Lok Sabha Question No. 4354 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-03-26
Subject: Nashik-Dahanu Railway Line and Connectivity to Trimbakeshwar
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Shri Rajabhau Parag Prakash Waje

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4354

## TO BE ANSWERED ON 26.03.2025

## NASHIK-DAHANU RAILWAY LINE AND CONNECTIVITY TO TRIMBAKESHWAR

## 4354.   SHRI RAJABHAU PARAG PRAKASH WAJE:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  the  Government  will  consider  the  long-pending  demand  for  a Nashik-Dahanu railway line, if so, the details thereof;
- (b) the  current  status  of  the  project,  including  technical  feasibility,  land acquisition,  and  financial  planning  under  schemes  such  as  PM  Gati Shakti, National Rail plan, or Amrit Bharat Station Scheme;
- (c) whether the Government will prioritize the construction and commissioning  of  a  railway  track  from  Nashik  to  Trimbakeshwar  to ensure direct rail connectivity for devotees from across the country, in light  of  the  2027  Kumbh  Mela,  which  is  expected  to  attract  crores  of pilgrims; and
- (d) if  so,  the  detail  of  timelines,  budget  allocations,  and  steps  planned  to implement this critical railway infrastructure before Kumbh Mela 2027?

## ANSWER

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

(SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

- (a)  to  (d):  Final  Location  Survey  (FLS)  for  construction  of  new  line  from Nashik-Trimbakeshwar-Vangaon-Dahanu Road (100 Km) has been sanctioned.

The survey works of New Line, Gauge Conversion and Doubling of existing rail network are taken up 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.

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  socio-economic  considerations etc.  depending  upon  liabilities  of  ongoing  projects,  overall  availability  of funds and competing demands.

As on 01.04.2024, 41 Railway projects (16 New Lines, 02 Gauge Conversions and 23 Doubling), of total length of 5,877 Km, costing ₹81,580 crore falling fully/partly in the State of Maharashtra, are at various stages of planning and implementation, out of which 1,926 Km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of ₹31,236 crore has been incurred upto March, 2024.

## The status of work is summarized as under:-

| Category   | No. of   | Total Length (in Km)   | Length Commissioned (in Km)   | Expenditure upto March, 2024 (₹ in Cr.)   |
|------------|----------|------------------------|-------------------------------|-------------------------------------------|
|            | projects |                        |                               |                                           |
| New Lines  | 16       | 2,017                  | 166                           | 8,529                                     |

| Gauge Conversion   |   2 | 609   | 312   | 3,332   |
|--------------------|-----|-------|-------|---------|
|                    |  23 | 3,251 | 1,448 | 19,376  |
| Total              |  41 | 5,877 | 1,926 | 31,236  |

Average Budget allocation for Infrastructure projects and other works, falling fully/ partly in Maharashtra is as under:-

| Period   | Outlay                               |
|----------|--------------------------------------|
| 2009-14  | ₹ 1,171 crore/year                   |
| 2025-26  | ₹ 23,778 crore ( more than 20 times) |

Commissioning  of  sections  (New  Line,  Gauge  Conversion  and  Doubling) falling fully/partly in the State of Maharashtra during 2009-14 and 2014-2024 is as under:-

| Period   | New track    | Average commissioning of new    |
|----------|--------------|---------------------------------|
|          | Commissioned | tracks                          |
| 2009-14  | 292 Km       | 58.4 Km/year                    |
| 2014-24  | 1,830 Km     | 183 Km/year (more than 3 times) |

Amrit  Bharat  Station  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, 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 station have been identified under this scheme out of which 132 stations  are  located  in  the  State  of  Maharashtra.  The  names  of  stations identified for development under Amrit Bharat Station Scheme in the State of Maharashtra are as following:

| State       |   No. of Amrit Stations | Name of Amrit Stations                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               |
|-------------|-------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Maharashtra |                     132 | Ahmednagar, Ajni (Nagpur), Akalkot Road, Akola, Akurdi, Amalner, Amgaon, Amravati, Andheri, Aurangabad, Badnera, Balharshah, Bandra Terminus, Baramati, Belapur, Bhandara Road, Bhokar, Bhusawal, Borivali, Byculla, Chalisgaon, Chanda Fort, Chandrapur, Charni Road, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, Chinchpokli, Chinchwad, |

| Dadar (DDR), Dadar (DR), Dahisar, Daund, Dehu Road, Devlali, Dhamangaon, Dharangaon, Dharmabad, Dhule, Diva, Dudhani, Gangakher, Godhani, Gondia, Grant Road, Hadapsar, Hatkanangale, Hazur Sahib Nanded, Himayatnagar, Hinganghat, Hingoli Deccan, Igatpuri, Itwari, Jalgaon, Jalna, Jeur, Jogeshwari, Kalyan, Kamptee, Kandivali, Kanjur Marg, Karad, Katol, Kedgaon, Kinwat, Kolhapur, Kopargaon, Kurduwadi, Kurla, Lasalgaon, Latur, Lokmanya Tilak Terminus, Lonand, Lonavla, Lower Parel, Malad, Malkapur, Manmad, Manwath Road, Marine Lines, Matunga, Miraj, Mudkhed, Mumbai Central, Mumbra, Murtajapur, Nagarsol, Nagpur, Nandgaon, Nandura, Nandurbar, Narkher, Nashik Road, Osmanabad, Pachora, Palghar, Pandharpur, Panvel, Parbhani, Parel, ParliVaijnath, Partur, Phaltan, Prabhadevi, Pulgaon, Pune Jn, Purna, Raver, Rotegaon, Sainagar Shirdi, Sandhurst Road, Sangli, Satara, Savda, Selu, Sewagram, Shahad, Shegaon, Shivaji Nagar Pune, Solapur, Talegaon, Thakurli, Thane, Titvala, Tumsar Road, Umri, Uruli, Vadala Road, Vidyavihar, Vikhroli, Wadsa, Wardha, Washim, Wathar.   |
|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

Development works at railway stations under Amrit Bharat Station Scheme in Nashik parliamentary constituency and nearby areas in the state of Maharashtra have been taken up at a good pace. The progress at some of these stations is as given below:

- At  Devlali  station,  works  of  construction  of  entrance  gate,  entrance porch, boundary wall, new platform shelter, improvement of circulating area,  parking  area,  toilets,  provision of  lifts,  standard  signagaes, improved lighting, etc. have been completed.
- At Manmad station, works of construction of new platform shelter and improvement of platform surfacing have been completed and works of construction of entrance gate, improvement of station building, toilets, booking office, circulating area, parking area, signages, station lighting, construction  of  new  foot  over  bridge,  provision  of  lifts  and  escalator, etc. have been taken up.
- At Lasalgaon  station, works  of improvement  of  station building, circulating area, parking area, provision of additional platform shelters, construction of entrance gate, boundary wall, toilets and new booking office have been completed.
- At Igatpuri station, works of construction of new entrance gate, cover shed  for  staircase  of  foot  over  bridge,  new  toilet  block  and  sewage treatment plant have been completed and works of construction of new booking office,  service  building,  improvement  of  station  building,  etc. have been taken up.
- At Kopargaon station, works of improvement of station building, waiting hall,  platform  surfacing,  construction  of  canopy  shed,  new  overhead water  tank,  underground  sump  and  provision  of  additional  platform shelters have been completed and works of construction of new toilet block,  improvement  of  circulating  area,  parking  area,  etc.  have  been taken up.

Master planning for development of Nashik Road station under Amrit Bharat Station  Scheme  has  been  taken  up.  This  is  an  iterative  process  requiring optimization and the time frame for such optimization cannot be indicated at this stage.

Development/upgradation/modernizations  of  stations  including  under  Amrit Bharat  Station  Scheme  is  generally  funded  under  Plan  Head-53  'Customer Amenities'. The details of allocation and expenditure under Plan Head-53 are maintained Zonal Railway-wise and not work-wise or station-wise or statewise.  The  state  of  Maharashtra  is  covered  under  four  zones  viz.  Central Railway,  South  Central  Railway,  South  East  Central  Railway  and  Western Railway. For these zones, an allocation of ₹3,854 Crores (Revised Estimate) has been made for the financial year 2024-25 under Plan Head-53.

Development / redevelopment / upgradation of Railway Station is complex in nature involving safety of passengers & trains and requires various statutory clearance, heritage, tree cutting, air-port clearances 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 high power lines etc., and these factors affect the completion time. Therefore, no time frame can be indicated at this stage.

Sanctioning of works of Road over Bridge (ROB)/Road under Bridge (RUB) is a continuous and dynamic process of Indian Railway. Such works are taken up on the basis of its impact on safety in train operations, mobility of trains & impact for road users and feasibility, availability of funds etc.

Further,  following  ROB/RUB  construction  works  in  Nashik  District  are  in progress:-

| ROB RUB CONSTRUCTION IN NASHIK DISTRICT   | ROB RUB CONSTRUCTION IN NASHIK DISTRICT   |
|-------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------|
| Items                                     | Ongoing works of ROB/RUB                  |
| ROB                                       | 16                                        |
| RUB                                       | 4                                         |
| Total                                     | 20                                        |

Completion of any ROB/RUB work depends on various factors like cooperation  of  State  Governments  for  consent  of  closure  of  LC,  fixing  of approach alignment, approval of  General Arrangement Drawing (GAD), land acquisition, removal of encroachment, shifting of infringing utilities, statutory clearances from various authorities, law and order situation in the area of project/ work sites, number of working months in a year for particular project/ work sites due to climatic conditions etc. All these factors affect the completion time of the projects/ works. Therefore, it is quite difficult to fix definite timelines for completion of ROBs/RUBs.

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