Lok Sabha Question No. 6179 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-04-01
Subject: Data of Wagon Turnaround Time
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Shri G Kumar Naik

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 6179

## TO BE ANSWERED ON 01.04.2026

## DATA OF WAGON TURNAROUND TIME

## 6179. SHRI G KUMAR NAIK:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a)  the  details  of  the  data  Wagon Turnaround Time (WTR) from 2014-15 to 2024-25  and  the  percentage  of  distance  travelled  empty  by  wagons during  the  said  period  and  the  measures  taken/being  taken  to  reduce empty running and improve asset utilisation, year-wise;
- (b) the average speed of goods trains during each of the last decade along with the distribution of trains across different speed ranges;
- (c) the details of Capital Output Ratio (COR) from 2014-15 to 2024-25 along with corresponding capital expenditure and traffic carried, year-wise
- (d) the number of railway projects that have experienced cost overrun and time  overruns  during  the  last  decade  along  with  the  extent  of  such overruns and reasons therefor;
- (e) the details of the estimated financial impact of empty running and lower speeds on freight earnings; and
- (f)  the  steps  taken/being  taken  by  the  Government  to  optimise  route planning, reduce congestion and enhance operational efficiency?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, INFORMATION & BROADCASTING AND

## ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

(SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

(a) to (f) Indian  Railway  has  taken  several  measures  during  the  last  few years to enhance the freight loading and revenue. Freight loading since 2014 is as below:

| Year    | Freight loading (in Million Tonnes)   |
|---------|---------------------------------------|
| 2014-15 | 1,098                                 |
| 2015-16 | 1,104                                 |

| Year    | Freight loading (in Million Tonnes)   |
|---------|---------------------------------------|
| 2016-17 | 1,109                                 |
| 2017-18 | 1,162                                 |
| 2018-19 | 1,223                                 |
| 2019-20 | 1,210                                 |
| 2020-21 | 1,233                                 |
| 2021-22 | 1,418                                 |
| 2022-23 | 1,512                                 |
| 2023-24 | 1,591                                 |
| 2024-25 | 1,617                                 |

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Because of these measures, the freight  loading  has  increased  from 1,233 MT in 2020-21 to 1,617 MT in 2024-25. During 2024-25, IR transported 1,617 MT  thus  becoming  second  largest  freight  carrying  Railways  in  the  world. The measures taken include following:

- To  increase  the  network  capacity  and  improve  wagon  turn  round,  rail network expansion has been taken up in a big way by construction of new lines,  multi  tracking  of  existing  lines,  and  gauge  conversion  of  existing lines. The details of new tracks laid during the 10 years are as under:

| Period   | New track commissioned   |
|----------|--------------------------|
| 2009-14  | 7,599 Km                 |
| 2014-25  | 34,428 Km                |

## Further as on 01.04.25, there are 431 (154 New Line, 33 Gauge Conversion and 244 Doubling) projects sanctioned. The summary of which is as under:-

| Category                  |   No. of Projects | Total Length (Km)   | Length completed till Mar'25 (Km)   | Balance length (Km)   | Cost (Cr.)   |
|---------------------------|-------------------|---------------------|-------------------------------------|-----------------------|--------------|
| New lines                 |               154 | 16,142              | 3,036                               | 13,105                | 3,77,389     |
| Gauge conversion          |                33 | 4,180               | 2,997                               | 1,183                 | 43,820       |
| Doubling / Multi tracking |               244 | 15,644              | 6,736                               | 8,909                 | 2,53,711     |
| Total                     |               431 | 35,966              | 12,769                              | 23,197                | 6,74,920     |

## Some of the Projects recently completed are as follows:

|   SN | Name of project                                                     |   Length (in Kms) |
|------|---------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------|
|    1 | Udhampur- Srinagar- Baramulla new line                              |               272 |
|    2 | Bhairabi - Sairang New Line                                         |                51 |
|    3 | Deoband - Roorkee New Line                                          |                27 |
|    4 | Churu - Ratangarh Doubling                                          |                43 |
|    5 | Tori-Shivpur 3rd Line                                               |                44 |
|    6 | Araria - Galgalia New Line                                          |               110 |
|    7 | Himmatnagar - Khedbrahma Guage Conversion                           |                55 |
|    8 | Bahraich- Nanpara -Nepalganj Guage Conversion                       |                56 |
|    9 | Domingarh- Gorakhpur -Kusumi 3rd Line & Gorakhpur - Nakaha Doubling |                21 |

|   SN | Name of project                         |   Length (in Kms) |
|------|-----------------------------------------|-------------------|
|   10 | Vijapur - Ambaliyasan Guage Conversion  |                43 |
|   11 | Pune- Miraj -Londa Doubling             |               467 |
|   12 | Manmad - Jalgaon 3rd Line               |               160 |
|   13 | Phephna -Indara- Mau -Shahganj Doubling |               150 |
|   14 | Adraj -Moti -Vijapur Guage Conversion   |                40 |
|   15 | Katni -Bina 3rd Line                    |               279 |
|   16 | Gandhidham- Adipur Quadrupling          |                21 |
|   17 | Khatuwas - Narnaul Doubling             |                24 |
|   18 | Penukonda- Dharmavaram Doubling         |                42 |

Zone-wise/year-wise  details  of  all  Railway  projects  are  made  available  in public domain on Indian Railway's website.

## Some of the major projects sanctioned are as follows:

|   SN | Project Name                                                           | Cost (₹ in Crore)   |
|------|------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------|
|    1 | Chopan - Chunar doubling (102 Km)                                      | 1,553               |
|    2 | Guntur - Bibinagar doubling (239 Km)                                   | 3,238               |
|    3 | Mudkhed - Medchal & Mahbubnagar - Dhone doubling (418 Km)              | 5,655               |
|    4 | Samakhiali - Gandhidham Quadrupling (53 Km)                            | 1,571               |
|    5 | Merta City - Ras & Bypass at Merta Road new line (56 Km)               | 1,038               |
|    6 | Lumding - Furkating doubling (140 Km)                                  | 2,334               |
|    7 | Ajmer - Chanderiya doubling (178 Km)                                   | 1,813               |
|    8 | Motumari - Vishnupuram with RoR doubling (100 Km)                      | 1,746               |
|    9 | Bikramshila - Katareah new line with new bridge on river ganga (26 Km) | 2,549               |

|   SN | Project Name                                                                                       | Cost (₹ in Crore)   |
|------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------|
|   10 | Gunupur - Therubali new line (74 Km)                                                               | 1,326               |
|   11 | Malkangiri - Pandurangapuram new line (174 Km)                                                     | 4,109               |
|   12 | Badampahar - Kendujhargarh new line (82 Km)                                                        | 2,106               |
|   13 | Junagarh - Nabarangpur new line (116 Km)                                                           | 3,274               |
|   14 | Buramara - Chakulia new line (60 Km)                                                               | 1,639               |
|   15 | Ajanta Caves Rail Connectivity (174 Km)                                                            | 7,105               |
|   16 | Bangriposi - Gorumahisani new line (86 Km)                                                         | 2,549               |
|   17 | Chandil - Anara - Damodar 3rd line (121 Km)                                                        | 2,170               |
|   18 | Bargarh Road - Nawapara Road new line (138 Km)                                                     | 2,926               |
|   19 | Sardega - Bhalumuda new double line (37 Km)                                                        | 1,360               |
|   20 | Varanasi - Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Multitracking with rail cum road bridge on river ganga (15 Km) | 2,642               |
|   21 | Jalgaon - Manmad 4th line (160 Km)                                                                 | 2,773               |
|   22 | Bhusawal - Khandwa 3rd & 4th line (131 Km)                                                         | 3,514               |
|   23 | Sambalpur - Jarapada 3rd & 4th line (127 Km)                                                       | 3,916               |
|   24 | Jharsuguda - Sason 3rd & 4th line (35 Km)                                                          | 1,181               |
|   25 | Gondia - Ballarshah doubling (240 Km)                                                              | 4,819               |
|   26 | Kharsia - Naya Raipur - Parmalkasa 5th & 6th line (278 Km)                                         | 8,741               |
|   27 | Wardha - Balharshah Quadrupling (135 Km)                                                           | 2,381               |
|   28 | Ballari - Chikjajur doubling (185 Km)                                                              | 3,342               |
|   29 | Koderma - Barkakana doubling (133 Km)                                                              | 3,063               |
|   30 | Itarsi - Nagpur 4th line (297 Km)                                                                  | 5,451               |
|   31 | Dangoaposi - Jaroli 3rd & 4th line (43 Km)                                                         | 1,752               |
|   32 | Secunderabad - Wadi 3rd & 4th line (173 Km)                                                        | 5,012               |
|   33 | Furkating - New Tinsukia doubling (194 Km)                                                         | 3,634               |

|   SN | Project Name                                                                              | Cost (₹ in Crore)   |
|------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------|
|   34 | Bakhtiyarpur - Rajgir - Tilaiya doubling (104 Km)                                         | 2,192               |
|   35 | Gondia - Dongargarh 4th line (84 Km)                                                      | 2,223               |
|   36 | Wardha - Bhusawal 3rd & 4th line (314 Km)                                                 | 9,197               |
|   37 | Hosapete - Bellary quadrupling (65 Km)                                                    | 2,372               |
|   38 | Kasara - Manmad 3rd & 4th line (131 Km)                                                   | 10,154              |
|   39 | Punarakh - Kiul 3rd & 4th line (50 Km)                                                    | 2,668               |
|   40 | Gamharia - Chandil 3rd & 4th line (55 Km)                                                 | 1,168               |
|   41 | Sainthia- Pakhur 4th Line (81 Km)                                                         | 1,569               |
|   42 | Santragachi- Kharagpur 4th line (111 Km)                                                  | 2,905               |
|   43 | Nergundi - Barang & Khurda Road - Vizianagaram 3rd line (385 Km)                          | 5,618               |
|   44 | Son Nagar - Andal Multi tracking (375 Km)                                                 | 13,606              |
|   45 | Gorakhpur Cantt - Valmiki Nagar doubling (96 Km)                                          | 1,270               |
|   46 | Jaipur - Sawai Madhopur doubling (131 Km)                                                 | 1,269               |
|   47 | Luni - Samdari - Bhildi doubling (272 Km)                                                 | 3,531               |
|   48 | Narkatiaganj - Raxaul - Sitamarhi - Darbhanga & Sitamarhi - Muzaffarpur doubling (256 Km) | 4,553               |
|   49 | Prayagraj (Iradatganj) - Manikpur 3rd line (84 Km)                                        | 1,640               |
|   50 | Tirupati - Pakala - Katpadi doubling (104 Km)                                             | 1,332               |
|   51 | Ratlam - Nagda 3rd and 4th line (41 Km)                                                   | 1,018               |
|   52 | Aluabari Road - New Jalpaiguri 3rd & 4th line (57 Km)                                     | 1,786               |
|   53 | Aurangabad (Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar) - Parbhani (177 Km)                                | 2,179               |
|   54 | Bhagalpur - Dumka - Rampurhat doubling (177 Km)                                           | 3,169               |
|   55 | Itarsi - Bina 4th line (237 Km)                                                           | 4,329               |
|   56 | Vadodara - Ratlam 3rd & 4th line (259 Km)                                                 | 8,885               |

|   SN | Project Name                                                     | Cost (₹ in Crore)   |
|------|------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------|
|   57 | Devbhumi Dwarka (Okha) - Kanalus doubling (141 Km)               | 1,457               |
|   58 | Badlapur - Karjat 3rd and 4th line (32 Km)                       | 1,324               |
|   59 | Delhi - Ambala Cantt 3rd & 4th line (194 Km)                     | 5,983               |
|   60 | Gondia - Jabalpur doubling (231 Km)                              | 5,236               |
|   61 | Manmad - Indore new line (360 Km)                                | 18,529              |
|   62 | Errupelam - Amaravati - Nambur new line (57 Km)                  | 2,245               |
|   63 | Vadhavan Port and New Palghar station new double line (22 Km)    | 1,507               |
|   64 | Deshalpar - Hajipir - Luna and Vayor - Lakhpat new line (145 Km) | 2,526               |

Completion of Railway project/s depends on various factors which include the following:

-  Land acquisition
-  Forest clearance
-  Shifting of infringing utilities
-  Statutory clearances from various authorities
-  Geological and topographical conditions of area
-  Law and order situation in the area of project site
-  Number of working months in a year for particular project site etc.

Various steps taken by the Government for effective and speedy implementation of rail projects include:

-  Substantial increase in allocation of funds.
-  Delegation of powers at field level.
-  Close monitoring of progress of project at various levels.
-  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.

- Procurement of Wagons and Locomotives: To increase freight carrying capacity, large numbers of IR wagons have been procured and locomotives have been manufactured. During 2014 to 2025, about 2 lakh wagons  have  been  procured  and  more  than  10,000  locomotives  have been added for increasing freight loading and mobility.
- Removing bottlenecks in operations by yard remodeling, construction of bypass/chord lines, rail flyovers etc.
- The  construction  of  Eastern  Dedicated  Freight  Corridor  (EDFC)  from Ludhiana to Sonnagar (1337 Km) and Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (WDFC) from Jawaharlal Nehru Port Terminal (JNPT) to Dadri (1506 Km) has been taken up. Out of total 2843 kms, 2741 route kms (96.4%) has been commissioned and operational.
- Indian Railways has taken up electrification of Railway lines in a mission mode.  So  far,  about  99.4%  of  Broad  Gauge  (BG)  network  has  been electrified.  A  comparison  of  electrification  before  and  after  2014  is  as follows:
- Industry participation in investment in General Purpose Wagons, Special Purpose/HighCapacity wagons  and  Automobile  carrier wagons  for cement, oil, steel, fly-ash, automobile etc. By the FY 2024-25, around 240 rakes of special purpose wagons, 374 rakes of general-purpose wagons and 48 rakes of automobile wagons have been inducted.
- Under the 'Gati Shakti Multi-Modal Cargo Terminal (GCT)' policy so far, 128  new  GCTs  have  been  commissioned,  with  an  estimated  traffic capacity  of  198  million  tonnes  per  annum  (MTPA).  In  addition,  for improvement  of  freight  and  parcel  terminals  from  the  financial  year 2023-24 onwards, an amount of ₹14,500 crore has been allocated.

| Period                | Route Kilometre   |
|-----------------------|-------------------|
| Before 2014           | 21,801            |
| 2014-26 (upto Feb 26) | 47,966            |

- A 'Bulk Cement Terminal Policy' for setting up terminals on Railway land has  been  launched  recently  as  part  of  Railway  reforms  for  facilitating Bulk Cement transportation.
- Ensuring increased availability of rakes/wagons against demand.
- Increasing  the  loadability  for  carrying  additional  traffic  per  wagon. Length of freight trains has also been increased to increase throughput per train.
- Use of Information Technology in freight operations to improve monitoring and utilization of assets.
- ●
- Induction of higher horsepower locomotives.
- Improvement  in  maintenance  practices  of  wagons  and  locomotives resulting in increased availability of loco and rolling stock for traffic use.
- Improvement in track and signaling standards to carry higher volume of traffic.
- Training of staff and officers to adopt the new  technology and management practices.

Further, Indian Railway has taken various steps to promote the improvement of freight segment through freight rationalization, adoption of various freight incentive schemes for transportation of bulk and small cargo & various concession and services. Some of them are as under:

- Introduction  of  Gross  Tonne  Kilometer  based  haulage  rate  for  Bulk Cement in Tank Containers,
- Cargo  Aggregator  Transportation  Product  to  promote  Fast-  Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG), White Goods, Electronics, Automotive Components, etc.,
- Liberalised Automatic Freight Rebate Scheme in Traditional Empty Flow
- Directions,
- Concession on Short lead traffic,
- Discount in freight to Fly Ash /Bed Ash traffic booked in Open/flat Stock & covered wagons,

- ●
- Rationalisation of Haulage rate of Automobile traffic,
- Promotion  of  Bamboo  Traffic  in  North  Eastern  Region  by  granting exemption from levy of Busy Season Charge (BSC).
- To enhance the capacity of the automobile stock, various new wagons have been introduced such as ACT 1, ACT 2, ACT 3, NMGHS, etc.
- Discount on empty haulage of containers transporting Chemical Gypsum and Tiles traffic,
- Classification of new commodities such as Potassium Sulphate, Ammonium Bicarbonate  Food  Grade,  RUF  Pitch,  Liquefied  Isobutylene, Liquefied Ethane, etc.

The freight  train  movement  is  continuously  monitored  through  the  Freight Operations Information System (FOIS). To reduce empty runs and enhance wagon productivity, following measures have been taken:

- Traditional Empty Flow Direction (TEFD) Policy: Providing freight discounts  (up  to  15-20%)  to  customers  for  loading  traffic  in  the  empty flow direction.
- Gati  Shakti  Cargo  Terminals  (GCT):  Fast-tracking  the  development  of terminals to reduce detention times at loading/unloading points.
- Stationary Asset Optimization: Deployment of high-speed freight locomotives  and  the  commissioning  of  Dedicated  Freight  Corridors (DFCs) to segregate freight and passenger traffic.
- Dynamic  Pricing: Implementation  of  various incentive schemes  for "Round Trip" loading to encourage back-haul traffic.

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