Lok Sabha Question No. 1723 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-07-30
Subject: Introduction of New Express/Superfast and Vande Bharat Trains
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Shri Ummeda Ram Beniwal

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1723

## TO BE ANSWERED ON 30.07.2025

## INTRODUCTION OF NEW EXPRESS/SUPERFAST AND VANDE BHARAT TRAINS

†1723. SHRI UMMEDA RAM BENIWAL:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a)  whether  Barmer-Jaisalmer  Lok  Sabha  Constituency  is  still  lagging behind in terms of rail facilities due to which the passengers, tourists and
- soldiers face difficulties;
- (b)  if  so,  whether  any  scheme  is  being  implemented  for  laying  tracks, gauge conversion, electrification, modernisation of station or introduction of new trains to connect the district of Barmer, Balotra, Jaisalmer and the other areas, if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether the Government is contemplating to introduce new express/superfast  or  Vande  Bharat  trains  in  view  of  the  long  pending demands  of  additional  long  distance  trains  from  Jaisalmer-Jodhpur, Barmer-Jodhpur to Jaipur, Delhi or South India; and
- (d) if so, the details of the said schemes, works and proposed, sanctioned Budget  progress  made  so  far  and  the  time  by  which  it  is  likely  to  be
- materialised?

## ANSWER

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

## (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

- (a)  to  (d)  Railway  network  straddles  across  State/District  boundaries, accordingly  trains  are  introduced,  as  per  network  requirement,  across such boundaries. During 2021-2022 to 2025-2026 (till 25.07.2025),  Indian Railways  have  introduced  04  train  services  for  Barmer  and  02  train services catering Jaisalmer station.

Accordingly, at present, Barmer, Balotra and Jaisalmer stations are being served  by  28  train  services,  24  train  services  and  14  train  services respectively, which are providing connectivity of Barmer and Jaisalmer to various  destinations  like  Jaipur,  Bikaner,  Delhi,  Jammu  Tawi,  Ambala, Kathgodam, Rishikesh, Jalandhar, Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Mumbai,

Yesvantpur, Howrah, etc.

Presently,  04  pairs  and  03  Pairs  of  trains  directly  connect  Barmer  to Jaipur and Delhi respectively. Similarly, Jaisalmer is directly connected to Jaipur and Delhi by 02 pairs of train services each. Besides, introduction of new train services, including Vande Bharat train services is an ongoing process on Indian Railways subject to traffic justification, operational feasibility, resource availability, etc.

Railway projects are surveyed/ sanctioned/executed Zonal Railway wise and  not  State-wise/UT  wise/District  wise  as  the  Railway  projects  may span across State/UT/District boundaries.

Railway projects are sanctioned on the basis of remunerativeness, traffic projections,  last  mile  connectivity,  missing  links  and  alternate  routes, augmentation  of  congested/saturated  lines,  demands  raised  by  State Governments,  Central  Ministries,  Members  of  Parliament,  other  public representatives, Railway's own operational requirement, socio-economic considerations etc. depending upon throwforward of ongoing projects and overall availability of funds.

As on 01.04.2025, 28 Railway  projects (13  New  Lines,  05  Gauge Conversion  and  10  Doubling),  of  total  length  of  3,409  Km  costing  Rs 43,918  cr.  falling  fully/partly  in  the  State  of  Rajasthan  are  at  various stages of planning and implementation, out of which 1,238 Km length has been  commissioned  and  an  expenditure  of  Rs.  18,955  cr.  has  been incurred upto March 2025. The status of work is summarized as under:-

These  2  important  projects  falling  fully/partly  in  the  district  of  Barmer,

| Plan Head               |   No. of projects | Total Length (in Km)   | Length Commissioned (in Km)   | Expenditure upto March 2024 (Rs. in Cr)   |
|-------------------------|-------------------|------------------------|-------------------------------|-------------------------------------------|
| New Lines               |                13 | 981                    | 196                           | 5769                                      |
| Gauge Conversion        |                 5 | 1252                   | 788                           | 6829                                      |
| Doubling/ Multitracking |                10 | 1176                   | 254                           | 6357                                      |
| Total                   |                28 | 3,409                  | 1,238                         | 18,955                                    |

Balotra and Jaisalmer have been sanctioned:

|   S.No. | Project                                                                      |   Cost (in cr.) |
|---------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------|
|       1 | New Line between Ramdevra-Pokhran via Bhairav Gufa and Kailash Tekri (13 Km) |             189 |
|       2 | Doubling of Luni-Samdari-Bhildi section                                      |            3086 |

The Electrification works of the above projects are also in progress.

Survey of total 55 projects (23 new line and 32 doubling) of total length 5,497 Km falling fully/partly in the State of Rajasthan including districts of Barmer,  Balotra  and  Jaisalmer  have  been  sanctioned  during  last  three years (2022-23, 2023-24, 2024-25 and current Financial Year 2025-26).

The sanctioning of the project requires consultation with various stakeholders including State Governments  and  necessary approvals viz. appraisal of NITI Aayog, Ministry of Finance etc. As sanctioning of project is a continuous and dynamic process, exact timelines cannot be fixed.

Completion  of  Railway  project/s  depends  on  various  factors  like  quick 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 etc. All these factors affect the completion time and cost of the project/s.

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

Ministry  of  Railways  has  launched  Amrit  Bharat  Station  Scheme  for 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, platform surfacing and cover over platform, 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 centre at the station in the long term.

So  far,  1337  railway  stations  including  85  stations  in  the  state  of Rajasthan  have  been  identified  for  development  under  Amrit  Bharat Station Scheme. The names of stations identified for development under this scheme in the state of Rajasthan are as following:

| State     |   No. of Stations | Names of stations                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         |
|-----------|-------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Rajasthan |                85 | Abu Road, Ajmer, Alwar, Anupgarh, AsalpurJobner, Balotra, Bandikui, Baran, Barmer, Bayana, Beawar, Bharatpur, Bhawani Mandi, Bhilwara, Bijainagar, Bikaner, Bundi, Chanderiya, Chhabra Gugor, Chittorgarh Jn., Churu, Dakaniya Talav, Dausa, Deeg, Degana, Deshnoke, Dholpur, Didwana, Dungarpur, Falna, Fatehnagar, Fatehpur Shekhawati, Gandhinagar Jaipur, Gangapur City, Gogameri, Gotan, Govind Garh, Hanumangarh, Hindaun City, Jaipur Jn, Jaisalmer, Jalor, Jawai Bandh, Jhalawar City, Jhunjhunu, Jodhpur, Kapasan, Khairthal, Kherli, Kota Jn, Lalgarh Jn, Mandal Garh, Mandawar Mahwa Road, Marwar Bhinmal, Marwar Jn, Mavli Jn, Merta Road Jn, Nagaur, Naraina, Nim ka Thana, Nokha, Pali Marwar, Phalodi Jn, Phulera Jn, Pindwara, Rai singhnagar, Rajgarh, Ramdevra, Ramganj Mandi Jn, Ranapratapnagar, Rani, Ratangarh Jn, Ren, Ringas, Sadulpur, Sanganer, Sawai Madhopur, |

Development  works  at  railway  stations  under  Amrit  Bharat  Station Scheme in the state of Rajasthan have been taken up at a good pace. Till Deshnoke,  Fatehpur Shekhawati,  Gogameri,  Govind  Garh,  Mandal  Garh,  Mandawar  Mahwa Road and Rajgarh) in the state of Rajasthan have been completed under this scheme. The works at other stations have also been taken up at good now, phase -I works  of 08 stations (Bundi, pace and progress of some of the above stations is as given below:

- ●
- At Barmer station, the structural work of station building, waiting hall, toilet blocks, platform raising, platform shelter and circulating area have been completed. The finishing works of station building, improvement  of  platform  no.  1,  construction  of  new  Foot  Over Bridge and lift have been taken up.
- At  Jaisalmer  station,  the works  of  station  building including departure  and  arrival  block,  air  concourse,  Foot  Over  Bridges, platform  shelter,  improvement  to  platform  surfacing,  sub  station building  and  sewage  treatment  plant  have  been  completed.  The works of development of circulating area, lift and escalator have been taken up.
- At Balotra station, the structural work of station building, waiting hall, toilet blocks, platform raising and platform shelter have been completed. The works of improvement to circulating area, construction of new Foot Over Bridge and lift have been taken up.

Development  /  Upgradation  /  Modernization  of  stations  including  under Amrit  Bharat  Station  Scheme  is  generally  funded  under  Plan  Head-53 'Customer Amenities'. The details of allocation of funds for development and maintenance of stations are maintained Zonal Railway-wise and not work-wise or station-wise or state-wise. The state of Rajasthan is covered under  05  (five)  Railway  zones,  namely  Northern  Railway,  North  Central Railway,  North  Western  Railway,  Western  Railway  and  West  Central

Railway. For these zones, allocation of ₹ 5,257 crore has been made for the  financial  year  2025-26  under  Plan  Head-53  and  expenditure  (up  to June, 2025) of ₹ 1,024 crore has been incurred so far. 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 brownfield 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 tracks and high voltage power lines, etc. and these factors affect the completion time. Therefore, no time frame can be indicated at this stage.

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