Lok Sabha Question No. 281 (STARRED), answered on 2023-08-09
Subject: Expansion of Railway Network
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Locket Chatterjee, Jugal Kishore Sharma

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 281 TO BE ANSWERED ON 09.08.2023

## EXPANSION OF RAILWAY NETWORK

†* 281. MS. LOCKET CHATTERJEE: SHRI JUGAL KISHORE SHARMA:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government proposes to expand railway network and run new trains in West Bengal, Jammu & Kashmir, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh;
- (b) if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether the Government proposes to start Vande Bharat Train from Bhagalpur Railway Station or to include the said Station on the route of Agartala Rajdhani Express;
- (d) if so, the project-wise total amount of funds allocated for new rail  projects  to  West  Bengal,  Jammu  &  Kashmir,  Bihar  and Madhya Pradesh during the last five years and current year;
- (e) whether the Government proposes to connect Bhind and Datia districts  to  any  other  railway  line  and  also  connect  the  said districts to Delhi and Bhopal; and
- (f) if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, COMMUNICATIONS AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

(SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

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

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STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  TO  (f)  OF STARRED QUESTION NO. 281 BY MS.  LOCKET  CHATTERJEE  AND SHRI JUGAL KISHORE SHARMA TO BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 09.08.2023 REGARDING EXPANSION OF RAILWAY NETWORK

(a)  to  (d)  :  The  Railway  projects  are  sanctioned/executed  Zonal Railway wise and not State wise as the Railways' projects may span across State boundaries/District boundaries. Sanctioning of Railway  projects  is  a  continuous  and  dynamic  process  of  Indian Railway. Railway Infrastructure Projects 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 liabilities of ongoing projects, overall availability of funds and competing demands.

Indian Railways(IR) constantly endeavours to improve connectivity between various parts of the country and to this end, IR introduces new  services,  extends  and  increases  the  frequencies  of  existing services  and  diverts  train  services,  which  are  ongoing  processes subject to operational feasibility, commercial viability etc. However, as  Railway  network  straddle  across  State  boundaries,  trains  are introduced across State boundaries as per network requirement. At present,  Bhagalpur  is  served  by  62  mail/express  services  and  28 passenger services.

During the last three years i.e. FY 2020-21, FY 2021-22, FY 2022-23 and current FY 2023-24, 141 Surveys (New Line, Gauge Conversion and  Doubling)  of  a  total  length  of  7217  km  have  been  sanctioned and  11  Projects  (New  Line  Gauge  Conversion  and  Doubling)  of  a total  length  of  282  Kms,  costing  approx. ` 4164 Crore  have  been ..P/2

sanctioned  which  fall  fully/partly  in  the  states  of  West  Bengal, Jammu and Kashmir, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh.

Zone wise details of Railway projects, including cost, expenditure and outlay are made available in public domain on Indian Railways website i.e. www.indianrailways.gov.in> Ministry of Railways> Railway Board> about Indian Railways> Railway Board Directorates>  Finance  (Budget)>  Rail  Budget/Pink  Book  (year)> Railway-wise Works, Machinery and Rolling Stock Programme (RSP).

## West Bengal

As on 01.04.2023, 44 Railway Infrastructure Projects (16 New line, 04  Gauge  Conversion    and  24  Doubling)  of  total  length  4,209  km, costing ` 50,915 crore, falling fully/partly in the state of West Bengal are  in  planning/approval/construction  stage,    out    of    which,  2,033 km length has been commissioned  and an expenditure of ` 23,298 crore has been incurred upto March, 2023.

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

Since 2014, there has been substantial increase in Budget allocation  and  commensurate  commissioning  of  projects  across Indian Railways. Average Annual Budget allocation for Infrastructure  projects  &  safety  works,  falling  fully/partly  in  West Bengal is as under:

| Period   | Average Outlay    | Percentage more as compared to average allocation during 2009-14   |
|----------|-------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 2009-14  | ` 4380 crore/year | -                                                                  |
| 2014-23  | ` 5621 crore/year | 28% more                                                           |
| 2023-24  | ` 11970 crore     | 173% more                                                          |

During 2014-23, 1137 Km sections (113 km of New line, 151 Km of Gauge Conversion and 873 km of Doubling) falling fully/partly in the State  of  West  Bengal  have  been  commissioned  in  the  state  at  an average rate 126.33 km per year.

## JAMMU & KASHMIR:

As on 01.04.2023, 1 New line project covering total  length  of  272 Km,  costing ` 37,012  crore,  falling  in  Jammu  &  Kashmir  has  been taken up out of which 161 Km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of ` 34,261 crore has been incurred upto March,2023.

Railway infrastructural Projects  in  the  State  of  Jammu  &  Kashmir are covered by Northern Railway Zone of Indian Railways.

Average  Annual  Budget  allocation  for  Infrastructure  projects  & safety works, falling fully/partly in Jammu & Kashmir is as under:

| Period   | Average Outlay    | Percentage more as compared to average allocation during 2009-14   |
|----------|-------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 2009-14  | ` 1044 crore/year | -                                                                  |
| 2014-23  | ` 2746 crore/year | 163% more                                                          |
| 2023-24  | ` 6003 crore      | 475% more                                                          |

During the period 2014-23, 39 km sections (25 km New line and 14 km  Doubling)  falling  fully/partly  in  Jammu  &  Kashmir  have  been commissioned at an average rate 4.33 Km per year.

## BIHAR

As  on  01.04.2023,  54    Railway  Infrastructure  Projects  (32  New Lines,  04  Gauge  Conversions  and  18  Doubling),  of  total  length  of 4,950  Km,  costing ` 70,672  crore  falling  fully/partly  in  the  State  of Bihar  are  in  planning/approval/construction  stage,  out  of  which, 1505  km  length  has  been  commissioned  and  an  expenditure  of ` 25,702 crore has been incurred upto March, 2023.

Railway  infrastructural  Projects  falling  fully/partly  in  the  State  of Bihar  are  covered  in  East  Central  Railway  (ECR),  Eastern  Railway (ER), North Eastern Railway (NER), Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) Zone of Indian Railways.

Average  Annual  Budget  allocation  for  Infrastructure  projects  & safety works, falling fully/ partly in State of Bihar is as under:

| Period   | Average Outlay    | Percentage more as compared to average allocation during 2009-14   |
|----------|-------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 2009-14  | ` 1132 crore/year | -                                                                  |
| 2014-23  | ` 4006 crore/year | 254% more                                                          |
| 2023-24  | ` 8505 crore      | 651% more                                                          |

During  2014-23,  1308  Km  sections  (347  Km  New  Lines,  475  Km Gauge  Conversion  and  486  Km  Doubling)  falling  fully/partly  in  the State of Bihar has been commissioned at an average rate of 145.33 Km/year, which is 129% more than the commissioning during 200914 (63.6 Km/year).

## MADHYA PRADESH:

As on 01.04.2023, 32 Railway Infrastructure Projects (08 New Lines, 02 Gauge Conversions and 22 Doubling), of total length of 5,539 Km, costing ` 77,797  crore  falling  fully/partly  in  Madhya  Pradesh  are  in planning/approval/construction stage, out of which 1,557 Km length has  been  commissioned  and  an  expenditure  of ` 31,111  crore  has been incurred upto March, 2023.

Railway  Infrastructure  Projects  falling  fully/partly  in  the  State  of Madhya Pradesh are covered in South East Central Railway, West Central  Railway,  Central  Railway,  North  Western  Railway,  East Central Railway, North Central Railway and Western Railway.

The Average Annual Budget allocation for Infrastructure projects & safety works, falling fully/ partly in State of Madhya Pradesh is as under:

| Period   | Average Outlay    | Percentage more as compared to average allocation during 2009-14   |
|----------|-------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 2009-14  | ` 632 crore/year  | -                                                                  |
| 2014-23  | ` 6181 crore/year | 878% more                                                          |
| 2023-24  | ` 13607 crore     | 2053% more                                                         |

During 2014-23, 1741 km sections (293 km New line, 636 km Gauge conversion and 812 km Doubling), falling fully/partly in the state of Madhya Pradesh,  have been commissioned at an average rate of 193.44  km  per  year,  which  is  567%  more  than  average  annual commissioning achieved during 2009-14 (29 Km/Yr.).

(e)  and  (f)  Bhind  and  Datia  Railway  Stations  are  on  the  existing Indian  Railways  network  and  well  connected  to  both  Delhi  and Bhopal.  Datia  and  Bhind  stations  are  also  connected  with  each other  via  Gwalior  junction.  Final  Location  Survey  work  between Bhind-Mahoba  via  Orai  New  line  has  been  sanctioned.  Work  for laying  3rd  line  between  Jhansi  to  Mathura  via  Datia  (274  Km) costing ` 5190 crore has been taken up.

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