Lok Sabha Question No. 4435 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-08-20
Subject: Upgradation of Railway Stations
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Shri S Venkatesan

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4435 TO BE ANSWERED ON 20.08.2025

## UPGRADATION OF RAILWAY STATIONS

4435. SHRI S VENKATESAN:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

(a) the expected date of work completion of major railway stations which  are  being  upgraded  to  'world  class'  standards  with  modern passenger amenities;

(b) the  manner  in  which  the  Government  ensuring  that  station redevelopment projects avoid cost overruns and delays; and

(c) whether  there  is  a  timeline  for  full  electrification  of  all  broadgauge routes and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, INFORMATION & BROADCASTING AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

(a)  to  (c):    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.

To  enhance  customer  experience  and  provide  better  amenities, Indian  Railways  has  launched  Amrit  Bharat  Station  Scheme  for  re development of stations with a long-term approach.

The scheme involves preparation of master plans and their implementation  in  phases  to  improve  the  stations.  The  master planning includes:

- 
- Improvement of access to station and circulating areas
- 
- Integration of station with both sides of city
-  Improvement of station building
-  Improvement of waiting halls, toilets, Sitting arrangement, water booths
-  Provision of wider  foot over bridge/air concourse  commensurate with passenger traffic
-  Provision of lift/escalators/Ramp
-  Improvement/Provision of platform surface and cover over platforms
-  Provision of kiosks for local products through schemes like 'One Station One Product'
- 
- 
- Parking areas, Multimodal integration
- Amenities for Divyangjans
-  Better passenger information systems,
-  Provision of executive lounges, nominated spaces for business meetings, landscaping, etc. keeping in view the necessity at each
- station.

The  scheme  also  envisages  sustainable  and  environment  friendly solutions,  provision  of  ballast  less  tracks,  etc.  as  per  necessity, phasing and feasibility and creation of city centre at the station in the long term.

So far, 1337 stations have been identified for development under this scheme. Till now, phase-I works of 105 stations have been completed under this scheme.

Further, development/ re-development/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, encroachments, 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.

Development/upgradation  of  stations  including  under  Amrit  Bharat Station  Scheme  is  generally  funded  under  Plan  Head-53  'Customer Amenities'. The details of allocation under Plan Head-53 are maintained Zonal Railway-wise and not work-wise or station-wise or State-wise.  An  allocation  of  ₹12,118  crores  has  been  made  for  the financial year 2025-26 under Plan Head - 53.

Indian  Railways  has  a  well  established  mechanism  to  monitor implementation of projects including their reviews, inspection, check for time and cost overruns, quality of works and audits. Monitoring of projects is done at various levels including through dedicated portal of  Indian  Railways  named  Indian  Railway  Project  Sanction  and Management  (IRPSM). Works are carried out adhering to the standards and specifications laid down  in various codes and manuals. Inspections/audits/checks are carried out from time to time by  various  agencies/officials/multi-disciplinary  teams  as  per  laid down instructions and actions for correction are taken immediately. The issues faced by the executing units are accordingly addressed. This is a continuous and ongoing process.

## Electrification

Electrification of railway network on Indian Railways has been taken up in mission mode. So far, about 99% of Broad Gauge (BG) network has  been  electrified.  The  electrification  in  remaining  network  has been taken up. Electrification carried out during 2014-25 and before 2014 is as under.

| Period                       | Route Kilometer   |
|------------------------------|-------------------|
| Before 2014 (about 60 years) | 21,801            |
| 2014-25                      | 46,900            |

The  completion  of  Electrification  project(s)  depends  on  various factors  like  forest  clearances  by  officials  of  forest  department, shifting  of  infringing  utilities,  statutory  clearances  from  various authorities,  geological  and  topographical  conditions  of  area,  law  & 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. All these factors affect the completion time of the project(s).

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