Lok Sabha Question No. 4366 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-03-18
Subject: Malegaon/Satana/Sakri/Chinchpada Railway Line
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Adv Gowaal Kagada Padavi

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4366 TO BE ANSWERED ON 18.03.2026

## MALEGAON/SATANA/SAKRI/CHINCHPADA RAILWAY LINE

## 4366. ADV GOWAAL KAGADA PADAVI:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a)  the present status of the proposed Malegaon-Satana-Sakri-Chinchpada railway line and whether the project remains sanctioned, under survey or pending reconsideration and if so, the details thereof;
- (b)  the  details  of  the  reasons  for  delay  or  stagnation  including  land acquisition challenges, financial constraints, environmental clearances or changes in traffic projections;
- (c)  the  details  of  the  revised  cost  estimates,  if  any,  and  budgetary provisions made during the last three years;
- (d) the details of the steps taken by the Government to review and revive long-pending railway projects in country to prevent cost escalation and public inconvenience particularly in Maharashtra; and
- (e) the details of the proposed timelines for decision-making, resumption of work and completion of such projects once bottlenecks are resolved?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, INFORMATION & BROADCASTING AND

## ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

(SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

(a) to (e): Chinchpada is an existing station on Surat - Jalgaon section and Malegaon is a proposed station on ongoing Indore - Manmad Railway line project. The Indore - Manmad new line project envisages rail connectivity between Malegaon and Chinchpada via Nardana. The  Indore -  Nardana  Dhule  -  Manmad  New  Line  Project  has  been  sanctioned  at  an  estimated cost of ₹18,529 crore. The project has been taken up in two phases:-

Contd....2/-

## 1. Dhule - Nardana Section: Status of this section is as under:-

|   S.No. | Activities              | Remarks                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                |
|---------|-------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|       1 | Land Acquisition        | i. The project has been declared as a Special Railway Project. ii. Competent Authority for land Acquisition (CALA) has been nominated. iii. A total of 219 Ha. land is acquired out of 295 Ha. iv. Work for land acquisition in the balance section has been taken up. |
|       2 | Major Bridge            | 18 out of 21 Major Bridges has been completed. Work taken up in the balance section.                                                                                                                                                                                   |
|       3 | Road under Bridge (RUB) | 27 out of 46 RUBs has been completed and work taken up in the balance section.                                                                                                                                                                                         |

2. Indore - Nardana and Dhule - Nardana Section:- An outlay of ₹268 crore has been provided for the year 2025-26. The project has been declared as a Special Railway Project. Competent Authority for land Acquisition (CALA) has been nominated. A total of 325 Ha. of land is to be acquired for the project. Work has been taken up.

A feasibility study of Malegaon - Satana - Sakri - Chinchpada New Railway Line (148 Km) was completed. The project has low traffic projections.

Indian Railway

Projects Sanctioned:-

As on 01.04.2025, across Indian Railways, 431 Railway infrastructure

projects  (154  New  Line,  33  Gauge  Conversion  and  244  Doubling)  of  total length  35,966  Km,  costing approx.  ₹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                          |

## Track Construction:

The details of commissioning/laying of new track across Indian Railways are 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)        |

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

Maharashtra

Railway Budget:

Budget  allocation  during  the  last  five  years  has  increased  significantly. Budget  allocation  for  infrastructure  projects  and  safety  works,  falling fully/partly in the State of Maharashtra is as under:

| Period   | Outlay                             |
|----------|------------------------------------|
| 2009-14  | ₹1,171 crore/year                  |
| 2025-26  | ₹23,778 crore (More than 20 times) |

## Track Construction:

The  details  of  constructing  new  track  falling  fully/partly  in  the  State  of Maharashtra during 2009-14 and 2014-25 is as under:

| Period   | New track Commissioned   | Average commissioning of new tracks   |
|----------|--------------------------|---------------------------------------|
| 2009-14  | 292 Km                   | 58.4 Km/year                          |
| 2014-25  | 2,292 Km                 | 208.4 Km/year (More than 3 times)     |

## Projects sanctioned:

As on 01.04.2025, 38 projects (11 New Lines, 02 Gauge Conversion and 25 Doubling),  of  a  total  length  of  5,098  km,  costing  ₹89,780  crore,  falling fully/partly in Maharashtra, including remote and tribal areas, are sanctioned. The summary is as under:-

| Category   | No. of     | Total Length (in Km)   | Length Commissioned Upto Mar'25   | Exp. upto Mar'25 (₹ in Cr.)   |
|------------|------------|------------------------|-----------------------------------|-------------------------------|
|            | sanctioned |                        |                                   |                               |
|            | Projects   |                        | (Km)                              |                               |
| New Line   | 11         | 1,355                  | 234                               | 10,504                        |

Contd....5/-

| Gauge Conversion   | 02   | 609   | 334   | 4,286   |
|--------------------|------|-------|-------|---------|
| Doubling/          | 25   | 3,134 | 1,792 | 24,617  |
| Multitracking      |      |       |       |         |
| Total              | 38   | 5,098 | 2,360 | 39,407  |

Recently completed projects:

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

|   S.No. | Project                                     | Cost (₹ in crore)   |
|---------|---------------------------------------------|---------------------|
|       1 | Pune-Miraj-Londa Doubling (467 Km)          | 4,670               |
|       2 | Jabalpur-Gondia Gauge Conversion (300 Km)   | 2,005               |
|       3 | Chhindwara-Nagpur Gauge Conversion (150 Km) | 1,512               |
|       4 | Panvel-Pen Doubling (35 Km)                 | 263                 |
|       5 | Pen-Roha Doubling (40 Km)                   | 330                 |
|       6 | Udhna-Jalgaon Doubling (307 Km)             | 2,448               |
|       7 | Mudkhed-Parbhani Doubling (81 Km)           | 673                 |
|       8 | Bhusawal-Jalgaon 3rd Line (24 Km)           | 325                 |
|       9 | Jalgaon-Bhusawal 4th Line (24 Km)           | 261                 |
|      10 | Daund-Gulbarga Doubling (225 Km)            | 3,182               |

Ongoing Projects:

To further improve the Railway Infrastructure in the state of Maharashtra, following works have been taken up:-

|   S.No. | Name of the project                                            | Cost (₹ In crore)   |
|---------|----------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------|
|       1 | Ahilyanagar (Ahmednagar)-Beed-Parli Vaijnath New Line (261 Km) | 4,957               |
|       2 | Baramati-Lonand New Line (64 Km)                               | 1,844               |
|       3 | Wardha-Nanded New Line (284 Km)                                | 3,445               |
|       4 | Indore-Manmad New Line (360 Km)                                | 18,529              |
|       5 | Wadsa-Gadchiroli New Line (52 Km)                              | 1,886               |
|       6 | Jalna-Jalgaon New Line (174 Km)                                | 5,804               |
|       7 | Daund-Manmad Doubling (236 Km)                                 | 3,037               |
|       8 | Kalyan-Kasara 3rd Line (68 Km)                                 | 1,433               |
|       9 | Wardha-Nagpur 3rd Line (76 Km)                                 | 698                 |
|      10 | Wardha-Ballarshah 3rd Line (132 Km)                            | 1,385               |
|      11 | Itarsi-Nagpur 3rd Line (280 Km)                                | 2,450               |
|      12 | Rajnandgaon-Nagpur 3rd Line (228 Km)                           | 3,545               |
|      13 | Wardha-Nagpur 4th Line (79 Km)                                 | 1,137               |
|      14 | Jalgaon-Manmad 4th Line (160 Km)                               | 2,574               |
|      15 | Bhusawal-Khandwa 3rd & 4th Line (131 Km)                       | 3,285               |
|      16 | Solapur-Tuljapur-Osmanabad New Line (95 Km)                    | 2,933               |
|      17 | Panvel-Chowk Double Line (17 Km)                               | 491                 |
|      18 | Wardha-Balharshah 4th Line (135 Km)                            | 2,226               |
|      19 | Itarsi-Nagpur 4th Line (297 Km)                                | 5,010               |
|      20 | Wardha-Bhusawal 3rd & 4th Line (314 Km)                        | 9,197               |
|      21 | Asangaon-Kasara 4th Line (35 Km)                               | 794                 |
|      22 | Badlapur-Karjat 3rd & 4th Line (32 Km)                         | 1,324               |
|      23 | Gondia-Dongargarh 4th Line (84 Km)                             | 2,223               |
|      24 | Gondia-Balharshah Doubling (240 Km)                            | 4,819               |

## Increasing train handling capacity in Mumbai area:

Presently,  about  120  originating  Mail/Express  trains  and  about  3200  sub urban trains are handled daily in Mumbai area. To increase train handling capacity  at  various  stations  in  Mumbai  area,  following  works  have  been completed/taken up/planned at various stations:

|   SN | Location         | Details                                       |
|------|------------------|-----------------------------------------------|
|    1 | Bandra Terminus  | 3 Pit Lines have been completed               |
|    2 | Mumbai Central   | Platform extension for 24 LHB coaches         |
|    3 | Jogeshwari       | 2 additional platforms                        |
|    4 | Dadar            | 1 additional platform                         |
|    5 | Vasai road       | 6 platforms, 3 pit lines and 5 stabling lines |
|    6 | Panvel-Kalamboli | 5 platforms , 4 pit lines and 2 sick lines    |
|    7 | Kalyan           | 6 platforms and 4 pit lines                   |
|    8 | LTT              | 4 platforms and 2 pit lines                   |
|    9 | Parel            | 6 platforms, 5 pit lines, 6 stabling lines    |
|   10 | Virar            | 25 stabling lines                             |
|   11 | Dahanu road      | 11 stabling lines                             |
|   12 | Mira road        | 25 stabling lines                             |

Platform length extension:

In addition to above, Platform extension work at 34 stations to accommodate 15 car EMUs have been taken up.

New projects for increasing capacity:

To improve the capacity of rail network in Mumbai suburban area, Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP)-II costing ₹8,087 crore, MUTP-III costing ₹10,947 crore and MUTP-IIIA costing ₹33,690 crore have been sanctioned. These projects include following works in Mumbai Suburban Area:

|   SN | Name of Project                                                     | Cost (in Cr.)   |
|------|---------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------|
|    1 | CSMT-Kurla 5 th & 6 th Line (MUTP-II) (17.5 km)                     | 891             |
|    2 | Mumbai Central-Borivali 6 th Line (MUTP-II) (30 km)                 | 919             |
|    3 | Extension of Harbour Line from Goregaon-Borivali (MUTP-IIIA) (7 km) | 826             |
|    4 | Borivali-Virar 5 th & 6 th Line (MUTP-IIIA) (26 km)                 | 2,184           |
|    5 | Virar-Dahanu Road 3 rd & 4 th Line (MUTP-III) (64 km)               | 3,587           |
|    6 | Panvel-Karjat Suburban Corridor (MUTP-III) (29.6 km)                | 2,782           |
|    7 | Airoli-Kalwa (elevated) Suburban Corridor link (MUTP- III) (3.3 km) | 476             |
|    8 | Kalyan-Asangaon 4 th Line (MUTP-IIIA) (32 km)                       | 1,759           |
|    9 | Kalyan-Badlapur 3 rd & 4 th line (MUTP-IIIA) (14 km)                | 1,510           |
|   10 | Kalyan-Kasara 3 rd Line (67 km)                                     | 793             |
|   11 | Naigaon-Juichandra double chord Line (6 km)                         | 176             |
|   12 | Nilaje-Kopar double chord Line (5 km)                               | 338             |
|   13 | Kalyan Yard remodeling work                                         | 866             |

## New generation trains:

To enhance passenger carrying capacity, 238 rakes of 12 cars each with doors  have  been  sanctioned  under  MUTP-III  &  IIIA  at  a  cost  of  ₹19,293 crore. The process for procurement of these rakes has been taken up.

Capacity Augmentation works for Pune Area:

Presently,  about  33  originating  Mail/Express  trains  are  handled  daily  in Pune area.

To  increase  train  handling  capacity  at  various  stations  in  Pune  area, following works have been completed/taken up/planned at various stations:

|   SN | Location      | Details                                                                                |
|------|---------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|    1 | Pune Junction | 6 additional Platforms and Extension of 5 Platforms.                                   |
|    2 | Hadapsar      | Extension of 3 Platforms to handle full length trains.                                 |
|    3 | Khadki        | Raising and Extension of PF-3/4 and extension of running lines completed in July'2025. |
|    4 | Alandi        | New Coaching Terminal with 9 additional Platforms, 8 pit lines and 8 stabling lines    |
|    5 | Phursungi     | 5 Stabling Lines at Phursungi                                                          |

In  addition  to  above,  following  capacity  additional  works  have  been undertaken in Pune Area to increase the train handling capacity:

|   SN | Name of Project                                                                               |
|------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|    1 | 3 rd Line between Hadapsar and Ghorpuri Yard                                                  |
|    2 | New Block station at Manjari Bhadrukin Pune-Daund Section and Ramtekdi in Pune-Sasvad section |
|    3 | Bidirectional Signalling in Pune Sasvad Road Section                                          |

## Bullet Train project:

The Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail (MAHSR) Project (508 km) is the only  HSR  Project  under  execution.  The  Project  is  passing  through  the States of Gujarat, Maharashtra and Union Territory of Dadra & Nagar Haveli with 12 stations planned at Mumbai, Thane, Virar, Boisar, Vapi, Billimora, Surat, Bharuch, Vadodara, Anand, Ahmedabad and Sabarmati.

Entire land (1389.5 Ha.) for MAHSR project has been acquired. All Statutory Clearances have been obtained.  All 1651 utilities have been shifted. The delay  in  land  acquisition  in  the  State  of  Maharashtra  has  impacted  the project till 2021. The land acquisition picked up in 2022 in Maharashtra.

## The progress of various major items so far is as under:

## Gujarat (352 KM):

| Item                   | Progress   |
|------------------------|------------|
| Foundation             | 352 kms.   |
| Piers                  | 352 kms.   |
| Girder Casting         | 342 kms.   |
| Girder Launching       | 331 kms.   |
| Track Bed Construction | 152 kms.   |
| OHE Masts Erection     | 121 kms.   |

## Maharashtra (156 KM):

| Item             | Progress   |
|------------------|------------|
| Foundation       | 77 kms.    |
| Piers            | 67 kms.    |
| Girder Casting   | 9 kms.     |
| Girder Launching | 3 kms.     |

Out of total 12 stations, foundation works has been completed at 8 stations (Vapi, Bilimora, Surat, Bharuch, Anand, Vadodara, Ahmedabad, and Sabarmati).  In  Maharashtra  section,  foundation  work  is  in  progress  at  3 stations (Thane, Virar, Boisar) and excavation work at BKC station is near completion and Casting of base slab started.

17 river bridges have been completed. Work is in advance stage for 4 major river bridges (Narmada, Mahi, Tapti and Sabarmati) in Gujarat & in progress in  4  river  bridges  in  Maharashtra.  Work  on  Depots  (Thane,  Surat  and Sabarmati) is in full swing.

Civil works at Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) are progressing satisfactorily. Excavation  works  have  achieved  about  91%  progress,  and  concreting works are at various stages, with 100% completion of the basement slab at Level-4.  The  work  of  the  under-sea  tunnel  (approximately  21  km)  has commenced, out of which 4.8 km of tunnel between Ghansoli and Shilphata in Maharashtra has been completed.

To ensure seamless passenger connectivity, the Government has planned multi-modal  integration  of  Bullet  Train  stations  with  the  existing  Mumbai suburban  railway  network  and  upcoming  metro  lines.  The  integration includes  passenger  connectivity  with  Metro  Line-2B  and  Metro  Line-3 through convenient pedestrian access at BKC station.

Bullet  train  project  is  a  very  complex  and  technology  intensive  Project. Exact  timelines  for  the  completion  of  the  project  can  be  reasonably ascertained after the completion of all associated works of Civil Structures, Track, Electrical, Signaling& Telecommunication and supply of Trainsets.

## Dedicated freight corridor:

Western  DFC  also  passes  through  Maharashtra.  About  178  route  Km  of western DFC is situated in Maharashtra which is about 12% of overall route length of western DFC. 76 Km of this project from New Gholvad to New

Vaitarna  in  Maharashtra  has  already  been  commissioned.  Balance  works have been taken up. Connectivity of WDFC to JNPT will boost the capacity to handle cargo and container traffic from port to Delhi NCR.

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.

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.

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