Lok Sabha Question No. 641 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-12-03
Subject: Extension of Chetak and Mewar Express
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Shri Rajkumar Roat

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 641 TO BE ANSWERED ON 03.12.2025

## EXTENSION OF CHETAK AND MEWAR EXPRESS

†641. SHRI  RAJKUMAR ROAT:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a)    whether    it    is    a    fact    the    Chetak    and    Mewar    Express    trains    running between   Udaipur   and   Delhi   have   a   halt   at   Udaipur   railway   station   for   more than eight hours;
- (b)    if    so,    whether    the    Government    proposes    to    extend    its    service    upto Dungarpur;
- (c)   if    so,   the   time   by   when   it   is   likely   to    be    done    and    if    not,    the   reasons therefor;
- (d)   whether   the   Banswara-Dungarpur   Lok   Sabha   Constituency   lacks   direct train connectivity to Delhi, Mumbai and other major cities;
- (e)   if    so,   the   details   of   efforts   of   the   Government   to   directly   connect   the Banswara- Dungarpur Lok Sabha Constituency with Delhi and Mumbai;
- (f)    the    time    by    when    the    Dungarpur-Ratlam    via    Banswara    rail    project approved    in    2012    is    expected    to    be    completed    and    the    details    of    work completed so far; and
- (g)   the   details   of   the   timeframe   for   completion   of   the   remaining   work   and the    amount    of    compensation    received    by    the    people    and    the    extent    to which it remains unpaid?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, INFORMATION & BROADCASTING AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

## (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

- (a)   to   (g)   Chetak   Express   20473/20474   runs   between   Delhi   Sarai   Rohila   and Udaipur   and   has   a   lie   over   of   about   nine   hours   at   Udaipur.   Mewar   Express 12963/12964   runs    between    Hazarat    Nizamuddin   and   Udaipur   and   it   has   a lie    over    of    about    eleven hours    at    Udaipur    during    which    it    undergoes primary maintenance.

Occupancy    of    both    Chetak    &    Mewar    express    is    about    100%    in    both directions at present.

Indian   Railways   (IR)   constantly    endeavour   to   optimise   the   utilisation   of   its assets    by    gainfully    utilising    the    lie-over    periods.    The    lie-over    periods    are utilised for undertaking    maintenance    (Primary    and    Secondary)    and/or cleaning   of   coaches   for   ensuring   safety   of   operation   and   cleanliness.   The lie-over periods are also utilised for operation of special trains.

Gauge   conversion   of   Udaipur   -   Dungarpur-Himmat   Nagar   section   has   been recently    completed.    After    gauge    conversion,    5    pairs   of   trains   connecting Dungarpur    to    important    cities    like    Kota,    Indore,    Udaipur,    Ahmedabad, Jaipur etc have been introduced.

Introduction    of    new    train    services    including    extension    of    existing    train services    to    enhance   connectivity,   is   an   ongoing   process   on   IR   subject   to operational   feasibility   on   any   route/section.   It   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

Strengthening of Rail connectivity of Dungapur-Banswara area

Ratlam-Banswara-Dungarpur   (188   Km)   new   line   project   was   sanctioned   at a    cost of 2083    crore on    50:50    cost-sharing    between    Government    of Rajasthan    and    the    Ministry    of    Railways.    Land    for    this    project    is    to    be provided   by   State   Government   of   Rajasthan   at   their   own   cost.   So   far,   646 hectares land out of total required 1,736 hectares land has been acquired.

Railway   acquires   land   through   concerned   State/District   Authorities.   All   the activities   in   connection   with   land   acquisition   like   assessment   of   amount   of compensation   to   land   owners   and   disbursement   of   compensation   etc.   are under purview of the State Government.

Compensation    for    land    acquisition    is    made    to    the    last    owners    by    the Revenue   Department   of    the    State   Government   after   demanding   the   same from    Railways.    The    process    is    undertaken    in    coordination    with    State Governments,   following    the    provisions    of    the    Right    to   Fair   Compensation and   Transparency   in   Land   Acquisition,   Rehabilitation   and   resettlement   Act, 2013.

To   connect   Banswara   and   surrounding   area   to   Mumbai   and   Delhi,   a   survey for    Nimach    Banswara    Dahod-Alirajpur-Nandurbar    new    line    (380    Km)    has also been sanctioned for preparation of Detailed Project Report (DPR)

In    addition,    a    survey    of    new    line    from    Mandsor-    Pratapgarh    -    Ghatol    Banswara    (168    Km)    has    been    sanctioned    for    preparation    of    the    Detalled Project Report. The field survey work has been completed.

To    improve    the    connectivity    of    the    Banswara    -    Ratlam    region,    following projects have been sanctioned recently:-

|   Sl | Project                            |   Length (in Km) |   Cost ( ₹ in Cr. ) |
|------|------------------------------------|------------------|---------------------|
|    1 | Ratlam-Nagda 3 rd and 4 th line    |               41 |                 964 |
|    2 | Ratlam-Vadodara 3 rd and 4 th line |              259 |                8387 |

Feasibility    survey    of    doubling    of    Chanderiya    (Chittaurgarh)    -    Dungarpur    Himmatnagar (326 Km) has also been sanctioned.

Further,    after    preparation    of DPR,    sanctioning    of    the    project    requires consultation    with    various    stakeholders    including    State    Governments    and necessary   approvals   viz.   appraisal   of   NITI   Aayog,   Ministry   of   Finance   etc. As    sanctioning    of    projects    is    a    continuous    and    dynamic    process,    exact timelines depend upon appraisal and approval by various stakeholders.

Sanction   of    any    railway   project   depends   upon   many parameters/factors which include the following:

- Anticipated traffic projections and    Remunerativeness    of    the proposed route
- First and last mile connectivity provided by the   project
- Connection of missing links and providing additional   route
- Augmentation of congested/saturated lines
- Demands    raised    by    State    Governments/Central    Ministries/Public representatives,
- Railway's own operational requirements
- Socio-economic considerations
- Overall availability of funds

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

- Land acquisition by State Government
- 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.

All these factors affect the completion time and cost of the project/s.

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