Lok Sabha Question No. 5079 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-04-02
Subject: Track Renewal
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Smt. Bharti Pardhi, Shri Lumbaram Choudhary, Dr. Hemant Vishnu Savara, Shri Janardan Mishra, Shri Arun Govil, Shri Bajrang Manohar Sonwane, Shri Shrirang Appa Chandu Barne, Shri Kanwar Singh Tanwar

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 5079

TO BE ANSWERED ON 02.04.2025

## TRACK RENEWAL

## †5079. SHRI KANWAR SINGH TANWAR:

SHRI ARUN GOVIL:

DR. HEMANT VISHNU SAVARA:

SHRI LUMBA RAM CHAUDHARY:

SHRI SHRIRANG APPA CHANDU BARNE:

SHRI JANARDAN MISHRA:

SMT. BHARTI PARDHI:

SHRI BAJRANG MANOHAR SONWANE:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a)  whether there is any established criteria for determining when a railway track requires renewal, if so, the details thereof;
- (b)  the  current  backlog  of  track  renewal  projects  along  with  the  plan  to address it;
- (c) the details of the stretch of tracks renewed during the period from 2014-15 to 2024-25  as  of  February  2025,  State/zone-wise,  particularly in Sirohi aspiration district in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra;
- (d) the funds allocated, released and utilised for the same from FY 2014-15 to FY 2024-25;
- (e) the details of goods loaded by Railways during the year 2024;
- (f) the details of the stretch of tracks renewed/upgraded for speed up to 130 kmph zone-wise;
- (g) the funds allocated, released and utilized for Dedicated Freight Corridors as of February2025; and
- (h) the status and the timeline fixed for operationalisation of DFCs?

## ANSWER

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

## (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

(a)  to  (f)  Upgradation  and  renewal  of  tracks  is  a  continuous  and  ongoing process. The track renewal is carried out as per the laid down criteria based on age, traffic carried, condition etc.

Track Renewal Works are planned and executed duly prioritizing the condition of  track  and  various  other  factors  so  as  to  ensure  that  track  is  safe  for running of trains at permitted speed.

During  2024-25  (up  to  Feb'25),  about  6,300  km  track  renewals  have  been completed.  As  on  01.03.2025,  about  10,000  km  tracks  are  sanctioned  for renewal.

The details of Track renewal carried out during 2014-25 (up to Feb'25) are as under:

| Track renewed   | ~ 47,000 Km     |
|-----------------|-----------------|
| Expenditure     | Rs.1,31,280 Cr. |

The  above  Track  renewal  includes  railway  tracks  situated  in  Rajasthan (including 68 km in Sirohi district), Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.

The details of freight loading over the years are as under:

| Year    | Freight carried   |
|---------|-------------------|
| 2004-05 | 602 MT            |
| 2014-15 | 1098 MT           |
| 2024-25 | 1617 MT           |

During the FY 2024-25, the total freight loaded by the Railways has crossed 1,600 million tons, making it among top 3 railways of world.

For improving safety and increasing the speed of tracks, various upgradation measures taken are as under:

- (i) Using  modern  track  components  consisting  of  60kg,  90  Ultimate Tensile  Strength  (UTS)  rails,  Pre-stressed  Concrete  Sleeper  (PSC) Normal/Wide base sleepers with modern elastic fastenings.
- (ii) Laying of fan-shaped turnout  on  PSC  sleepers  with  Thick  Web Switches and Weldable CMS Crossings.
- (iii) Providing  Steel  Channel/H-beam  Sleepers  on  girder  bridges  while carrying out primary track renewals.
- (iv) Using 130m/260m long rail panels for rail renewals to minimize weldjoints.
- (v) Field-welding by mobile Flash Butt Welding Plant and advanced USFD Testing technique of Rail/ Welds by Phased array technology.
- (vi) Mechanization  in  Track  renewal/  replacement  using  Track  Relaying Trains, Points & Crossing Changing machines, Track laying Equipment etc.
- (vii) Deployment  of  Integrated Track  Monitoring  Systems  (ITMS)  and Oscillation Monitoring System (OMS) for comprehensive health assessment to project optimal maintenance requirements.
- (viii) Induction  of  advance  modern  machines  for  track  maintenance  i.e., high output tampers, high output Ballast Cleaning Machines and Rail Grinding machines etc.
- (ix) Adopting Self-propelled Ultrasonic Rail Testing Car (SPURT) and Rail Cum  Road Vehicle (RCRV) based USFD system for testing of rails/welds.
- (x) Using  web  enabled  Track  Management System (TMS) for integration and  data  analytics  of  the  track  inspection  records  received  through various sources to enable precise maintenance inputs.

As  a  consequence  of  above  measures,  the  details  of  railway  tracks  having speed potential of 110 kmph and 130 kmph are as under:

| Speed potential of 110 kmph and above   | Speed potential of 110 kmph and above   |
|-----------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------|
| 2014                                    | ~ 31,000 km                             |
| 2025 (till now)                         | ~ 80,000 km (more than 2.5 times)       |

| Speed potential of 130 kmph   | Speed potential of 130 kmph       |
|-------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
| 2014                          | ~ 5,000 km                        |
| 2025 (till now)               | ~ 23,000 km (more than 4.6 times) |

## The zone-wise details of sections having speed potentials of 130 kmph are as under:

|   S. No. | Zone                                                     | Section                      |
|----------|----------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------|
|        1 | Central Railway                                          | Jujharpur - Balharshah       |
|        2 | Central Railway                                          | Igatpuri - Bhusaval - Wardha |
|        3 | Central Railway Pune -                                   | Daund - Solapur - Wadi       |
|        4 | Eastern Railway Pradhan Khunta - Howrah                  |                              |
|        5 | Salanpur - Jhajha                                        | Eastern Railway              |
|        6 | East Railway Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhyay - Pradhan Khunta    | Central                      |
|        7 | East Railway Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Jn. - Jhajha       | Central                      |
|        8 | Railway Bhadrak - Visakhapatnam                          | East Cost                    |
|        9 | Northern Railway New Delhi - Palwal                      |                              |
|       10 | Northern Railway New Delhi - ChipyanaBuzurg              |                              |
|       11 | Northern Railway Delhi - Ambala Cantt - Ludhiana         |                              |
|       12 | North Central Railway Palwal - Lalitpur                  |                              |
|       13 | North Railway ChipyanaBuzurg - Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhyay   | Central                      |
|       14 | North Madar - Palanpur                                   | Western Railway              |
|       15 | North Western Railway Rewari - Madar                     |                              |
|       16 | Southern Railway Gudur - Chennai                         |                              |
|       17 | Southern Railway Renigunta Jn. - Arakkonam Jn. - Chennai |                              |
|       18 | Southern Railway - Jolarpettai                           | Arakkonam                    |
|       19 | South Central Railway                                    | Balharshah - Vijayawada      |

| 20                         | South Central Railway                       | Duvada - Gudur   |
|----------------------------|---------------------------------------------|------------------|
| 21 South Central           | Wadi - Renigunta Jn.                        | Railway          |
| 22 South Central           | Kazipet- Secunderabad                       | Railway          |
| 23                         | South Central Railway Darmavaram - Gooty    |                  |
| 24 South Eastern           | Railway Jharsuguda - Rourkela - Howarh      |                  |
| 25                         | South Eastern Railway Kharagpur - Bhadrak   |                  |
| South East Central Railway | Nagpur - Jharsuguda                         | 26               |
| South Western Railway      | Jolarpettai Jn. (exl.) - Bengaluru City Jn. | 27               |
| Western Railway            | Nagda - Ratlam                              | 28               |
| 29 Western Railway         | Godhra - Virar                              |                  |
| 30 Western Railway         | Vadodara- Ahmedabad                         |                  |
| 31 West Central            | Mathura - Nagda                             | Railway          |
| 32                         | West Central Railway Bina - Jujharpur       |                  |
| 33                         | West Central Railway Khandwa - Itarsi       |                  |

(g)  &  (h)  The  construction  of  Dedicated  Freight  Corridor  is  under  taken  by DFCCIL,  an  SPV  of  Ministry  of  Railways.  Two  Dedicated  Freight  Corridors (DFC)  viz.  Eastern  Dedicated  Freight  Corridor  (EDFC)  from  Ludhiana  to  Son Nagar  (1337  km)  and  the  Western  Dedicated  Freight  Corridor  (WDFC)  from Jawaharlal  Nehru  Port  Terminal  (JNPT)  to  Dadri  (1506  km)  planned  for construction. Out of total 2843 km, 2741 Route Kilometers (96.4%) has been commissioned and is operational. The work in balance section has been taken up.

Up to Feb'25, an expenditure of ₹99,034 Cr has been incurred in DFC projects.

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