Lok Sabha Question No. 5425 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-03-25
Subject: Hydrogen-powered Train
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Shri Dharambir Singh, Shri Jai Prakash

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 5425

## TO BE ANSWERED ON 25.03.2026

## HYDROGEN-POWERED TRAIN

## 5425. SHRI JAI PRAKASH:

SHRI DHARAMBIR SINGH:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a)  whether the Government has assessed the ongoing trials of Country's first indigenously designed and manufactured 'Hydrogen-powered train", a key initiative under the 'Hydrogen for Heritage' project in order to meet net-zero carbon emission targets by the year 2030 and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) the timeline by when the Hydrogen-powered train is likely to be started;
- (c) the progress made on introduction of Vande Bharat Sleeper trains;
- (d)  the  details  of  the  steps  taken  to  improve  passenger  amenities  and reduce travel time on major corridors;
- (e)  the  details  of  the  number  of  new  railway  lines  and  doubling  projects sanctioned during the last three years; and
- (f) whether the Government proposes to strengthen railway connectivity or introduce new railway projects benefiting Bhiwani-Mahendergarh region of Haryana and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, INFORMATION & BROADCASTING AND

## ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

(SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

(a)  &  (b)  Indian  Railways  (IR)  has  taken  up  a  state-of-the-art  project  for running  of  its  first  hydrogen  train,  on  pilot  basis,  as  per  specifications framed  by  the  Research,  Design  &  Standards  Organization  (RDSO)  to demonstrate  the  use  of  hydrogen  powered  train  technology  in  Railways. The  project  establishes  the  commitment  of  IR  towards  advancements  in

§

alternative  energy-powered  train  travel  thereby  ensuring  a  cleaner  and greener future for the country's transportation sector in order to meet net- zero carbon emission targets of IR.

This project involved designing from first stages, prototype manufacturing and  first-time  development  of  hydrogen  traction  technology  in  Indian been  completed.

Railways. Manufacturing of Hydrogen  Train-set has Prominent features of Hydrogen Train-set are as below:

-  Designed and Developed in India demonstrating  IR's  commitment to Atmanirbhar Bharat.
-  Presently,  it  is  the  world's  longest  (10  coaches)  and  most  powerful (2400 kW) Hydrogen Train-set on Broad Gauge platform.
-  The train-set comprises of two Driving Power Cars (DPCs) of 1200 kW each, totalling 2400 kW along with eight passenger cars.
-  Zero CO2 emissions; only emission is water vapour.
-  Major  step  in  development  of  next  generation  fuel  technology  in Railways.

(c) IR is focussed on providing affordable and good quality services to all sections  of  society.  With  a  view  to  improve  travel  experience  of  the passengers,  IR  have  introduced  indigenously  designed  and  manufactured Vande  Bharat  Sleeper  train  services  with  modern  coaches,  advanced safety  features  and  passenger  amenities.  Presently,  02  Vande  Bharat Sleeper services are in operation on the Indian Railway network.

Broad technological advancements and Safety features, provided in Vande

Bharat Sleeper Trains are as below:

- 1.
- Jerk Free Semi permanent couplers and Anti Climbers.
2. Fitted with KAVACH.
3. Higher acceleration with design/operating speed of 180/160 KMPH.
4. Crashworthy Design of Car body complying with EN standards.

5. Fire  barrier  doors  at  the  end  of  each  coach  for  compliance  of  fire safety standards.
6. Aerosol  based  fire  detection  and  suppression  system  in  electrical cabinets and lavatories.
7. Regenerative braking system for energy efficiency.
8. Air  conditioning  units  provided  with  indigenously  developed  UV-C lamp-based disinfection system for deactivating 99% harmful bacteria from conditioned  air  to  improve  the  hygiene  standards  inside  the  passenger area.
9. Centrally  controlled  Automatic  Plug  Doors  and  Fully  sealed  wider gangways.
10. CCTVs in all coaches.
11. Emergency talk-back unit for communication between Passenger and Train Manager/Loco Pilot in case of emergency.
12. For Divyangjan passengers, special lavatory in the driving coaches on each end
13. Centralized Coach Monitoring System for better condition monitoring of passenger amenities such as Air conditioning, Saloon Lighting etc.
14. Ergonomically  designed  ladder  for  ease  of  climbing  on  to  upper berths.
11. (d) Upgradation of passenger amenities is a continuous process depending upon need, volume of the passenger traffic and inter-se  priority  of  work, subject to availability of funds. IR  has  taken  several  measures  for enhanced passenger amenities like modernization of stations under 'Amrit Bharat Station' scheme and upgradation of coaches with modern passenger facilities, deployment of digital platforms for grievance redressal/  monitoring,  improvement  in  onboard  services,  infrastructure augmentation, advanced signalling systems and rationalisation of timetables.

(e)  & (f)  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  including  port-connectivity  (154  New  Line,  33  Gauge  Conversion and 244 Doubling) of total length 35,966 Km, costing approx. Rs. 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 Expupto Mar'25 (Rs. 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/year-wise  details  of  all  Railway  projects  are  made  available  in public domain on Indian Railway's website.

During last 3 years (2022-23, 2023-24, 2024-25) and current Financial Year 2025-26,  300  projects  (51  New  Line,  17  Gauge  Conversion  and  232

Doubling)  of  a  total  length  of  13,808  km  have  been  sanctioned  across Indian Railways.

## 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               |

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

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

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

Haryana

Railway Budget:

Budget  allocation  for  Infrastructure  projects  and  safety  works,  falling fully/partly in the State of Haryana is as under:

| Period   | Outlay                        |
|----------|-------------------------------|
| 2009-14  | ₹315 crore/year               |
| 2025-26  | ₹ 3,416 Cr. (nearly 11 times) |

Projects sanctioned:

As on 01.04.2025, 8 projects (01 New Lines and 07 Doubling), covering a total length of 491 km, costing ₹6775 crore, falling fully/partly in Haryana are sanctioned. The summary is as under:

| Category                 |   No. of projects |   Total Length (in Km) |   Length Commissioned (in Km) |   Expenditure upto March 2025 (₹ in Cr) |
|--------------------------|-------------------|------------------------|-------------------------------|-----------------------------------------|
| New Lines                |                 1 |                     28 |                             0 |                                     925 |
| Doubling / Multitracking |                 7 |                    463 |                             0 |                                     646 |
| Total                    |                 8 |                    491 |                             0 |                                    1571 |

Recently completed projects:

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

|   S. No. | Project                                                           |   Cost (Rs. in Cr.) |
|----------|-------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------|
|        1 | Jind-Sonepat New Line (89 Km)                                     |                 800 |
|        2 | Suratpura-Hanumangarh-Sriganganagar Gauge Conversion (241 Km)     |                 896 |
|        3 | Jaipur-Ringus-Sikar-Churu& Sikar-Loharu Gauge Conversion (320 Km) |                1105 |
|        4 | Jakhal- Mansa Doubling (45 Km)                                    |                 163 |
|        5 | Khukhrana- Panipat Doubling (8 Km)                                |                  58 |
|        6 | Ambala-Dhapper-chandigarh Doubling (45 Km)                        |                 339 |
|        7 | Tughlakhabad-Palwal 4th line (34 Km)                              |                 366 |
|        8 | Mathura - Palwal 4th Line (80 Km)                                 |                 669 |
|        9 | Palwal - New Prithala New Line (10 Km)                            |                  66 |

## Ongoing projects:

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

|   SN. | Project                                         |   Cost (Rs. in Cr.) |
|-------|-------------------------------------------------|---------------------|
|     1 | Bhiwani-Dobh-Bahali Doubling (42 Km)            |                 471 |
|     2 | Rewari-Khatuwas Doubling (28 Km)                |                 352 |
|     3 | Manheru-BawaniKhera Doubling (32 Km)            |                 413 |
|     4 | Delhi-Panipat- Ambala 3 rd & 4 th line (194 Km) |                5983 |

Bhiwani and Mahendragarh are existing railway stations on Indian Railway Network and connected via Rewari. To further imporve connectivity in this area, following works have been completed/ taken up :

|   S. No. | Project                             | Status                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                |
|----------|-------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|        1 | Rewari-Rohtak New Line (85 Km)      | commissioned                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          |
|        2 | Rohtak-Mehem-Hansi New Line (64 Km) | commissioned                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          |
|        3 | Rewari-Manheru Doubling (69 Km)     | commissioned                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          |
|        4 | Khatuwas-Narnaul Doubling (24 km)   | commissioned                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          |
|        5 | Rewari-Khatuwas Doubling (28 km)    | A. Kund-Kathuwas (5 km) commissioned. B. Rewari-Kori-Pali-Kund-Kori (23 km): The status is as under:  Land acquisition completed  Works taken up on all 2 major bridges  Works taken up on all 3 RUBs  Works completed on all 3 Station Buildings |
|        6 | Bhiwani-Dobh-Bhali doubling (42 km) | A. Dobh-Kalanur Kalan (13 km) commissioned. B. Kalanur Kalan-Bhiwani City- BhiwaniJn (29 km).The status is as under:  Land acquisition work taken up.  Work taken up on 1 Major Bridge.  Works completed on all 2 Station Buildings.               |

|   S. No. | Project                                       | Status                                                                                                                                                                                                                  |
|----------|-----------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|        7 | Manheru-BhiwaniKhera Doubling (32 km)         | A. Manheru-Bhiwani Jn.(14 km) commissioned. B. BhiwaniJn -BhiwaniKhera (18 km): The status is as under:  Land Acquisition work taken up.  Works taken up on all 4 RUBs  Works completed on all 03 Station Buildings. |
|        8 | Rewari - Sadulpur Doubling (141 km)           | DPR prepared                                                                                                                                                                                                            |
|        9 | Jhajjar-CharkhiDadri- Loharu New Line (94 km) | Survey sanctioned                                                                                                                                                                                                       |
|       10 | Bhiwani-Hansi Doubling (37km)                 | Survey sanctioned                                                                                                                                                                                                       |

After preparation of Detailed Project Report (DPR), sanctioning of project requires consultation with various stake-holders 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 appraisals and approvals 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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