Lok Sabha Question No. 4167 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-03-18
Subject: Railway Projects for Uttarakhand
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Shri Trivendra Singh Rawat, Shri Ajay Bhatt

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4167 TO BE ANSWERED ON 18.03.2026

## RAILWAY PROJECTS FOR UTTARAKHAND

†4167. SHRI TRIVENDRA SINGH RAWAT: SHRI AJAY BHATT:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) the total kilometers of railway network added in Uttarakhand during the last five years, year-wise;
- (b)  the  number  of  new  railway  projects  currently  sanctioned  in  the  said State;
- (c) the details of the special plan formulated to connect the hilly areas of the said State with the railway network;
- (d) the quantum of additional funds proposed for the said purpose;
- (e)  whether  there  is  any  proposal  to  expand  new  railway  lines  and introduce new trains in the said State and if so, the details thereof; and
- (f)  the  details  of  the  total  amount  allocated  to  the  said  States  for  new railway projects during the last three years and the current year, year and project-wise?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, INFORMATION & BROADCASTING AND

ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

(SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

(a)  to  (f):      Budget  allocation  for  Infrastructure  projects  and  safety  works, falling fully/ partly in Uttarakhand is as under:

| Period   | Outlay                           |
|----------|----------------------------------|
| 2009-14  | Rs 187 Crore/year                |
| 2025-26  | Rs 4,641 Crore (nearly 25 times) |

Projects Sanctioned:

As on 01.04.2025, 03 New Lines, covering total length of 216 Km costing   Rs 40,384 crore falling fully/partly in the State of Uttarakhand are sanctioned, out of which 16  Km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of Rs  19,898  crore  has  been  incurred  upto  March'  2025.  The  summarized details are as under:-

| Category   |   No. projects |   of Total Length (in Km) |   Length Commissioned (in Km) | Expenditure upto March 2025 (Rs in crore)   |
|------------|----------------|---------------------------|-------------------------------|---------------------------------------------|
| New Lines  |             03 |                       216 |                            16 | 19,898                                      |

Deoband-Roorkee new line (27 km) :

Recently Deoband-Roorkee new line project (27 km) has  been completed. It will reduce the distance between Delhi and Dehradun by approx. 40 km.

Rishikesh - Karnaprayag new line (125 km):

To provide rail connectivity to Uttarakhand, Rishikesh-Karnaprayag new rail line project (125 km) has been sanctioned.

The  project  alignment  passes  through  Dehradun,  Tehri  Garhwal,  Pauri Garhwal, Rudrapryag and Chamoli Districts of Uttarakhand and will provide rail  connectivity to Devprayag and Karnaprayag religious and tourist spots with Rishikesh and National Capital of India.

The  alignment  of  the  project  predominantly  passes  through  tunnels.  The project involves construction of 16 Main line tunnels of 104 km length and 12 Escape tunnels of about 98 km length. So far, Main line tunnels of 99 km length and 09 Escape Tunnels of over 94 km length have been completed.

To  increase  progress  of  works,  08  Adits  in  various  tunnels  were  also identified.  These  adits  created  additional  work  faces  of  tunnel  excavation expediting early completion of long tunnels. Works of all 8 Adits (5 km) have also been completed.

The project also involves construction of 19 Important/Major Bridges. 8 out of 19 Important/Major Bridges have also been completed. Works in balance bridges have also been taken up.

Section wise progress of the project is as under:

|   S.N. | Name of Section                          | Status of Tunnels                                                                                         | Status of Major Bridges                                                       |
|--------|------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|      1 | Virbhadra- Yog Nagari Rishikesh (4.7 Km) | Already Completed and Commissioned.                                                                       | Already Completed and Commissioned.                                           |
|      2 | Yog Nagari Rishikesh- Shivpuri (13.4 Km) | Tunnel (10.8 km)  94 % excavation completed  Lining taken up                                            | There is 01 Major Bridge in this section, which has been completed            |
|      3 | Shivpuri-Byasi (14.3 Km)                 | Tunnel (12.7 km)  01 out of 02 tunnels completed  Excavation of 2 nd tunnel Completed  lining taken up | There are 02 Major Bridge in this section. Both have been completed.          |
|      4 | Byasi- Devprayag (15 Km)                 | Tunnel (13.3 km)  03 out of 04 tunnels completed  69% excavation of                                     | There are 04 Major Bridge in this section. All 4 bridges have been completed. |

|    |                                            | 4 th tunnel Completed  lining taken up                   |                                                                                                                         |
|----|--------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|  5 | Devprayag- Janasu (14.8 Km)                | Tunnel (14.6 km)  Completed                              | -                                                                                                                       |
|  6 | Janasu- Maletha (4.7 Km)                   | Tunnel (2.9 km)  Completed                               | There is 01 Major Bridge in this section, which has been completed                                                      |
|  7 | Maletha- Srinagar (5.2 Km)                 | Tunnel (4.1 km)  Completed                               | -                                                                                                                       |
|  8 | Srinagar-Dhari Devi (11.2 Km)              | Tunnel (9.1 km)  Excavation completed  lining taken up  | There are 03 Major Bridge in this section. 1 Bridge has been completed and work for other 2 Bridges have been taken up. |
|  9 | Dhari Devi- Tilani (Rudraprayag) (17.6 Km) | Tunnel (16.6 km)  Excavation completed  lining taken up | There is 01 Major Bridge in this section, which has been taken up.                                                      |
| 10 | Tilani (Rudraprayag)- Gholtir (7.6 Km)     | Tunnel (6.6 km)  79% Excavation completed                | There are 02 Major Bridge in this section. Work for both the Bridges have been taken up.                                |
| 11 | Gholtir- Gauchar (7.8 Km)                  | Tunnel (7.1 km)  Excavation completed  lining taken up  | -                                                                                                                       |
| 12 | Gauchar- Karnprayag (8.4 Km)               | Tunnel (6.3 km)  Excavation completed  lining taken up  | There are 03 Major Bridge in this section. Work for all 3 Bridges have been taken up.                                   |

During the last three years i.e. 2022-23, 2023-24, 2024-25 and the current FY 2025-26, 07 surveys (03 New Line and 04 Doubling) of a total length of 441 km have been sanctioned falling fully/partly in the state of Uttarakhand.

## ROB/RUBs:

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

No. of ROBs/ RUBs constructed on Indian Railways during the period 200414 vis a vis 2014-26 (Upto Jan'26) is as under:

| Period                | ROBs/ RUBs constructed                                                       |
|-----------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 2004-14               | 4,148 Nos.                                                                   |
| 2014-26 (Upto Jan'26) | 14,024 Nos. ( including 106 Nos. of ROBs/ RUBs in the state of Uttarakhand ) |

As  on  01.02.2026,  4,802  Nos.  ROBs/  RUBs  are  sanctioned  at  cost  of  ₹ 1,14,196  Cr  on  Indian  Railways  including  09  Nos.  Road  Over  Bridge (ROB)/Road Under Bridge (RUB) are sanctioned at cost of ₹ 158 Cr in State of Uttarakhand  which are at various stages of planning and execution.

Completion of any ROB/RUB work depends on various factors like, 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.

Further, Railways have taken following measures to expedite the progress of work:

- i. Joint  survey  with  concerned  State  Govt./Road  Owning  Authority  is done  before  finalizing  the  General  Arrangement  Drawing   (GAD)  to ensure smooth execution.
- ii. Periodic meetings of Railway & State Government officials are done to resolve various issues related to ROB/RUB works.
- iii. Standardization of superstructure drawings for various combinations of  span,  skewness  and  width  of  road  on  Railway  portion  has  been done  to  avoid  delays  during  the  design  approval.  This  has  been issued in the form of compendium, which can be directly adopted for Road Over Bridge across Railway lines for expeditious planning.

## Amrit Bharat Stations:

Ministry  of  Railways  has  launched  Amrit  Bharat  Station  Scheme  for redevelopment of stations with a long-term approach.

The scheme involves preparation of master plans and their implementation in phases to improve the stations. The master planning includes:

-  Improvement of access to station and circulating areas
-  Integration of station with both sides of city
- 
- Improvement of station building
-  Improvement of waiting halls, toilets, sitting arrangement, water booths
-  Provision  of  wider  foot  over  bridge/air  concourse  commensurate with passenger traffic
-  Provision of lift/escalators/ramp
-  Improvement  /Provision of platform surface and cover over platforms
-  Provision of kiosks for local products through schemes like 'One Station One Product'
-  Parking areas, Multimodal integration
-  Amenities for Divyangjans
-  Better passenger information systems
-  Provision  of  executive  lounges,  nominated  spaces  for  business meetings, landscaping, etc. keeping in view the necessity at each station.

The  scheme  also  envisages  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,  1,338  stations  have  been  identified  for  development  under  the Amrit Bharat Station Scheme. Out of these, 11 stations are located in Uttarakhand.  The  name  of  stations  identified  under  Amrit  Bharat Station Scheme in Uttarakhand are as following:

| State       |   No. of Stations | Name of Stations                                                                                                     |
|-------------|-------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Uttarakhand |                11 | Dehradun, Haridwar Jn., Harrawala, Kashipur Jn, Kathgodam, Kichha, Kotdwar, Lal Kuan Jn, Ramnagar, Roorkee, Tanakpur |

Development  works  at  railway  stations  under  Amrit  Bharat  Station Scheme have been taken up at a good pace and progress of some of the stations is as given below:

-  Harrawala station: The works of new station building, platform shelter, platform  surfacing,  waiting  hall,  toilet  block,  new  booking  office  and Divyangjan toilet have been completed. The work of circulating area has been taken up.
-  Kathgodam  station:  The  works  of  entrance  lobby,  improvement  to waiting  room,  toilet  block,  entry/exit  road,  parking  and  lift  have  been completed. The works of landscaping and escalators have been taken up.
-  Kashipur station: The works of porch, raising of platform no. 1, modern toilet block, parking, entry/exit gate and lift have been completed. The works of improvement to station building, platform shelter and escalator have been taken up.
-  Lalkuan station: The works of improvement to station building, platform raising  and  platform  surfacing  of  platform  no.  4,  modern  toilet  block, water booths and circulating area have been completed. The works of platform shelter, entry/exit gate and 12 m Foot Over Bridge have been taken up.
-  Tanakpur  station:  The  works  of  ladies  waiting  room,  modern  toilet block, parking and entry/exit road have been completed. The works of platform shelter, circulating area, lift and escalator have been taken up.

Further,  development  /  redevelopment  /  upgradation  /  modernisation  of stations on Indian Railways is a continuous and ongoing process and works in  this  regard  are  undertaken  as  per  requirement,  subject  to  inter-se priority and availability of funds. Development / redevelopment / upgradation / modernisation of a station is carried out based on category of station/condition/traffic handled etc.

Development  /  Upgradation  /  Modernization  of  stations  including  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 state-wise.  Uttarakhand  is  covered  under  the  jurisdiction  of  two  railway zones,  namely,  Northern  Railway  and  North  Eastern  Railway.  For  these zones, an allocation of ₹ 6,895 crore has been made for the last three years and the current year (up to February, 2026), out of which an expenditure of ₹ 6,172 crore has been incurred so far.

Development / Upgradation of stations is complex in nature involving safety of passengers & trains and requires various statutory clearances such as fire  clearance, heritage, tree cutting, airport clearance 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  tracks  and  high  voltage  power  lines,  etc.  and  these factors affect the completion time.

## Introduction of trains:

As  the  Railway  network  straddles  across  State  boundaries,  trains  are introduced, as per network requirement, across such boundaries. However, to facilitate the passengers  and to cater to the needs of passengers of the stations  located  in  the  State  of  Uttarakhand,  Indian  Railways  during  the period  2023-24  to  2025-26  (upto  Feb,  2026)  have  introduced  18  services (listed below). These services include 22545/46 Lucknow- Dehradun Vande Bharat Express  (w.e.f.  26.03.2024),  15091/92  Daurai  (Ajmer)-Tanakpur Express (w.e.f 30.03.2025) and  14625/26 Haridwar-Firozpur Cantt. Express (w.e.f. 18.06.2025).

|   SL | Train No. and Name                             |
|------|------------------------------------------------|
|    1 | 14625/26 Haridwar-Firozpur Cantt. Express      |
|    2 | 15091/92 Daurai-Tanakpur Express               |
|    3 | 22543/44 Bandra (T)-Lalkuan Express            |
|    4 | 22545/46 Lucknow-Dehradun Vande Bharat Express |
|    5 | 15019/20 Tanakpur-Dehradun Express             |
|    6 | 15015/16 Lalkuan-Amritsar Express              |
|    7 | 14089/90 Anand Vihar (T)-Kotdwar Express       |
|    8 | 19271/72 Bhavnagar-Haridwar Express            |
|    9 | 22457/58 Anand Vihar (T)-Dehradun              |

Besides, introduction of train services on any route/section,which is an ongoing process,  depends on various factors which include:

- Capacity of that section.
- Availability of path.
- Availability of required rolling stock.
- Availability of matching infrastructure for rolling stock.
- Maintenance requirement of railway tracks and other assets.

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