Lok Sabha Question No. 2985 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-12-20
Subject: Modernisation of Railway Stations in Maharashtra
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Vinayak Bhaurao Raut, Sanjay Haribhau Jadhav, Dinesh Lal "Nirahua" Yadav

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2985 TO BE ANSWERED ON 20.12.2023

## MODERNISATION OF RAILWAY STATIONS IN MAHARASHTRA

†2985. SHRI VINAYAK RAUT:

SHRI SANJAY JADHAV:

SHRI DINESH LAL YADAV 'NIRAHUA':

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a)  whether  the  Government  is  implementing  any  scheme  for  the modernization of railway stations in all over the Country;
- (b) if so, the details of railway stations modernized during the last five years or proposes to be modernized, State-wise especially in Maharashtra;
- (c) the number of railway stations which are proposed to be modernized;
- (d)  whether the Government has checked the quality of modernization work undertaken at railway stations in the country including Maharashtra;
- (e)  if  so,  the  names  of  those  railway  stations  where  quality  of  works have been checked along with the details thereof;
- (f) the details of works found to be of substandard quality along with the work-wise details thereof;
- (g)  whether  the  Government  proposes  for  quality  check  of  railway stations of different cities/districts in Maharashtra and if so, the details thereof;
- (h) the total budget earmarked for the modernization of Railways along with  the  funds  allocated  for  the  said  purpose  during  the  current financial year; and

(i)  the  time  by  which  the  modernization  of  Railways  is  likely  to  be completed?

## ANSWER ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

## MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, COMMUNICATIONS AND (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

(a) to (i): A Statement is laid on the Table of the House. *****

STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (i) OF UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2985 BYSHRI VINAYAK RAUT, SHRI SANJAY JADHAV AND SHRI DINESH LAL YADAV 'NIRAHUA' TO BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 20.12.2023 REGARDING MODERNISATION OF RAILWAY STATIONS IN MAHARASHTRA

(a) to (i): Ministry of Railways has launched 'Amrit Bharat Station scheme' for  development  of  Stations  on  Indian  Railways.  This  scheme  envisages development of stations on a continuous basis with a long term approach.It involves preparation of Master Plans and their implementation in  phases  to  improve  the  amenities  at  the  stations  like  improvement  of station  access,  circulating  areas,  waiting  halls,  toilets,  lift/escalators  as necessary,  cleanliness,  free  Wi-Fi,  kiosks  for  local  products  through schemes  like  'One  Station  One  Product',  better  passenger  information systems,  executive  lounges,  nominated  spaces  for  business  meetings, landscaping etc. keeping in view the necessity at each such station.

The  scheme  also  envisages  improvement  of  building,  integrating  the station with both sides of the city, multimodal integration, amenities for Divyangjans, sustainable and environment friendly solutions, provision of ballast less tracks, 'Roof Plazas' as per necessity, phasing and feasibility and creation of city centres at the station in the long term.

So far, 1309 number of railway stations including 126 railway stations in the State of Maharashtra have been identified for development/redevelopment under this scheme.

## A state-wise list of number of identified stations is given below:-

| S.N.   | State                 |   No. of Stations |
|--------|-----------------------|-------------------|
| 1      | Andhra Pradesh        |                72 |
| 2      | Arunachal Pradesh     |                 1 |
| 3      | Assam                 |                50 |
| 4      | Bihar                 |                92 |
| 5      | Chhattisgarh          |                32 |
| 6      | Delhi                 |                13 |
| 7      | Goa                   |                 3 |
| 8      | Gujarat               |                87 |
| 9      | Haryana               |                34 |
| 10     | Himachal Pradesh      |                 4 |
| 11     | Jharkhand             |                57 |
| 12     | Karnataka             |                56 |
| 13     | Kerala                |                35 |
| 14     | Madhya Pradesh        |                80 |
| 15     | Maharashtra           |               126 |
| 16     | Manipur               |                 1 |
| 17     | Meghalaya             |                 1 |
| 18     | Mizoram               |                 1 |
| 19     | Nagaland              |                 1 |
| 20     | Odisha                |                57 |
| 21     | Punjab                |                30 |
| 22     | Rajasthan             |                83 |
| 23     | Sikkim                |                 1 |
| 24     | TamilNadu             |                75 |
| 25     | Telangana             |                40 |
| 26     | Tripura               |                 4 |
| 27     | UT ofChandigarh       |                 1 |
| 28     | UTofJammu and Kashmir |                 4 |
| 29     | UT of Puducherry      |                 3 |
| 30     | Uttar Pradesh         |               156 |
| 31     | Uttarakhand           |                11 |
| 32     | WestBengal            |                98 |
| Total  | Total                 |              1309 |

The allocation of funds for development of stations are maintained Zonal Railway-wise and not State-wise/UT-wise or Station-wise, generally under Plan  Head-53  'Customer  Amenities'.    Total  allocation  under  this  Plan Head for the current year is ₹13,355 crore. Indian Railways has an inbuilt mechanism to check the quality of works, which is being performed at various levels by concerned Railway officials as  per  guidelines  laid  down  in  the  Indian  Railways  Engineering  Code, Indian  Railways  Works  Manual  and  Specification  etc.  and  the  works meeting  the  laid  down  standards  only  are  accepted.No  major  quality issues  have  been  noted  so  far.  The  minor  nature  of  inferior  quality  of incidences found during execution is corrected then and there. Upgradation/modernization of stations on Indian Railways is a continuous and on-going process. Works for improvement of passenger amenities are undertaken depending upon need, volume of passenger traffic and inter-se priority, subject to availability of funds. Further,  development / redevelopment / upgradation  of  Railway  Stations  is complex  in  nature  involving  safety  of  passengers  &  trains  and  requires various statutory clearances  such  as  fire clearance, heritage, tree cutting,  airport  clearance  etc.  The  progress  also  gets  affected  due  to brown  field  related  challenges  such  as  shifting  of  utilities,  (involving water/sewage  lines,  optical  fiber  cables,  gas  pipe  lines,  power/signal cables etc.,) infringements, operation of trains without hindering passenger movement, speed restrictions due to works carried out in close proximity  of  high  voltage  power  lines  etc . and  these  factors  affect  the completion time . Therefore, no time frame can be indicated at this stage.

*****