Lok Sabha Question No. 225 (STARRED), answered on 2024-08-07
Subject: Services of Passenger and Freight Trains
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Shri Brijmohan Agrawal

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 225 TO BE ANSWERED ON 07.08.2024

## SERVICES OF PASSENGER AND FREIGHT TRAINS

†*225 SHRI BRIJMOHAN AGRAWAL:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a)  whether  the  services  of  several  passenger  trains  and  freight  trains passing  through  Chhattisgarh  under  Bilaspur,  Raipur  DRM  and  Nagpur DRM Office of Maharashtra have been put on hold for the last three years;
- (b) if so, the names of such trains and the period for which the said trains have been put on hold;
- (c) the details of the total loss of revenue suffered by the Railway in this regard during the said period;
- (d) the  details of funds allocated to Chhattisgarh by the Government for the  upgradation/  expansion/  maintenance  of  existing  rail  routes  and  to introduce new trains along with the details of the targets fixed and the expenses made in this regard; and
- (e) the total revenue  collected  by  the  Railways  through  the  stall, advertisements  and  vehicle  stands  set  up  at  railway  stations  coming under Raipur and Bilaspur DRM?

## ANSWER

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

(SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

- (a) to (e) A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (e) OF STARRED QUESTION NO. 225 BY SHRI BRIJMOHAN AGRAWAL TO BE ANSWERED IN LOK  SABHA  ON  07.08.2024  REGARDING  SERVICES  OF  PASSENGER  AND FREIGHT TRAINS

(a)  to (e) South East Central Railway, which primarily serves the stations located in the State of Chhattisgarh, is presently operating 58 Mail/Express trains and 128 Passenger trains, including 20825/26 Bilaspur-Nagpur Vande Bharat  Express  which  is  higher  than  the  number  of  Mail/Express  and Passenger trains operated prior to Covid-19. Introduction of train services is  an  on-going  process  on  Indian  Railways  subject  to  traffic  justification, operational feasibility, resource availability etc.

As on 01.04.2024, 25 project (08 New Line and 17 Doubling) of a total length 2,731 km, costing ₹37,018 crore, falling fully/partly  in  Chhattisgarh  are in planning/approval/construction stage, out of which 882 km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of ₹14,919 crore has been incurred upto March, 2024.

- i. 8 New Line projects covering total length of 1,358 km at a cost of ₹20,414 crore,  out  of  which  184  km  length  has  been  commissioned  and  an expenditure of ₹6,154 crore has been incurred upto March 2024.

ii. 17  Doubling  projects  covering  total  length  of  1,373  km  at  a  cost  of ₹16,604 crore, out of which 698 km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of ₹8,765 crore has been incurred upto March 2024.

Average  Budget  allocation  for  Infrastructure  projects  and  safety  works, falling fully/partly in Chhattisgarh is an under:

| Period   | Average outlay   | Increase as compared to average allocation during 2009-14   |
|----------|------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------|
| 2009-14  | ₹ 311Cr./year    | -                                                           |
| 2023-24  | ₹ 6008 Crore     | More than 19 times                                          |
| 2024-25  | ₹ 6922 Crore     | More than 22 times                                          |

Commissioning of infrastructure projects falling fully/partly in the State of Chhattisgarh is as under:

| Period   | Total Length Commissioned   | Average Length Commissioned   | Change w.r.t average commissioning during 2009-14   |
|----------|-----------------------------|-------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------|
| 2009-14  | 32 km                       | 6.4 km/Year                   | -                                                   |
| 2014-24  | 999 km                      | 99.9 km/Year                  | Nearly 15.6 times                                   |

There is an increasing trend over time in revenue collected by Raipur and Bilaspur  Division  from  Railway  Display  Network  (RDN),  Out  of  Home Advertisement (OOH), advertisement on trains, ATMs and stalls etc. under other Non Fare Revenue activities.

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