Firozpur and Tarn Taran. Award for entire land has been published in Mar'23. However, disbursement of award has not been done by state govt. considering delay in execution of this important border area project, Ministry of Railways has decided to take up Firozpur-Patti New line (26 km) through its own funding.

In last three years i.e. 2022-23, 2023-24, 2024-25 and current financial year  2025-26,  22  surveys  (09  New  Line,  12  Doubling  and  01  Gauge Conversion)  covering  a  total  length  of  2,101  Km  have  been  taken  up falling partly/fully in the State of Punjab.

Various  steps  taken  by  the  Government  for  speedy  approval  and implementation of Railway projects include (i) setting up of Gati Shakti units (ii) prioritisation of projects (iii) substantial increase in allocation of funds on priority projects (iv) delegation of powers at field level (v)

close  monitoring    of    progress    of  project  at  various  levels,  and  (vi) regular follow up with State Governments and concerned authorities for expeditious  land  acquisition,  forestry  and  Wildlife  clearances  and  for resolving other issues pertaining to projects. This has led to substantial increase in rate of commissioning since 2014.

Completion  of  Railway  project/s  depends  on  various  factors  which include the following:

-  Land acquisition by State Government
-  Forest clearance
- 
- Shifting of infringing utilities
-  Statutory clearances from various authorities
-  Geological and topographical conditions of area
- 
- Law and order situation in the area of project site
-  Number of  working  months  in  a  year  for  particular  project  site etc.

All these factors affect the completion time and cost of the project/s

The  railway  stations  located  in  Punjab  near  International  Border  are well  connected.  At  present,  Fazilka  is  served  by  28  train  services. Similarly,  Firozpur  Cantt.  is  served  by  76  train  services  including  02 Vande Bharat Express services while Amritsar  is  served  by  132  train services including 04 Vande Bharat Express services.

Besides, introduction of new train services is an on-going  process on Indian Railways which depends on various factors including -

- Capacity of that section
- Availability of path
- Availability of required rolling stock
- Availability of matching infrastructure for rolling stock
- Maintenance requirement of railway tracks and other assets

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