Lok Sabha Question No. 526 (STARRED), answered on 2026-04-01
Subject: National Rail Plan
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Shri Tharaniventhan M S

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 526 TO BE ANSWERED ON 01.04.2026

## NATIONAL RAIL PLAN

- *526. SHRI THARANIVENTHAN M S:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) the details of the objectives and features of the National Rail Plan;
- (b) the details of the total estimated cost of implementing the plan and the funds allocated/utilised till date under it;
- (c) the details of major projects, including new  rail corridors/track doubling/electrification/capacity enhancement proposed under the plan;
- (d)  the details of the progress made till date in achieving the targets set under the plan to increase the share of freight transport by rail under the Railway network; and
- (e)  the  details  of  the  steps  taken  by  the  Government  to  ensure  timely implementation of the projects envisaged under the National Rail Plan and their expected impact on economic growth, logistics efficiency and regional connectivity across the country including Tamil Nadu?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, INFORMATION & BROADCASTING AND

ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

(SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

(a) to (e): A Statement is laid on the Table of the House. *****

§

## STATEMENT REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  TO  (e)  OF  STARRED QUESTION NO.526 TO BE ANSWERED ON 01.04.2026 IN LOK SABHA

(a)  to  (e):  Indian  Railway  has  taken  several measures during the last few years to enhance the freight loading and revenue. To increase the capacity, plan has been made for capacity enhancement, rolling stock augmentation etc.  Freight loading since 2014 is as below:

| Year    | Freight loading (in Million Tonnes)   |
|---------|---------------------------------------|
| 2014-15 | 1,098                                 |
| 2015-16 | 1,104                                 |
| 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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The freight loading of Indian Railways has increased to 1,617 MT in 202425 thus IR has become the second largest freight carrying Railways in the world.

## Budget allocation and Network Expansion:

The Budget allocation has been increased from  ₹29,055 Cr in 2013-14 to ₹2,78,000  Cr  in  2026-27.  Capacity  enhancement  of  railway  network  has been taken up by Indian Railways in a big way during last 11 years. 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                            |
| 2014-25  | 34,428 Km                | 8.6 Km/day (more than 2 times)        |

As  on  01.04.2025,  across  Indian  Railways,  431  railway  infrastructure projects (154 New Line, 33 Gauge Conversion and 244 Doubling projects) of total  length  35,966  km,  costing  approximately  ₹6.75  lakh  crore  are sanctioned. The summary is as under:

| Category                |   No. of Projects | Total Length NL/GC/DL (km)   | Length Commissioned till Mar'25 (km)   | Total Exp. upto Mar'25 (₹ in Cr)   |
|-------------------------|-------------------|------------------------------|----------------------------------------|------------------------------------|
| New lines               |               154 | 16,142                       | 3,036                                  | 1,45,318                           |
| Gauge Conversion        |                33 | 4,180                        | 2,997                                  | 22,753                             |
| Doubling/ Multitracking |               244 | 15,644                       | 6,736                                  | 1,22,858                           |
| Total                   |               431 | 35,966                       | 12,769                                 | 2,90,929                           |

Zone-wise and year-wise details of all railway projects are available in the public domain on the Indian Railways website.

During last three years i.e. FY 2022-23, 2023-24, 2024-25 and the current FY  2025-26,  306  projects  (53  New  Line,  17  Gauge  Conversion  and  236 Doubling)  of  total  length  13,968  Km  have  been  sanctioned  across  Indian Railways.

## 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 |
|   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 |

## 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               |
|   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 | Jalna - Jalgaon new line (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               |

| SN   | Project Name                                                    | Cost (₹ in Crore)   |
|------|-----------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------|
| 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               |
| 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               |
| 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 3 rd and 4 th Line (375 Km)                   | 13,606              |
| 45   | Gorakhpur Cantt - Valmiki Nagar doubling (96 Km)                | 1,270               |
| 46   | Jaipur - Sawai Madhopur doubling (131 Km)                       | 1,269               |

|   SN | Project Name                                                                              | Cost (₹ in Crore)   |
|------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------|
|   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               |
|   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               |

Dedicated Freight Corridors (DFC):

Ministry  of  Railways  has  taken  up  construction  of  two  Dedicated  Freight Corridors (DFC) viz. Eastern  Dedicated  Freight Corridor  (EDFC)  from Ludhiana  to  Sonnagar  (1337  Km)  and  the  Western  Dedicated  Freight

Corridor  (WDFC)  from  Jawaharlal  Nehru  Port  Terminal  (JNPT)  to  Dadri (1506 Km). The work on EDFC has been completed and commissioned. In WDFC,  1404  RKm  out  of  total  1506  RKm  has  been  completed  and commissioned.  The  balance  work  on  WDFC  from  Vaitarna-JNPT  section (102 Rkm) is in the advanced stage.

Further,  during  Budget  2026-27,  new  DFC  corridor  between  Dankuni  and Surat has also been announced.

## Railway Electrification:

Electrification of railway network on Indian Railways has been taken up in mission mode. So far, about 99.4% of Broad Gauge (BG) network has been electrified  and  electrification  for  remaining  network  has  been  taken  up. Electrification carried out during 2014-25 and before 2014 is as under:

| Period      | Route Kilometer Electrified   |
|-------------|-------------------------------|
| Before 2014 | 21,801 km                     |
| 2014-25     | 46,900 km                     |

## Freight Development Initiative:

In  order  to  boost  investment  from  industry  in  development  of  additional terminals for handling rail cargos, 'Gati Shakti Multi-Modal Cargo Terminal (GCT)' policy has been launched. The Gati Shakti Cargo Terminals (GCTs) are being developed by private investment, and can be developed on nonRailway  land  or  fully  /  partially  on  Railway  land.  The  location  of  GCTs  is being decided on the basis of demand from industry and potential of Cargo traffic.  So  far,  128  GCTs  have  been  commissioned  (includes  4  in  Tamil Nadu) with an estimated traffic capacity of 198 million tonnes per annum (MTPA).  Further,  In-principle  approval  (IPAs)  for  292  more  GCT  locations (includes 11 locations in Tamil Nadu) have already been approved.

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.

Industry  participation  in  investment  in  General  Purpose  Wagons,  Special Purpose/High-Capacity 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.

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.

Projects in Tamil Nadu:

Budget allocation in the  recent years  has increased significantly. Budget allocation for infrastructure projects and safety works, falling fully/partly in the State of Tamil Nadu is as under:

| Period   | Outlay                            |
|----------|-----------------------------------|
| 2009-14  | ₹879 crore/year                   |
| 2025-26  | ₹6,626 crore (more than7.5 times) |

As  on  01.04.2025,  15  projects  (09  new  line,  03  gauge  conversion  and  03 doubling) of 1,700 km length, costing ₹22,808 Crore, falling fully/partly in the State of Tamil Nadu, are sanctioned.

## Details  of  some  of  the  recently  completed  projects  falling  fully/partly  in Tamil Nadu are as under:

|   SN | Project                                                              | Cost (₹in Crores)   |
|------|----------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------|
|    1 | Dindigul-Palani-Pollachi gauge conversion (121 km)                   | 610                 |
|    2 | Pollachi-Palghat gauge conversion (56 km)                            | 350                 |
|    3 | Pollachi-Podhanur gauge conversion (40 km)                           | 400                 |
|    4 | Quilon-Tirunelveli-Tiruchendur gauge conversion (357 km)             | 1,122               |
|    5 | Mayiladuturai-Thiruvarur-Karaikkudi gauge conversion (187 km)        | 1,338               |
|    6 | Madurai-Bodiyakannur gauge conversion (90 km)                        | 593                 |
|    7 | Chengalpattu-Villupuram doubling (102 km)                            | 670                 |
|    8 | Tiruvallur-Arakkonam 4th line (27 km)                                | 83                  |
|    9 | Chennai Central-Basin Bridge doubling (2 km)                         | 31                  |
|   10 | Thanjavur-Ponmalai doubling (48 km)                                  | 370                 |
|   11 | Villupuram-Dindigul doubling (273 km)                                | 2,000               |
|   12 | Chennai Beach-Korukkupet 3rd line (5 km)                             | 168                 |
|   13 | Chennai Beach-Attipattu 4th line (22 km)                             | 293                 |
|   14 | Omalur-Metturdam Patch doubling (29 km)                              | 327                 |
|   15 | Chengalpattu-Villupuram and Tambaram-Chengalpattu- 3rd line (133 km) | 1,122               |
|   16 | Salem-Magnesite Junction-Omalur doubling (11 km)                     | 115                 |
|   17 | Madurai- Maniyachi-Tuticorin doubling (160 km)                       | 1,891               |
|   18 | Maniyachi-Nagercoil doubling (102 km)                                | 1,752               |
|   19 | Chennai Beach-Chennai Egmore doubling (4 km)                         | 272                 |
|   20 | Karaikal-Peralam new line (23 km)                                    | 373                 |
|   21 | Northern End Port connectivity to Karaikal Port (1 km)               | 18                  |

Some of the projects falling fully/partly  in  the  State of  Tamil  Nadu  which have been taken up are as under:

|   SN | Project                                                 | Cost (₹ in Crores)   |
|------|---------------------------------------------------------|----------------------|
|    1 | Tindivanam-Nagari new line (184 km)                     | 3,631                |
|    2 | Morappur-Dharmapuri new line (36 km)                    | 359                  |
|    3 | Nagapattinam-Tiruturaipundi new line (43 km)            | 742                  |
|    4 | Trivandrum-Kanyakumari doubling (87 km)                 | 3,785                |
|    5 | Arakkonam yard 3rd & 4th line (6 km)                    | 98                   |
|    6 | Perambur - Ambattur 5th & 6th lines (6 Km)              | 178                  |
|    7 | Irugur-Podanur doubling (11 Km)                         | 277                  |
|    8 | Tambaram-Chengalpattu 4 th Line (30 km)                 | 757                  |
|    9 | Attipattu-Gummidipundi 3 rd & 4 th line (23 km)         | 375                  |
|   10 | Tirupati-Pakala-Katpadi doubling (105 km)               | 1332                 |
|   11 | Tindivanam-Gingee-Tiruvannamalai New Line (71 Km)       | 1400                 |
|   12 | Atipattu - Puttur New Line (88 Km)                      | 1700                 |
|   13 | Chennai - Cuddulore via Mahabalipuram New Line (179 Km) | 2670                 |

Execution  of  important  infrastructure  projects  falling  fully/partly  in  the State of Tamil Nadu are held up due to delay in land acquisition. Status of land acquisition in Tamil Nadu is as under:

| Total Land required for Projects in Tamil Nadu   | 4,326 ha       |
|--------------------------------------------------|----------------|
| Land Acquired                                    | 1,052 ha(24%)  |
| Balance Land to be acquired                      | 3,274 ha (76%) |

Support of the Government of Tamil Nadu is needed to expedite the land acquisition.

Details of some major projects which are delayed due to land acquisition are asunder:-

|   SN | Name of the project                          |   Total land required (in ha) |   Land acquired (in ha) |   Balance Land to be acquired (in ha) |
|------|----------------------------------------------|-------------------------------|-------------------------|---------------------------------------|
|    1 | Tindivanam - Tiruvannamalai new line (71 km) |                           276 |                      33 |                                   243 |
|    2 | Attiputtu-Puttur new line (88 km)            |                           189 |                       0 |                                   189 |
|    3 | Morappur-Dharmapuri new line (36 km)         |                            92 |                      45 |                                    47 |
|    4 | Mannargudi-Pattukkottai new line (41 km)     |                           196 |                       0 |                                   196 |
|    5 | Thanjavur-Pattukottai new line (52 km)       |                           152 |                       0 |                                   152 |

Further, Rameshwaram - Dhanushkodi new line (18 km) was sanctioned at a  cost  of  ₹734  Cr.  The  Foundation  Stone  of  the  project  was  laid  on 01.03.2019.  However,  the  project  could  not  be  started  because  the  land acquisition  has  not  been  undertaken  by  the  State  Govt.  of  Tamil  Nadu. Government  of  India  is  geared  up  to  execute  projects,  however  success depends upon the support of Government of Tamil Nadu.

Railway Infrastructure projects enable socio-economic development of the region including:

-  Better connectivity of the region with other parts of the country
-  Faster movement of goods and services
-  Improving logistics efficiency and reduction in transportation cost.
-  Enhance line capacity

-  Increase  in  direct  and  indirect  employment  opportunities  for  the people of the region
-  Reduced operational bottlenecks
-  Development of tourism industry and increase in industrial activities in the region.

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 projects.

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.

*****