Lok Sabha Question No. 2275 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-03-12
Subject: Total Electrification of Railways by 2030
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Shri Babu Singh Kushwaha

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2275

TO BE ANSWERED ON 12.03.2025

## TOTAL ELECTRIFICATION OF RAILWAYS BY 2030

†2275. SHRI BABU SINGH KUSHWAHA:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a)  the  work  completed  in  terms  of  percentage  so  far  under  the Government's scheme for total electrification of Railway by 2030;
- (b)  the  present  status  of  High  speed  train  projects  by  National  High Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL) along with the details of the main targets thereof;
- (c)  the  main  work  done  and  future  plans  of  Indian  Railway  Stations Development Corporation (IRSDC) for upgradation and development of Railway Stations;
- (d) the improvement in road and rail safety after removal of unmanned railway crossings by the Indian Railways; and
- (e)  the  present  contribution  and  future  plans  of  environment  friendly efforts  such  as  rain  water  harvesting,  reforestation,  and  solar-power trains in the Railways?

## ANSWER

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

(SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

- (a)  At  present,  about  98%  of  the  total  BG  network  of  the  Indian Railways has been electrified. Electrification carried out during 2014-24 and before 2014 is as under:

| Period                       | Route Kilometer   |
|------------------------------|-------------------|
| Before 2014 (about 60 years) | 21,801            |
| 2014-25 (upto Feb, 25)       | 45,922            |

The electrification works in the balance sections have been taken up.

(b)  Presently  construction  is  going  on  the  Mumbai-Ahmedabad  High Speed  Rail  (MAHSR)  Project.  The  MAHSR  Project  is  passing  through the  States  of  Gujarat,  Maharashtra  and  Union  Territory  of  Dadra  & Nagar  Haveli.  The  length  of  the  project  is  508  Km  with  12  stations planned  at Mumbai,  Thane,  Virar,  Boisar,  Vapi, Billimora, Surat, Bhaurach, Vadodara, Anand, Ahmedabad and Sabarmati.

Entire land (1389.5 Ha) has been acquired for the project. Till now, 373 km Pier Construction, 307 km of Girder Casting and 274 km of Girder Launching have been completed. The work of undersea tunnel (approx. 21 Km) has also started.

Bullet train project is a very complex and technology intensive project. Considering  the  highest  level  of  safety  and  associated  maintenance protocols, Bullet train project has been designed with the support of Japanese  railway.  It  is  customised  for  Indian  requirements  and climatic conditions.

Timelines for the completion  of the project can  be reasonably ascertained  after  the  completion  of  all  associated  works  of  Civil Structures,  Track,  Electrical,  Signalling  &  Telecommunication  and supply of Trainsets. The execution of MAHSR Project is monitored/reviewed regularly.

- (c)  Indian  Railway  Station  Development  Corporation  (IRSDC)  had completed and commissioned redevelopment work of Rani Kamlapati Railway  Station  in  the  State  of  Madhya  Pradesh  and  Gandhinagar Capital  Railway  Station  in  the  State  of  Gujarat.  In  addition  to  this, IRSDC had also done planning for station redevelopment of more than 60 Stations.

However, since the activities performed by both IRSDC and Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA) under station development/redevelopment programme were overlapping, a need was felt  that  one  of  the  two  bodies  should  be  identified  as  the  sole functioning  entity  and  given  full  responsibility.  Accordingly,  it  was decided  that  IRSDC  be  closed  and  the  works  assigned  to  IRSDC  be transferred to concerned Zonal Railways and RLDA vide Railway Board letter dated 18.10.2021.

- (d)  All  Unmanned Level Crossings (UMLCs) on running lines of Broad Gauge network of Indian Railway have been eliminated by 31.01.2019. This has improved safety of train operation & road users.
- (e)  Railways  are  environment  friendly  and  energy-efficient  mode  of transportation. The alignment for new line projects is decided so as to have  minimum  impact  on  forest  life  and  if  it  is  still  unavoidable, mitigation measures like afforestation, etc are undertaken. Installation of  Rain  Water  Harvesting  (RWHs)  structure  on  railway  premise  is  a continuous process. 7692 nos of RWH systems have been installed in Railways up to March' 2024.

Indian  Railways (IR)  has planned to progressively procure renewable energy  from  different  renewable  power  sources  to  reduce  carbon emissions.  Till  January,  2025,  about  494  Mega  Watt  (MW)  of  solar plants (both on Rooftops and land) and about 103 MW of Wind power plants have been commissioned over Indian Railways (IR). In addition, 100 MW of renewable power under Round the Clock (RTC) mode has also started flowing.

Railway  has  made  following  environment  friendly  efforts  for  energy conservation:(i) Introduction of IGBT based 3-phase propulsion system with regenerative braking in Electrical Multiple Unit (EMU) trains, Mainline Electrical  Multiple  Unit  (MEMU)  trains,  Kolkata  Metro  rakes  and Electric Train Sets. (ii)  Conversion  of  End  on  Generation  (EOG)  trains  into  Head  on Generation (HOG) trains to reduce noise and air pollution at stations and in trains. It is also expected to significantly reduce the diesel used in power cars. (iii)  Provision  of  energy  efficient  LED  lights  in  coaches  for  better illumination.

(iv) Provision of 750V external power supply at washing/sick lines for maintenance and testing of LHB coaches

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