Lok Sabha Question No. 553 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-07-23
Subject: New Railway Line in the Country
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Shri Vijay Kumar Dubey

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 553 TO BE ANSWERED ON 23.07.2025

## NEW RAILWAY LINE IN THE COUNTRY

553.  SHRI VIJAY KUMAR DUBEY:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) the  details  of  survey  approved  for  new  railway  lines  in  the country during the last three years and the current year along with the present status thereof, zone/section-wise particularly in the Lok Sabha constituencies of Kushinagara and Gorakhpur;
- (b) the  details  of  funds  allocated  and  spent  on  these  surveys during the last three years, zone-wise;
- (c) whether the Railways has sanctioned projects for laying of new railway lines for which surveys have already been completed, if so,  the  details  thereof  and  if  not,  the  reasons  therefor,  zone, section-wise; and
- (d) whether any time-frame has been fixed to reach a final decision on the completed survey reports for laying of new railway lines and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

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

(a) to (d): Railway projects are surveyed/ sanctioned/executed Zonal Railway wise and  not  State-wise as the Railway' projects may span ..P/2

across  State  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, socioeconomic  considerations  etc.  depending  upon  throwforward  of ongoing projects and overall availability of funds.

During the last three years i.e. FY 2022-23, 2023-24, 2024-25 and the current FY 2025-26, 267 surveys for New Lines of a total length of 25,740 km have been sanctioned throughout the country including 32  surveys  of  total  length  1,866  km  falling  fully/partly  in  Uttar Pradesh including Kushinagar and Gorakhpur.

The  expenditure  incurred  on  the  surveys  across  Indian  Railways during the last 03 years i.e. FY 2022-23, 2023-24 and 2024-25 is  244 Crore.

Similarly, during the last three years i.e. FY 2022-23, 2023-24, 202425  and  the  current  FY,  237  projects  (40  New  Line,  17  Gauge Conversion  and  180  Doubling)  of  total      length  9,703  Km  costing approx. 1,90,333 Crore have been sanctioned across Indian Railways,  including  the  following  projects  falling  fully/partly in Gorakhpur, Kushinagar:-

- (i) Doubling of Gorakhpur Cantt-Valmikinagar (96 km) has been sanctioned at a cost of  1120 crore;

- (ii) New  Line  from  Anandnagar-  Ghugli  (53  km)  has  been sanctioned at a cost of  959 crore;

Moreover,  work  has  been  taken  up  in  Chhitauni  -  Tamkuhi  Road (62.5 Km) New line project recently.

New Line projects falling  fully/partly  in  the  State  of  Uttar  Pradesh are  covered under Northern Railway, North Central Railway, North Eastern  Railway,  East  Central  Railway  and  West  Central  Railway zones  of  Indian  Railways.  Zonal  Railway  wise  details  of  Railway projects  are  made  available  in  public  domain  on  Indian  Railway's website.

As on 01.04.2025, 10 New Lines, covering total length of 1,227 Km costing 22,854  crore  falling  fully/partly in  the State  of Uttar Pradesh  are  sanctioned,  out  of  which  340  Km  length  has  been commissioned  and  an  expenditure  of 10,517  crore  has  been incurred upto March 2025.

Budget  allocation  for  Infrastructure  projects  and  safety  works, falling fully/ partly in Uttar Pradesh is as under:

| Period   | Outlay                       |
|----------|------------------------------|
| 2009-14  | 1,109 crore/year             |
| 2025-26  | 19,858 Cr. (nearly 18 times) |

The details of commissioning/laying of new track falling fully/partly in  the  State  of  Uttar  Pradesh  during  2009-14  and  2014-25  is  as under:-

| Period   | New Track Commissioned   | Average Commissioning of new tracks   |
|----------|--------------------------|---------------------------------------|
| 2009-14  | 996 Km                   | 199.2 Km/year                         |
| 2014-25  | 5,272 Km                 | 479.3 km per year (More than 2 times) |

The completion of any Railway project depends on various factors like quick land acquisition by State Government, forest clearance by officials  of  forest  department,  deposition  of  cost  share  by  State Government in cost sharing projects, priority of projects, 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 due to climatic conditions etc.

Various  steps  taken  by  the  Government  for  speedy  approval  and implementation  of  Railway  projects  include  (i)  setting  up  of  Gati Shakti units (ii) prioritisation of projects (iii) substantial increase in allocation of funds on priority projects (iv) delegation of powers at field level (v) close  monitoring  of  progress  of project at various levels,  and  (vi)  regular  follow  up  with  State  Governments  and concerned authorities for expeditious land acquisition, forestry and Wildlife  clearances  and  for  resolving  other  issues  pertaining  to projects. This has led to substantial increase in rate of commissioning since 2014.

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