Lok Sabha Question No. 2735 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-08-07
Subject: Rapid Rail in West Bengal
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Shri Raju Bista

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2735

TO BE ANSWERED ON 07.08.2024

## RAPID RAIL IN WEST BENGAL

2735 SHRI RAJU BISTA:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) the details regarding commencement of the rapid rail operations;
- (b) the  details  of  proposed  routes  being  built  for  the  rapid  rail system particularly in West Bengal;
- (c) the details of the number of Freight Corridors being built in the country  and  the  routes  being  covered  particularly  in  West Bengal; and
- (d) the details of the benefits of Freight Corridors to the economy?

## ANSWER

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

(SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

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

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STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  TO  (d)  OF UNSTARRED  QUESTION  NO.  2735  BY  SHRI  RAJU  BISTA  TO  BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 07.08.2024 REGARDING RAPID RAIL IN WEST BENGAL

(a)  to  (d):  The  Railway  projects  are  surveyed/sanctioned/executed Zonal  Railway-wise  and  not  State-wise/Constituency-wise  as  the Railway projects may span across State boundaries. However, as on 01.04.2024, 43 projects (13 New Lines, 04 Gauge Conversions and 26 Doubling) comprising of total length of 4479 Km, costing ₹60,168 crore  are  falling  fully/partly  in  the  State  of  West  Bengal  including those  which  are  in  planning/approval/construction  stage,  out  of which, 1655 km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of ₹20,434 crore has been incurred upto March, 2024.

Railway Infrastructure Projects falling fully/partly in the State of  West  Bengal  are  covered  under  East  Central  Railway  (ECR), Eastern Railway  (ER),  South  Eastern  Railway  (SER)  and  Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) Zones of Indian Railways.

Average annual Budget allocation for Infrastructure and safety  works,  falling  fully/partly  in  the  State  of  West  Bengal  is  as under:-

| Year    | Budget Outlay   | % change w.r.t. avg. annual allocation of 2009-14   |
|---------|-----------------|-----------------------------------------------------|
| 2009-14 | ₹4380 Cr./Yr    | -                                                   |
| 2023-24 | ₹11790 Cr.      | 169% more                                           |

Though  fund  allocation  has  increased  manifold  (more  than 2.6 times) but pace of execution of important infrastructure projects falling fully/partly in the State of West Bengal is held up due to delay in  land  acquisition  and  only  about  580  Ha  land  has  been  acquired out  of  total  requirement  of  about  1981  Ha.  Railway  had  initiated efforts for acquisition of land and has paid ₹283 Crore to Government  of  West  Bengal  for  land  acquisition  but  could  not succeed in acquiring land for projects.

Further,  New  Delhi-Howrah  route  is  planned  for  160  kmph which  includes  about  230  km  from  Barakar  to  Howrah  in  West Bengal.

Ministry of Railways is executing the work of construction of two  dedicated  freight  corridors  namely  Eastern  Dedicated  Freight Corridor  (EDFC)  consisting  of  1337  km  from  Ludhiana  to  Sonnagar and Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (WDFC) consisting of 1506 km  from  JNPT  to  Dadri.  Out  of  2843  km,  2741  km  has  been commissioned. Further, 3rd and 4th line is sanctioned from Sonnagar to Andal of 374 km route length (including 39.75 km from Andal to Barakar in West Bengal).

The  construction  of  Dedicated  Freight  Corridor  (DFC)  will facilitate  faster  access  to  Northern  hinterland  from  Western  Ports and will also lead to development of new industrial hubs and Gati Shakti Cargo Terminals. DFC will offer higher transport output in the country  with  reduced  transit  time.  This  would  also  improve  the supply  chain  for  the  industries/logistics  players  located  in  DFC's catchment  areas  of  Maharashtra,  Gujarat,  Haryana,  Delhi,  Uttar Pradesh  and  West  Bengal  leading  to  growth  of  Export  and  Import (EXIM) traffic as well and are also expected to help in reducing the carbon emissions in the country.

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