Lok Sabha Question No. 2707 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-08-07
Subject: Status of Railway Projects in Andhra Pradesh
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Shri Magunta Sreenivasulu Reddy

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.2707 TO BE ANSWERED ON 07.08.2024

## STATUS OF RAILWAY PROJECTS IN ANDHRA PRADESH

2707  SHRI MAGUNTA SREENIVASULU REDDY:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a)  whether  the  Government  has  undertaken  any  recent  survey/study/ initiative into the railway projects at present in Andhra Pradesh;
- (b) if so, the details regarding the railway related projects, including but limited to building new stations, foot over-bridges, railways crossings, railway  tracks,  retiring  rooms  and  other  infrastructure/welfare  based projects in Andhra Pradesh;
- (c)  the  details  regarding the  funds allocated and utilised over the last five  years  for  the  purpose  of  railway  projects  as  specified  above  in Andhra Pradesh;
- (d)  the  details  regarding  the  proposed  timeline  for  completion  of  such projects,  especially  those  proposed,  under  construction  and  nearing completion in Andhra Pradesh; and
- (e) whether the Government is considering any new railway projects in Andhra Pradesh over the next five years, if so, the details regarding the same including but not limited to the funds allocated for the same?

## ANSWER

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

(SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

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

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STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  TO  (e) OF UNSTARRED QUESTION  NO.2707    BY  SHRI  MAGUNTA  SREENIVASULU REDDY  TO  BE  ANSWERED  IN  LOK  SABHA  ON  07.08.2024  REGARDING STATUS OF RAILWAY PROJECTS IN ANDHRA PRADESH (a) to (e): The Railway projects are surveyed/sanctioned/ executed Zonal Railway-wise  and  not  State-wise  as  the  Railways'  projects  may  span across State boundaries. 41  Railway  infrastructure  projects(17  New  Lines  and  24  Doubling), covering total length of 5,329 km, costing ₹73,743 crore, falling fully/partly in Andhra Pradesh, are in the stage of planning/approval/execution,  out  of  which  1006  km  length  has  been commissioned  and  an  expenditure  of  ₹24,150  crore  has  been  incurred upto March 2024.

38  Surveys  (09  New  Line  and  29  Doubling)    covering  a  total  length  of 5663 kms falling fully/partly in Andhra Pradesh have been sanctioned in last three years i.e. 2021-22, 2022-23, 2023-24 and current year 2024-25 under PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan (NMP) for the development of multimodal connectivity infrastructure to  various  Economic  Zones with an  objective  to  have  integrated  planning,  enhanced  logistics  efficiency and remove gaps for seamless movement of people, goods and services, connectivity to industrial clusters, ports, mines, power plants, agricultural zones including tourist and cultural places..

New  Line  Projects  are  considered  on  the  basis  of  demands  raised  by State  Governments,  Central  Ministries,  Members  of  Parliament,  other public representatives & Railways' own requirements. They are taken up on  the  basis  of  remunerativeness,  last  mile  connectivity,  missing  links and alternate routes, augmentation of congested/saturated lines, socioeconomic considerations etc. depending upon throw-forward of ongoing projects, overall availability of funds and competing demands.

New  Lines  projects  falling  fully/partly  in  Andhra  Pradesh  are  covered under Southern Railway, South Central Railway, South Western Railway and  East  Coast  Railway  zones  of  Indian  Railways.  Zonal  Railway  wise details  of  projects  including  their  cost,  expenditure,    outlay  are  made available in public domain on Indian Railways website.

Since 2014, there has been substantial increase in fund allocation and commensurate commissioning of projects across Indian Railways. Budget  allocation  for  infrastructure  projects  and  safety  works  falling fully/partly in the State of Andhra Pradesh is as under:

| Year      | Budget outlay   | Increase w.r.t. average annual allocation during 2009-14   | Increase w.r.t. average annual allocation during 2009-14   | Increase w.r.t. average annual allocation during 2009-14   |
|-----------|-----------------|------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------|
| 2009-2014 | ₹886 cr/year    | -                                                          |                                                            |                                                            |
| 2023-2024 | ₹8,406 cr       | More                                                       | than                                                       | 9                                                          |
| 2024-2025 | ₹9151 cr        | More times                                                 | than                                                       | 10                                                         |

Commissioning of infrastructure projects falling fully/partly in the state of Andhra Pradesh is as under:

| Period   | Total Length Commissioned   | Average Length Commissioned   | change w.r.t. average commissioning during 2009-14   |
|----------|-----------------------------|-------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------|
| 2009-14  | 363 km                      | 72.6 km/Year                  | -                                                    |
| 2014-24  | 1,510 km                    | 151 km/Year                   | More than 2 times                                    |

Completion/Execution  of  Railway  project/s  depends  on  various  factors like  land acquisition by State Government, forest clearance by officials of forest department, shifting of infringing utilities, statutory clearances from various authorities, geological and topographical conditions of area, law and order situation in the area of project/s site, number of working months in a year for particular project site due to climatic conditions etc. and  all  these  factors  affect  the  execution  and  completion  time  of  the project/s.

Ministry of Railways has recently launched Amrit Bharat Station scheme. 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 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 ballastless  tracks  etc.,  as  per  necessity,  phasing  and  feasibility  and creation of city centres at the station in the long term.

So far, 1324 stations including 73 stations in the State of Andhra Pradesh have been identified for development under the scheme.

The  names  of  stations  identified  for  development  under  Amrit  Bharat Station Scheme in the State of Andhra Pradesh are as below:

| State          |   No. of Stations | Name of Stations                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     |
|----------------|-------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Andhra Pradesh |                73 | Adoni, Anakapalle, Anantapur, Anaparthi, Araku, Bapatla, Bhimavaram Town, Bobbili Jn, Chipurupalli, Chirala, Chittoor, Cuddapah, Cumbum, Dharmavaram, Dhone, Donakonda, Duvvada, Elamanchili , Eluru, Giddalur, Gooty, Gudivada, Gudur, Gunadala , Guntur, Hindupur, |

| Ichchpuram, Kadiri, Kakinada Town, Kottavalasa, Kuppam, Kurnool city, Macherla, Machilipatnam , Madanapalli Road, Mangalagiri, Markapuram Road, Matralayam Road, Nadikude Jn, Nandyal, Narasaraopet, Narsapur , Naupada Jn, Nellore, Nidadavolu, Ongole, Pakala, Palasa, Parvatipuram, Piduguralla, Piler, Rajampet, Rajamundry, Rayanapadu , Renigunta, Repalle, Samalkot, Sattenapalle, Satya Sai Prashati Nilayam, Simhachalam, Singaraykonda, Sri Kalahasti, Srikakulam Road, Sullurpeta, Tadepalligudem, Tadipatri, Tenali , Tirupati, Tuni, Vijayawada, Vinukonda,Vishakhapatnam, Vizianagaram Jn   |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

The  details  of  allocation  for  development  and  maintenance  of  stations including for Amrit Bharat Station Scheme are maintained Zonal Railwaywise  under  Plan  Head-53  'Customer  Amenities'  and  not  station-wise  or State-wise.  Total  fund  allocated  under  Plan  Head-53  to  Zonal  Railways for the current Financial Year i.e. in 2024-25, is ₹15510.75 crores. There are  04  zones,  namely,  East  Coast  Railway,  Southern  Railway,  South Central Railway and South Western Railway, which cater to the State of Andhra  Pradesh.    During  the  current  Financial  Year  a  total  amount  of ₹3804.50 cr has been allocated to the said 04 zones.

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  fibre  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.

Further  upgradation/development/redevelopment  of  stations  on  Indian Railways is a continuous and on-going process and works in this regard are  undertaken  as  per  requirement,  subject  to  inter-se  priority  and availability of funds. However,  priority  for  upgradation/development /redevelopment of stations is accorded to higher category of station over lower category of station while sanctioning and executing the work.

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