Lok Sabha Question No. 288 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-07-24
Subject: Redevelopment of All Railway Stations in Osmanabad  (Maharashtra)
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Shri Omprakash Bhupalsinh Alias Pavan Rajenimbalkar

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 288 TO BE ANSWERED ON 24.07.2024

REDEVELOPMENT OF ALL RAILWAY STATIONS IN OSMANABAD (MAHARASHTRA)

†288. SHRI OMPRAKASH BHUPALSINH ALIAS PAVAN RAJENIMBALKAR:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) the details of ongoing and proposed schemes for redevelopment of all railway stations falling under Osmanabad parliamentary constituency of Maharashtra;
- (b)  the  details  of  plans  undertaken  by  the  Government  for  ensuring better rail connectivity in the Country, specially in Osmanabad;
- (c)  whether  the  Government proposes to run a new train in the said parliamentary constituency; and
- (d) if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

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

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

*****

STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  TO  (d)  OF UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 288 BY SHRI OMPRAKASH BHUPALSINH ALIAS PAVAN RAJENIMBALKAR TO BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 24.07.2024 REGARDING REDEVELOPMENT OF ALL RAILWAY STATIONS IN OSMANABAD (MAHARASHTRA)

(a) The Amrit Bharat Station Scheme has been launched for development  of  Railway  stations  on  Indian  Railways.  This  scheme envisages development of stations on a continuous basis with a longterm 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, 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 centres at the station in the long term.

So far 1324 stations have been identified under this scheme including Osmanabad Railway Station in Osmanabad Parliamentary

Constituency. Tenders have been awarded at Osmanabad station and the works of improvement of station building, circulating area, waiting halls, platform surfacing etc. have been taken up.

However, development/redevelopment/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,  air-port  clearance  etc.  The  progress  also  gets  affected due  to  brown  field  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  voltage  power  lines  etc.  and these factors affect the completion time. Therefore, no time frame can be indicated at this stage.

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

- (b)  The Railway projects are not sanctioned State wise/UT wise/area wise/District wise as the Railways' Projects may span across various state boundaries.

As on 01.04.2024, across Indian Railways including  Osmanabad, 488 Railway Infrastructure projects (187 New Line, 40 Gauge Conversion and 261 Doubling) of total length  44,488  Km, costing  approx.  ₹  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. ₹ 2.92 lakh crore has been incurred upto March, 2024.

The Average Annual Budget allocation for New Line, Gauge Conversion and Doubling Projects across Indian Railways is given below:

| Period   | Average Outlay      | Increase w.r.t. average allocation of 2009-14   |
|----------|---------------------|-------------------------------------------------|
| 2009-14  | ₹ 11,527 crore/year | -                                               |
| 2023-24  | ₹ 67,199 crore      | Nearly 5.8 times                                |

The  details  of  commissioning  of  New  Line,  Gauge  Conversion  and Doubling across Indian Railways is given below:-

| Period   | Total Length Commissioned   | Average Length Commissioned   | Increase w.r.t. average commissioning during 2009-14   |
|----------|-----------------------------|-------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------|
| 2009-14  | 7,599 Km                    | 4.2 Km/day                    | -                                                      |
| 2023-24  | 5,309 Km                    | 14.54 Km/day                  | About 3.5 times                                        |

(c) and (d)  At present, Osmanabad station is being served by 09 pairs of  regular  train  services  providing  connectivity  to  important  places like  Mumbai,  Pune,  Nagpur,  etc.  Further,  to  cater  the  needs  of passengers,  stoppage  of  05  pairs  of  special  trains  have  also  been provided.  Besides,  introduction  of  new  train  services  is  an  ongoing process on Indian Railways subject to traffic justification, operational feasibility, resource availability, etc. *****