Lok Sabha Question No. 512 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-07-23
Subject: Shornur- Mangalore Railway Line
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Shri M K Raghavan, Shri Shafi Parambil

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 512

## TO BE ANSWERED ON 23.07.2025

## SHORNUR- MANGALORE RAILWAY LINE

512.    SHRI SHAFI PARAMBIL: SHRI M K RAGHAVAN:

Will the Minister of  RAILWAYS  be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government proposes to establish third and fourth Railway  lines  in  between  Trivandrum  and  Mangalore  segment under  Trivandrum  and  Palakkad  division  particularly  Shornur  of Southern Railway;
- (b) if  so,  the  details  thereof  including  timeframe  and  if  not,  the reasons therefor;
- (c) whether  the  Government  is  aware  of  the  inadequacy  of  the railway infrastructure in Kerala which is unable to cope with the increasing demands of the passengers in North Kerala;
- (d) if so, the tentative dates of starting the project;
- (e) whether the Government plans to introduce Namo Bharat Rapid Rail service in Kerala; and
- (f) if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

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

(SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

(a) to (f):  The Government of India is working diligently to strengthen the  railway  network  in  Kerala. To   strengthen  the  railway  network …2/-

-2-

## passing through Kerala, the following surveys have been sanctioned:

|   SN | Route                                    | Length   |
|------|------------------------------------------|----------|
|    1 | Mangaluru - Shoranur 3 rd & 4 th Line    | 308 Km   |
|    2 | Shoranur - Coimbatore 3 rd & 4 th Line   | 99 Km    |
|    3 | Shoranur - Ernakulam 3 rd Line           | 107 Km   |
|    4 | Ernakulam - Kayankulam 3 rd Line         | 115 Km   |
|    5 | Kayankulam - Thiruvanathapuram 3 rd Line | 105 Km   |
|    6 | Thiruvananthapuram - Nagercoil 3 rd Line | 71 Km    |

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, 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.

After  firming  up  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 cannot be fixed.

As on 01.04.2025, 06 projects (02 new lines, and 04 Doubling) of total length of 266 Km, costing ₹9,415 crore, falling fully/partly in the State of  Kerala,  are  at  various  stages of  planning  and  implementation,  out of which 26 Km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of ₹3,250 crore has been incurred upto March, 2025. The summary is as under:-

| Category                |   No. of projects |   Total Length (in Km) |   Length Commissioned (in Km) | Expenditure upto March 2025 (₹ in Cr.)   |
|-------------------------|-------------------|------------------------|-------------------------------|------------------------------------------|
| New Line                |                 2 |                    146 |                             0 | 309                                      |
| Doubling/ Multitracking |                 4 |                    120 |                            26 | 2,941                                    |
| Total                   |                 6 |                    266 |                            26 | 3,250                                    |

Execution of important infrastructure projects falling fully/partly in the State of Kerala are held up due to delay in land  acquisition. Status of land acquisition in the State of Kerala is as under:

| Total Land required for Projects in Kerala   | 476 Ha       |
|----------------------------------------------|--------------|
| Land Acquired                                | 73 Ha (15%)  |
| Balance Land to be acquired                  | 403 Ha (85%) |

Government  of  India  is  geared  up  to  execute  projects,  however success depends upon the support of Government of Kerala.  Railway had  deposited  ₹2112  crore  for  land  acquisition  to  Government  of Kerala.    Support  of  the  Government  of  Kerala  is  needed  to  expedite the land acquisition. For instance, 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 | Angamali - Sabarimala new line (111 Km)    |                           416 |                      24 |                                   392 |
|    2 | Ernakulam - Kumbalam Patch Doubling (8 Km) |                             4 |                       3 |                                     1 |
|    3 | Kumbalam - Turavur Patch Doubling (16 Km)  |                            10 |                       9 |                                     1 |
|    4 | Trivandrum - Kanyakumari Doubling (87 Km)  |                            41 |                      36 |                                     5 |
|    5 | Shoranur - Vallathol Doubling (10 Km)      |                             5 |                       0 |                                     5 |

Railway  network  straddles  across  State  boundaries.  Accordingly, trains are introduced across such boundaries as per network requirement. Presently, 04 Namo Bharat Rapid Rail train services are being operated on Indian Railway network. Further, during the period 2022-23 and 2024-25  (till June, 2025), 10 new train services including 04 Vande Bharat train services (on originating/ terminating basis) have been  introduced,  serving  various  stations  located  in  the  State  of Kerala. Besides, introduction of train services including Namo Bharat Rapid  Rail  train  service  is  an  on-going  process  on  Indian  Railways, subject  to  traffic  justification,  operational  feasibility,  availability  of resources, etc.

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