Lok Sabha Question No. 3830 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-12-18
Subject: New Tracks over the Next Decade
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Shri Rahul Kaswan

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3830 TO BE ANSWERED ON 18.12.2024

## NEW TRACKS OVER THE NEXT DECADE

3830. SHRI RAHUL KASWAN:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state::

- (a) whether  the  Government  has  a  detailed  plan  of  action  for  the successful  implementation  of  the  7  trillion  investment  aimed  at laying 50,000 kilometres of new tracks over the next decade;
- (b) if  so,  the  specific  milestones  and  timelines  established  for  this ambitious project, particularly for Rajasthan;
- (c) whether  the  Government  has  plans  to  extend  Vande  Bharat services  to  Churu  Parliamentary  Constituency,  considering  the demand for improved rail connectivity in that region; and
- (d) if so, the details of actions being taken to assess and implement this expansion?

## 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.

For seamless movement of people, goods and services and enhanced logistics  efficiency,  presently,  624  no.  of  surveys  (New  Lines,  Gauge Conversion  and  Doubling)  having  a  total  length  of  about  49,520  km have been sanctioned for providing connectivity to industrial clusters, agricultural  zones,  ports,  mines,  power  plants,  remote  areas,  tourist and  cultural  places,  etc.  under  the  PM  Gati  Shakti  National  Master Plan (NMP).

As on 01.04.2024, across Indian Railways, 488 Railway infrastructure projects  (187  New  Line,  40  Gauge  Conversion  and  261  Doubling)  of total  length  44,488  Km,  costing approx.  Rs.7.44  lakh  crore  are  in planning/approval/construction stage, out of which, 12,045 Km length has  been  commissioned  and  an  expenditure  of  approx.  Rs.2.92  lakh crore has been incurred upto March, 2024. The summary is as under:-

| Category                 |   No of Projects | Total Length NL/GC/DL (in Km)   | Length Commission ed till Mar'24 (in Km)   | Total Exp upto Mar'24 (Rs. in Cr)   |
|--------------------------|------------------|---------------------------------|--------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------|
| New Lines                |              187 | 20199                           | 2855                                       | 160022                              |
| Gauge Conversion         |               40 | 4719                            | 2972                                       | 18706                               |
| Doubling / Multitracking |              261 | 19570                           | 6218                                       | 113742                              |
| Total                    |              488 | 44,488                          | 12,045                                     | 2,92,470                            |

Zone-wise/year-wise  details  of  all  Railway  projects  including  cost, expenditure and outlay are made available in public domain on Indian Railway's website.

The  details  of  commissioning  /  laying  of  new  track  across  Indian Railways is given below:-

| Period   | New track Commissioned   | Average commissioning of new tracks   |
|----------|--------------------------|---------------------------------------|
| 2009-14  | 7,599 Km                 | 4.2 Km/day                            |
| 2014-24  | 31,180 Km                | 8.54 Km/day ( more than 2 times)      |

Railway  infrastructure  projects  falling  fully/partly  in  the  State  of Rajasthan  are  covered  under  North  Western  Railway  (NWR),  North Central Railway (NCR), Northern Railway (NR), Western Railway (WR) zones  of  Indian  Railways.  Zonal  Railway  wise  details  of  Railway projects including cost, expenditure and outlay are made available in public domain on Indian Railway's website.

During last three years i.e. FY 2021-2022, FY 2022-23, FY 2023-24 and current Financial Year 2024-25, total 19 projects  (New Line , Doubling and Gauge Conversion)  of  a  total  length  of 1262 Km, costing Rs. 15150  crore  falling  fully/partly  in  the  State  of  Rajasthan  have  been sanctioned.

As  on  01.04.2024,  32  Railway  Projects  (15  New  Lines,  5  Gauge Conversion  and  12  Doubling)  of  a  total  length  of  4,191  Km,  costing Rs.51,814  crore,  falling  fully/partly  in  the  State  of  Rajasthan  are  at various stages of planning and implementation, out of which 1,183 Km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of Rs.14,786 crore has been incurred upto March, 2024. The status of work is summarized as under:-

| Plan Head                |   No. of projects |   Total Length (in Km) |   Length Commissioned (Km) |   Expenditure upto March 2024 (Rs. in cr.) |
|--------------------------|-------------------|------------------------|----------------------------|--------------------------------------------|
| New Lines                |                15 |                   1230 |                        134 |                                       3593 |
| Gauge Conversion         |                 5 |                   1252 |                        759 |                                       5398 |
| Doubling / Multitracking |                12 |                   1709 |                        290 |                                       5794 |
| Total                    |                32 |                   4191 |                       1183 |                                      14786 |

..P/5

These  projects  include  Churu-Ratangarh  Doubling  (42.81  Km)  and Churu-Sadulpur Doubling (57.82 Km) falling fully/partly in Churu.

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

| Period   | Outlay                               |
|----------|--------------------------------------|
| 2009-14  | Rs.682 crore/year                    |
| 2024-25  | Rs. 9,959 Crore (More than 14 times) |

The details of commissioning / laying of  new track falling fully/partly in  the  State  of  Rajasthan  during  2009-14  and  2014-24  is  as  under  is given below:-

| Period   | New Track Commissioned   | Average Commissioning of new      |
|----------|--------------------------|-----------------------------------|
| 2009-14  | 798 Km                   | tracks 159.6 Km/year              |
| 2014-24  | 3,742 Km                 | 374.2 Km/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.

Presently, Churu  is being served by 46 Mail/Express services, including 02 Duronto Express services, and 14 passenger  train services  which provides Churu connectivity to destinations like Mumbai,  Coimbatore,  Delhi,  Kolkata,  Guwahati,      Secunderabad, Jammu Tawi, Sai Nagar Shirdi, Rameswaram, Indore, Jaipur, Barmer, Bikaner, Jodhpur,  Kota, etc.

Moreover, to cater to the additional needs of passengers, 06 special train services are also being operated serving Churu station. Besides, extension  of  train  services,  including  Vande  Bharat,  is  an  on-going process  on  Indian  Railways  subject  to  operational  feasibility,  traffic justification, availability of resources etc.

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