Lok Sabha Question No. 401 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-07-24
Subject: New Railway Lines for Karnataka
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Dr. K Sudhakar

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 401

## TO BE ANSWERED ON 24.07.2024

## NEW RAILWAY LINES FOR KARNATAKA

401.  DR. K SUDHAKAR:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS  be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  the  Government  has  data  on  new  railway  lines  such  as Chikkaballapur-Gauribidanur  BG  line,  Chikkaballapur-Sri  Satya  Sai Prashanti Nilayam (Puttaparthy) BG line, Srinivasapura-Madanapalli BG line, Marikuppam-Kuppam BG line projects and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether any feasibility study is being carried out on these projects, if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether the  Government has data regarding  new  railway  lines  for Karnataka and if so, the details thereof;
- (d) the  details  regarding  new  railway  projects  being  planned  and executed for Karnataka; and
- (e) whether  the  Government  has  plans  to  increase  the  number  of suburban trains to various places in the outskirts of Bangalore; and if so, the details thereof?

## 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.

*****

STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN REPLY TO PARTS  (a) TO (e) OF UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 401 BY DR. K SUDHAKAR TO BE ANSWERED IN  LOK  SABHA  ON  24.07.2024    REGARDING  NEW  RAILWAY  LINES  FOR KARNATAKA

(a) to (e):  The details of the projects are given below:-

-  Chikkaballapur  -  Gauribidanur  new  Rail  Line  (44  Km):  Final Location survey has been sanctioned for preparation of Detailed Project Report (DPR).
-  Chikballapur-  Sri  Satya  Sai  Prashanti  Nilayam  (Puttaparthy) new Rail Line  (103  Km):  The  survey  of  the  Project  has  been completed. The project could not be taken forward due to low traffic projection.
-  Srinivasapura  -  Madanapalli  new  Rail  Line (75 Km):        The survey of  the  Project  has been  completed. The project could not be taken forward due to low traffic projection.
-  Marikuppam  -Kuppam  new  Rail  Line  (24  Km):  Project  was sanctioned for 279.54 crore in September, 2013. The project falls  in  Karnataka  and  Andhra  Pradesh.  The  project  involves acquisition  of  320  acres  land  (Karnataka-70  Acres  &  Andhra Pradesh-250 Acres). Out of which 70 acre of land is yet to be handover in  Andhra  Pradesh.  Work  has  been  taken  up  in  the available land .

The Railway projects are surveyed/sanctioned/executed Zonal Railway-wise  and  not  State-wise/District-wise  as  the  Railway  projects may span across State boundaries. Sanctioning of Railway projects is a continuous    and    dynamic     process     of    Indian    Railway.    Railway ...2/-

Infrastructure  Projects  are  taken  up  on  the  basis  of  remunerativeness, last mile connectivity, missing links and alternate routes, augmentation of congested/saturated lines socio-economic considerations etc. depending upon liabilities of ongoing projects, overall availability of funds and competing demands.

Further, as on 01.04.2024, total 31 Railway Infrastructure Projects (21  New  Line  and  10  Doubling),  of  total  length  of  3,840  km,  costing ₹47,016 crore falling fully/partly in the State of Karnataka are in planning/ approval/  construction  stages,  out  of  which  1,302  km  length  has  been commissioned  and  an  expenditure  of  ₹17,382  crore  has  been  incurred upto March, 2024. These include:

- (i) 21  New  Line  projects  of  total  length  of  2,556  km  costing  ₹33,125 crore,  out  of  which  395  km  length  has  been  commissioned  and  an expenditure of ₹7,592 crore has been incurred upto March, 2024.
- (ii) 10  Doubling  projects  of  total  length  of  1,284  km  costing  ₹13,891 crore,  out  of  which  907  km  length  has  been  commissioned  and  an expenditure of ₹9,791 crore has been incurred upto March, 2024.

New Line, Gauge Conversion and Doubling projects falling fully/partly in  the  State  of Karnataka are covered by South Western Railway (SWR), Central  Railway  (CR),  Southern  Railway  (SR)  and  South  Central  Railway (SCR) Zones of Indian Railways. Zone-wise details of all Railway Projects including  cost,  expenditure  and  outlay  are  made  available  in  public domain on Indian Railways website. Further, introduction of train services

including  suburban  services, is an ongoing  process  on  Indian Railways subject to traffic justifications, operational feasibility, availability of resources etc.

Commissioning  of  infrastructure  projects  falling  fully/partly  in  the State of Karnataka is as under:

| Period   | Total Track Commissioned   | Average Track Commissioned   | Increase w.r.t. average commissioning during 2009-14   |
|----------|----------------------------|------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------|
| 2009-14  | 565km                      | 113 km/year                  | -                                                      |
| 2014-24  | 1,633 km                   | 163 km/year                  | 1.44 times                                             |

The completion of any Railway project depends on various factors like  quick  land  acquisition  by  State  Government,  forestry  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  site, number  of  working  months  in  a  year  for  particular  project  site  due  to climatic conditions etc.  All these factors affect the completion time of the project. With above constraints, every effort is being made to execute the project(s) expeditiously.

*****