Lok Sabha Question No. 655 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-07-23
Subject: New Railway Lines in Hilly and Rural Areas
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Dr. Faggan Singh Kulaste

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 655 TO BE ANSWERED ON 23.07.2025

## NEW RAILWAY LINES IN HILLY AND RURAL AREAS

†655.  DR. FAGGAN SINGH KULASTE:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the survey of new railway lines in hilly and rural areas is proposed, if so, the details thereof;
- (b) if so, whether previous surveys have been identified at present; and
- (c) if  so,  the number of new Railway lines have been surveyed in the country?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, INFORMATION & BROADCASTING AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

(a) to (c): 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 including hilly and  rural areas, 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,  socio-economic  considerations  etc.  depending  upon throwforward of ongoing projects and overall availability of funds.

During the last three years i.e. FY 2022-23, 2023-24, 2024-25 and the current FY 2025-26, 267 New Line surveys of a total length of 25,740 km have been sanctioned throughout the country including hilly and rural areas.

Similarly, during the last three years i.e. FY 2022-23, 2023-24, 202425  and  the  current  FY  2025-26,  171  New  Line  surveys  of  a  total length  of  14,480  km  have  been  completed  throughout  the  country including hilly and rural areas.

As on 01.04.2025, across Indian Railways, 431 Railway infrastructure projects (154 New Line, 33 Gauge Conversion and 244 Doubling) of total length 35,966 Km, costing approx.  6.75 lakh crore are sanctioned including hilly and rural areas, out of which, 12,769 Km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of approx. 2.91 lakh crore has been incurred upto March, 2025. The summary is as under:-

| Category                 |   No of Projects | Total Length NL/GC/DL (km)   | Length Commissioned till Mar'25 (Km)   | Total Exp upto Mar'25 ( in Crore)   |
|--------------------------|------------------|------------------------------|----------------------------------------|-------------------------------------|
| New Lines                |              154 | 16,142                       | 3,036                                  | 1,45,318                            |
| Gauge Conversion         |               33 | 4,180                        | 2,997                                  | 22,753                              |
| Doubling / Multitracking |              244 | 15,644                       | 6,736                                  | 1,22,858                            |
| Total                    |              431 | 35,966                       | 12,769                                 | 2,90,929                            |

Zone-wise/year-wise details of all Railway projects are  made available in public domain on Indian Railway's website.

The  details  of  commissioning/laying  of  new  track  across  Indian Railways is given below:-

| Period   | New track Commissioned   | Average commissioning of new tracks   |
|----------|--------------------------|---------------------------------------|
| 2009-14  | 7,599 Km                 | 4.2 Km/day                            |
| 2014-25  | 34,428 Km                | 8.57 Km/day ( more than 2 times)      |

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