Lok Sabha Question No. 3768 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-12-18
Subject: Rail Project of Tourist and Cultural Importance Areas in Gujarat and Bihar
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Shri Dhaval Laxmanbhai Patel, Shri Pradeep Kumar Singh

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3768 TO BE ANSWERED ON 18.12.2024

RAIL PROJECT OF TOURIST AND CULTURAL IMPORTANCE AREAS IN GUJARAT AND BIHAR

†3768. SHRI PRADEEP KUMAR SINGH: SHRI DHAVAL LAXMANBHAI PATEL:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state::

- (a) whether  any  project  to  connect  areas  of  tourist  and  cultural importance in the country with rail facilities has been approved during the last three years;
- (b) if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether  any  projects  have  been  approved  for  places  of  tourist and cultural importance in Gujarat and Bihar particularly in Araria Lok Sabha Constituency in this regard; and
- (d) if so, the details thereof?

## 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/ Parliamentary constituency-wise as ..P/2

the Railway projects may span across State boundaries/ Parliamentary constituency 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,  connectivity  to  tourist  and  cultural  areas etc.  depending  upon  throwforward  of  ongoing  projects  and  overall availability of funds.

During  the  last  03  years  i.e.  FY  2021-22,  2022-23,  2023-24  and  in current FY 2024-25, 197 projects (New Line,   Gauge Conversion and Doubling) of total length 8,089 Km costing approx. Rs.1,51,922 Crore have  been  sanctioned  across  the  country  will  inter-alia  enhance connectivity to tourist and cultural places.

## BIHAR

Railway Infrastructure Projects falling fully/partly in the State of Bihar are covered under East Central Railway (ECR), Eastern Railway (ER), North  Eastern  Railway  (NER)  and  Northeast  Frontier  Railway  (NFR) Zones  of  Indian  Railways.  Zonal  Railway  wise  details  of  Railway projects including cost, expenditure and outlay are made available in public domain.

During  the  last  three  years  i.e.  FY  2021-22,  2022-23,  2023-24  and current FY 2024-25, total 16 projects (New Line, Gauge Conversion and Doubling)  of  a  total  length  951  Km,  costing  Rs.23,819  Crore  falling fully/partly in the State of Bihar have been sanctioned.

As on 01.04.2024, 55 projects (31 New Lines, 02 Gauge Conversions and 22 Doubling), of total length of 5,064 Km, costing Rs.79,356 crore falling fully/partly in the State of Bihar are in planning/approval/construction  stage,  out  of  which,  1194  km  length has  been  commissioned  and  an  expenditure  of  Rs.26,983  crore  has been incurred upto March' 2024. The summary is as under :-

| Category                 |   No. of projects | Total Length (in Km)   | Length Commissioned (in Km)   | Exp upto March 2024 (Rs. in cr.)   |
|--------------------------|-------------------|------------------------|-------------------------------|------------------------------------|
| New lines                |                31 | 2712                   | 464                           | 13629                              |
| Gauge Conversion         |                 2 | 348                    | 288                           | 1520                               |
| Doubling / Multitracking |                22 | 2005                   | 442                           | 11834                              |
| Total                    |                55 | 5,065                  | 1,194                         | 26,983                             |

These projects include Jogbani-Biratnagar New Line (18 Km), ArariaSupaul  New  Line  (96  Km),  Araria-Galgalia  New  Line  (111  Km)  and Katihar- Jogbani-Barsoi-Radhikapur-Teznarayanpur Gauge Conversion (280 Km).

Sakri-Laukaha Bazar-Nirmali & Saharsa-Forbesganj Gauge Conversion (206 Km) has also been commissioned in 2023-24.

Moreover,  surveys  for  Forbesganj  (India)-Lakshamipur  New  Line  (18 km),  Doubling  of  Araria-Thakurganj  (111  km),  Doubling  of  KatiharJogbani (108 km) have been recently sanctioned.

All above projects/surveys are falling fully/partly in Araria constituency area.

Budget allocation for Infrastructure projects and safety works, falling fully/ partly in Bihar is as under:

| Period   | Outlay                              |
|----------|-------------------------------------|
| 2009-14  | Rs.1,132 crore/year                 |
| 2024-25  | Rs.10,033 crore (More than 8 times) |

The details of commissioning / laying of  new track falling fully/partly in the State of Bihar during 2009-14 and 2014-24 is as under:-

| Period   | New Track Commissioned   | Average Commissioning of new tracks   |
|----------|--------------------------|---------------------------------------|
| 2009-14  | 318 Km                   | 63.6 Km/Year                          |
| 2014-24  | 1,669 Km                 | 166.9 Km/Year (Nearly 3 times)        |

## GUJARAT

Railway  Infrastructure  Projects  falling  fully/partly  in  the  State  of Gujarat  are  covered  by  North  Western  (NW)  Railway  and  Western Railway (WR) Zone  of  Indian  Railways.  Zonal Railway wise details of

Railway  projects  including  cost,  expenditure  and  outlay  are  made available in public domain.

During  the  last  three  years  i.e.  FY  2021-22,  2022-23,  2023-24  and current  FY  2024-25,  total  29  projects  (New  Line,    Gauge  Conversion and    Doubling)  of  a  total  length  1,272  Km,  costing  Rs.17372  Crore falling fully/partly in the State of Gujarat have been sanctioned.

As on 01.04.24, 42 projects (06 New Line, 22 Gauge Conversion and 14 Doubling)  of  total  length  2,947  Km  costing  Rs.30,826  crore  falling fully/partly in Gujarat are in planning/approval/construction stage, out of which 825 Km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of Rs.9,336 Crore has been incurred upto March, 2024. The summary is as under:-

| Category                 |   No. of projects |   Total Length (in Km) |   Length Commissioned (in Km) |   Exp upto March 2024 (Rs. In cr.) |
|--------------------------|-------------------|------------------------|-------------------------------|------------------------------------|
| New lines                |                 6 |                    537 |                           105 |                               3332 |
| Gauge Conversion         |                22 |                   1634 |                           671 |                               4655 |
| Doubling / Multitracking |                14 |                    776 |                            50 |                               1349 |
| Total                    |                42 |                   2947 |                           825 |                               9336 |

Budget allocation for Infrastructure projects and safety works, falling fully/ partly in Gujarat is as under:

| Period   | Outlay                            |
|----------|-----------------------------------|
| 2009-14  | Rs.589 crore/year                 |
| 2024-25  | Rs.8,743 Cr. (More than 14 times) |

The details of commissioning / laying of  new track falling fully/partly in the State of Gujarat during 2009-14 and 2014-24 is as under:-

| Period   | New Track Commissioned   | Average Commissioning of new tracks   |
|----------|--------------------------|---------------------------------------|
| 2009-14  | 660 km                   | 132 km/year                           |
| 2014-24  | 2,244 km                 | 224 km/year (Nearly 2 times)          |

Construction works on the flagship high speed bullet train project have gathered momentum in Gujarat. Now, 100% land acquisition has been completed. Construction of viaduct for 225 Km, out of about 352 Km section  of  this  project  falling  in  the  State  of  Gujarat,  has  also  been completed.

Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) also passes through Gujarat. About  565  route  km  of  Western  DFC  is  situated  in  Gujarat,  which  is about 37% of overall route length of Western DFC. Full project length falling in the State of Gujarat has been commissioned.

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