Lok Sabha Question No. 1834 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-07-30
Subject: Railway Zones in the Country
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Shri G Kumar Naik

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1834 TO BE ANSWERED ON 30.07.2025

## RAILWAY ZONES IN THE COUNTRY

## 1834. SHRI G KUMAR NAIK:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) the  details  of  the  total  number  of  railway  zones  in  the country and the railway density in each zone, State/Union Territory-wise;
- (b) the  railway  density  in  the  State  of    Karnataka,  districtwise;
- (c) whether  the  Government  has  a  policy  that  defines  the minimum  railway  density  required  to  adequately  meet public transportation needs and support economic growth;
- (d)
- if so, the details thereof;
- (e) whether the existing railway density is sufficient to meet the needs of the people, if so, the details thereof; and
- (f) the  details  of  schemes  or  initiatives  proposed  by  the Government to enhance railway density in Karnataka ?

## ANSWER

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

(SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

- (a) to (f) :There are 17 Railway Zones operational (including Metro Railway, Kolkata) in the country. Further, foundation stone of South Coast Railway has also been laid recently.

## The details of Zonal Railway wise route km is given below : -

| S.No.   | Railway        | Route Km.   |
|---------|----------------|-------------|
| 1       | Central        | 4275        |
| 2       | Eastern        | 2841        |
| 3       | East Central   | 4377        |
| 4       | East Coast     | 3071        |
| 5       | Northern       | 7406        |
| 6       | North Central  | 3522        |
| 7       | North Eastern  | 3492        |
| 8       | Northeast      | 4348        |
| 9       | North Western  | 5712        |
| 10      | Southern       | 5092        |
| 11      | South Central  | 6610        |
| 12      | South Eastern  | 2749        |
| 13      | South East     | 2541        |
| 14      | South Western  | 3692        |
| 15      | Western        | 6284        |
| 16      | West Central   | 3124        |
| 17      | Metro, Kolkata | 45          |
|         | Total          | 69,181      |

Railway network in any area depends upon the population density of that  area,  terrain,  geographical  features,  etc.  Therefore,  Railway density varies from region to region.

The rail infrastructure augmentation plan inter-alia focuses on the network capacity enhancement, removal of bottlenecks, increasing average speed of freight trains, reduction in cargo transit time and cost.  Further,  to  improve  capacity  of  existing  network,  several capacity enhancement/augmentation survey/works have been sanctioned  by  railways.  These  works  include  multi  tracking,  rail flyovers, by pass lines, yard remodelling works etc.

Railway projects are surveyed/ sanctioned/executed Zonal Railway wise  and  not  State-wise/UT  wise/District  wise  as  the  Railway projects  may  span  across  State/UT/District  boundaries.  Railway

projects  are  sanctioned  on  the  basis  of  remunerativeness,  traffic projections,  last  mile  connectivity,  missing  links  and  alternate routes including connectivity between major cities and rural areas, augmentation  of  congested/saturated  lines,  demands  raised  by State  Governments,  Central  Ministries,  Members  of  Parliament, other public representatives, Railway's own operational requirement,  socio-economic  considerations  etc.  depending  upon throwforward of ongoing projects and overall availability of funds.

During last 3 years (2022-23, 2023-24, 2024-25) and current FY, 892 no. Surveys (267 New line, 11 Gauge Conversion and 614 Doubling) of  total  length  61,462  Km  have  been  sanctioned  across  Indian

Railways including  Karnataka.

During  last  three  years  i.e.  FY  2022-23,  2023-24,  2024-25  and  the current  FY,  237  projects  (40  New  Line,  17  Gauge  Conversion  and 180 Doubling) of  total  length  9,703  Km,  costing  approx.  ₹1,90,333 Crore  have  been  sanctioned  across  Indian  Railways  including

Karnataka.

Railway  infrastructure  projects  falling  fully/partly  in  the  State  of Karnataka are covered under South Western Railway (SWR), Central Railway  (CR),  Southern  Railway  (SR)  and  South  Central  Railway (SCR)  zones  of  Indian  Railways.  Zonal  Railway  wise  details  of Railway  projects  are  made  available  in  public  domain  on  Indian

Railway's website.

As on 01.04.2025, 25 projects (15 new lines, 10 Doubling) of 3,264 km length, costing ₹42,517 crore falling fully/partly in Karnataka are sanctioned, out of which 1,394 Km length has been commissioned and  an  expenditure  of  ₹21,310  Crore    has    been    incurred    upto

March' 2025.

## The summary is as under:-

| Category                |   No of sanctioned Projects | Total Length (in km)   | Length Commissioned Upto Mar'25 (Km)   | Exp upto Mar'25 (₹ in cr.)   |
|-------------------------|-----------------------------|------------------------|----------------------------------------|------------------------------|
| New Line                |                          15 | 2,034                  | 421                                    | 8,794                        |
| Doubling/ Multitracking |                          10 | 1,230                  | 973                                    | 12,516                       |
| Total                   |                          25 | 3,264                  | 1,394                                  | 21,310                       |

Budget  allocation  for  infrastructure  projects  and  safety  works, falling fully/partly in the State of Karnataka is as under:

| Period   | Outlay                           |
|----------|----------------------------------|
| 2009-14  | ₹835 crore/year                  |
| 2025-26  | ₹7,564 crore (more than 9 times) |

The details of commissioning/laying of new track falling fully/partly in the State of Karnataka during 2009-14 and 2014-25 is as under:

| Period   | Total Track Commissioned   | Average Track Commissioned   |
|----------|----------------------------|------------------------------|
| 2009-14  | 565 Km                     | 113 km/year                  |
| 2014-25  | 1,671 Km.                  | 152 km/year                  |

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

|   S. No | Project                          |   Cost (₹in Crores) |
|---------|----------------------------------|---------------------|
|       1 | Kottur-Harihar New Line (65 km)  |                 468 |
|       2 | Hassan-Bangalore New Line (167   |                1290 |
|       3 | Bidar-Gulbarga New Line (110 km) |                1543 |
|       4 | Shivani-Hosadurga Road Doubling  |                  50 |

|   5 | Shivani-Birur Doubling (29 km)    |   143 |
|-----|-----------------------------------|-------|
|   6 | Hosadurga-Chikjajur Doubling (29  |   260 |
|   7 | Ramanagram-Mysore patch Doubling  |   998 |
|   8 | Yelahanka - Chennasadra Doubling  |   108 |
|   9 | Yeshwantpur-Yelahanka Doubling    |    95 |
|  10 | Netrawati-Mangalore Central       |    28 |
|  11 | Kankanadi-Panambur Doubling (19   |   350 |
|  12 | Arsikere-Tumkur Doubling (96 km)  |   758 |
|  13 | Yelahanka-Penukonda Doubling (123 |  1104 |
|  14 | Daund-Gulbarga Doubling (225 km)  |  3182 |
|  15 | Hubli-Chikjajur Doubling (190 km) |  1850 |

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

|   S No. | Project                                            |   Cost (₹ in Crores) |
|---------|----------------------------------------------------|----------------------|
|       1 | Hospet-Hubli-Londa-Vasco-de-Gama Doubling (312 Km) |                 4153 |
|       2 | Toranagallu-Ranjithpura Doubling (23 Km)           |                  147 |
|       3 | Hotgi-Gadag Doubling (284 Km)                      |                 2459 |
|       4 | Ginigera - Raichur New line (165 Km)               |                 3401 |
|       5 | Gadag - Wadi New line (257 Km)                     |                 2842 |
|       6 | Bagalkot - Kudachi New line (142 Km)               |                 1649 |
|       7 | Tumkur - Rayadurga New line (207 Km)               |                 2496 |
|       8 | Tumkur - Davangere New line (182 Km)               |                 2142 |
|       9 | Chikmagalur - Belur New line (22 Km)               |                  290 |
|      10 | Kadur - Chikmagalur New line (46 Km)               |                  535 |
|      11 | Baiyyapanahalli - Hosur Doubling (48 Km)           |                  336 |
|      12 | Yeshwanthpur - Channasandra Doubling (22 Km)       |                  314 |

Despite  the  fact  that  Government  of  India  has  been  progressively allocating  record  funds  for  railway  projects,  many  projects  in Karnataka  are  still  delayed  due  to  slow  pace  of  land  acquisition.

## Some of the projects delayed due to land acquisition are given as under:-

|   S No. | Project                                |   Total Land required (in Ha) |   Land acquired (in Ha) |   Balance Land to be acquired (in Ha) |
|---------|----------------------------------------|-------------------------------|-------------------------|---------------------------------------|
|       1 | Shimoga - Rannebennur New line (96 Km) |                           559 |                     226 |                                   333 |
|       2 | Belgaum - Dharwad New line (73 Km)     |                           531 |                       0 |                                   531 |
|       3 | Shimoga - Harihar New line (79 Km)     |                           488 |                       0 |                                   488 |
|       4 | Whitefield-Kolar New line (53 km)      |                           337 |                       0 |                                   337 |
|       5 | Hassan-Belur New Line(27 km)           |                           206 |                       0 |                                   206 |

## Summary of the status of land acquisition in Karnataka is as under:

| Total Land required for Projects in Karnataka   | 8969 Ha       |
|-------------------------------------------------|---------------|
| Land Acquired                                   | 5657 Ha (63%) |
| Balance Land to be acquired                     | 3312Ha (37%)  |

Completion  of  Railway  project/s  depends  on  various  factors  like quick  land  acquisition  by  State  Government,  forest  clearance  by officials of forest department, shifting of infringing utilities, statutory clearances from various authorities, geological and topographical conditions of area, law and order situation in the area of project/s 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.

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