Lok Sabha Question No. 3837 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-12-18
Subject: Rail distance between Guwahati and Dibrugarh
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Shri Pradyut Bordoloi

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3837 TO BE ANSWERED ON 18.12.2024

## RAIL DISTANCE BETWEEN GUWAHATI AND DIBRUGARH

- 3837    SHRI PRADYUT BORDOLOI:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the construction  of a new railway line between Salona and Khumtai has been started and if not, the reasons therefor;
- (b) if  so,  the  details  thereof  including  the  timeline  of  the  project  and  its expected date of completion;
- (c) whether  the  Government  has  conducted  any  feasibility  studies  or surveys to find routes to shorten the rail distance between Guwahati
- and Dibrugarh; and
- (d) if so, the findings thereof and if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

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

## (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

(a) to (d): Railway projects are surveyed/sanctioned/executed Zonal Railway wise and not State wise as the Railway projects may span across State boundaries. Railway projects are sanctioned on the basis of remunerativeness, traffic projections, last mile connectivity, missing links and alternate routes, augmentation of congested/saturated lines, demands raised by State Governments, Central Ministries, Members of Parliament,

other public representatives, Railway's own operational requirement, socioeconomic  considerations  etc.  depending  upon  throwforward  of  ongoing projects and overall availability of funds.

As  on  01.04.2024,  18  Railway  projects  (13  New  Lines  and  05 Doubling),  of  total  length  of  1,368  Km,  costing  ₹74,972  crore  falling fully/partly in the North East Region, are at various stages of planning and implementation, out of which 313 Km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of ₹40,549 crore has been incurred upto March 2024.

The status of work is summarized as under:-

| Plan Head   |   No. of projects | Total Length (in Km)   |   Length Commissioned (in Km) | Expenditure upto March, 2024 (₹ n Cr.)   |
|-------------|-------------------|------------------------|-------------------------------|------------------------------------------|
| New Lines   |                13 | 896                    |                            81 | 34,616                                   |
| Doubling    |                 5 | 472                    |                           232 | 5,933                                    |
| Total       |                18 | 1,368                  |                           313 | 40,549                                   |

Zone-wise/year-wise  details  of  all  Railway  projects  including  cost, expenditure  and  outlay  are  made  available  in  public  domain  on  Indian Railway's website.

Average Budget allocation for Infrastructure projects and other works, falling fully/ partly in North East Region is as under:-

| Period   | Outlay                          |
|----------|---------------------------------|
| 2009-14  | ₹ 2,122 Crore/year              |
| 2024-25  | ₹ 10,376 Crore (Nearly 5 times) |

Commissioning  of  infrastructure  projects  falling  fully/partly  in  the North East Region is given below:-

| Period   | New Track    | Average Commissioning of new    |
|----------|--------------|---------------------------------|
|          | Commissioned | tracks                          |
| 2009-14  | 333 Km       | 66.6 Km/year                    |
| 2014-24  | 1,728 Km     | 172.8 Km/year (Nearly 3 times ) |

During  the  last  3  years  (2021-22,  2022-23,  2023-24  and  current Financial Year i.e. 2024-25), 21 surveys (17 New line & 04 Doubling) of total length  2,499  km  falling  fully/partly  in  the  North  East  Region,  have  been sanctioned.

Salona  and  Khumtai  are  already  connected  via  Lumding  on  railway network.  To  provide  direct  rail  connectivity,  a  survey  for  preparation  of Detailed Project Report (DPR) of Salona - Khumtai (99 Km.) new line project has been completed. However, as per survey, the project has low  traffic projection.

Guwahati  and  Dibrugarh  are  already  connected  through  existing railway network and section between Guwahati - Lumding is a double line section.  Further,  doubling  of  Lumding  -  Furkating  (140  km)  has  been sanctioned  at  a  cost  of  ₹  2,124  crore  and  works  have  been  taken  up. Moreover,  Final  Location  Survey  (FLS)  for  doubling  of  remaining  section Furkating - Tinsukia - Dibrugarh (241 km) is taken up.

*****