Lok Sabha Question No. 791 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-02-04
Subject: Expansion of Railway Network across Country
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Smt. Manju Sharma, Shri Tharaniventhan M S

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 791 TO BE ANSWERED ON 04.02.2026

## EXPANSION OF RAILWAY NETWORK ACROSS COUNTRY

791. SHRI THARANIVENTHAN M S: SMT. MANJU SHARMA:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has received proposals from various States for the expansion of the railway network;
- (b)  if  so,  the  details  of  such  proposals  received  during  the  last  five  years, State/UT-wise;
- (c) the details of the action taken or proposed to be taken by the Government on these proposals;
- (d) the details of proposals related to the expansion of the railway network
- across the country including new routes planned or under-consideration;
- (e)  the  criteria  used  by  the  Government  to  identify  areas  or routes without railway network and the manner in which regional connectivity gaps are addressed in this process;
- (f)  whether  there  is  any  plan  to  enhance  railway  connectivity  to  rural  and remote  areas  currently  deprived  of  railway  facilities  in  Rajasthan  and Tamil Nadu, if so, the details thereof; and
- (g)  the  steps  taken  by  the  Government  for  the  expansion  of  the  railway network in the North Western Railway zone and Southern Railways?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, INFORMATION & BROADCASTING AND

ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

(SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

- (a)  to  (g):  Railway  projects  are  surveyed  /sanctioned/executed  Zonal Railway    wise  and  not    State-wise  /District    wise    as    the    Railway projects may span across State/district boundaries.

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                         |

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

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)        |

During  the  last  05  years  i.e.  FY  2020-21,  2021-22,  2022-23,  2023-24, 2024-25  and  in  current  FY  2025-26,  290  projects  (New  Line,  Gauge Conversion  and  Doubling)  of  total  length  13,176  Km  costing  approx. Rs.2,60,756 Crore have been sanctioned across Indian Railways. Furthermore, during this period, 1,048 surveys (325 New Line, 15 Gauge Conversion  &  708  Doubling)  of  total  length  71,611  Km  have  been sanctioned.

## Rajasthan:

Railway  projects  in  Rajasthan  are  covered  by  North  Western  Railway (NWR),  North  Central  Railway  (NCR),  Northern  Railway  (NR),  Western Railway (WR) zone of Indian Railways.

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

| Period   | Outlay                         |
|----------|--------------------------------|
| 2009-14  | ₹682 crore/year                |
| 2025-26  | ₹9,960 crore (Nearly 15 times) |

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

| Period   | New Track Commissioned   | Average commissioning of new tracks   |
|----------|--------------------------|---------------------------------------|
| 2009-14  | 798 Km                   | 159.60 Km/year                        |
| 2014-25  | 3,815 Km                 | 346.82 Km/year (More than 2 times)    |

As  on  01.04.2025,  28  Railway  projects  (13  New  Lines,  05  Gauge Conversion  and  10  Doubling),  of  total  length  of  3,409  Km  costing ₹43,918 crore falling fully/partly in the State of Rajasthan, are sanctioned. The summary is as under:-

| Category                |   No. of projects | Total Length (in Km)   | Length Commissioned (in Km)   | Expenditure upto March 2024 (₹ in Cr)   |
|-------------------------|-------------------|------------------------|-------------------------------|-----------------------------------------|
| New Lines               |                13 | 981                    | 196                           | 5,769                                   |
| Gauge Conversion        |                 5 | 1,252                  | 788                           | 6,829                                   |
| Doubling/ Multitracking |                10 | 1,176                  | 254                           | 6,357                                   |
| Total                   |                28 | 3,409                  | 1,238                         | 18,954                                  |

Zonal Railway  wise  details  of  Railway  projects  are  made  available  in public domain on Indian Railway's website.

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

|   S.No. | Name of Project                                               | Latest Cost (₹ in crore)   |
|---------|---------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------|
|       1 | Bangurgram-Ras New Line (28 km)                               | 175                        |
|       2 | ThaiyatHamira-Sonu New Line (58 Km)                           | 350                        |
|       3 | Suratpura- Sriganganagar Gauge Conversion (241 Km)            | 896                        |
|       4 | Sadulpur-Bikaner & Ratangarh-Degana Gauge Conversion (438 Km) | 886                        |
|       5 | Jaipur -Churu & Sikar-Loharu Gauge Conversion (320 Km)        | 1,105                      |
|       6 | Bhagat ki Kothi-Luni Doubling (28 Km)                         | 128                        |
|       7 | Rani-Keshav Ganj Doubling (59 Km)                             | 290                        |
|       8 | Guriya-Marwar & Karjoda-Palanpur Doubling (49 Km)             | 251                        |
|       9 | Rani-Marwar Doubling (52 Km)                                  | 346                        |
|      10 | Abu Road-Swaroop Ganj Doubling (26 Km)                        | 195                        |
|      11 | Abu Road-Sarotra Road Doubling (24 Km)                        | 152                        |
|      12 | Alwar-Bandikui Doubling (60 Km)                               | 450                        |
|      13 | Ajmer-Bangurgram Doubling (48 Km)                             | 375                        |
|      14 | Bangurgram-Guriya Patch Doubling (47 Km)                      | 395                        |
|      15 | Degana-Rai ka Bagh Doubling (146 Km)                          | 809                        |
|      16 | Bina-Kota Doubling (283 Km)                                   | 2,476                      |
|      17 | Nimach-Chittaurgarh Doubling (56 Km)                          | 560                        |
|      18 | Dausa-Gangapur City Doubling (93 Km)                          | 950                        |

|   S.No. | Name of Project                  |   Latest Cost (₹ in crore) |
|---------|----------------------------------|----------------------------|
|      19 | Phulera-Degana Doubling (108 Km) |                        702 |
|      20 | Churu-Ratangarh Doubling (43 Km) |                        423 |

In  addition  to  above,  part  of  Western  Dedicated  Freight  Corridor passing through Rajasthan from Dabla to Abu Road (603 Km) has also been completed.

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

|   S.No. | Name of Project                                                             | Cost (₹ in crore)   |
|---------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------|
|       1 | Nimach-Badi Sadri New Line (48 Km)                                          | 495                 |
|       2 | Taranga Hill-Abu Road New Line (116 Km)                                     | 2,798               |
|       3 | Ramganjmandi-Bhopal New Line (277 Km)                                       | 5,073               |
|       4 | Pushkar-Merta New Line (51 Km)                                              | 800                 |
|       5 | Ringus-Khatu Shyam Ji New Line (17 Km)                                      | 254                 |
|       6 | Merta city-Ras New Line & Bye Pass at Merta Road Station (56 Km)            | 947                 |
|       7 | Gwalior-Sheopurkalan Gauge Conversion with extension to Kota (284 Km)       | 2,913               |
|       8 | Dholpur-Sirmuttra Gauge Conversion with extension to Gangapur City (145 Km) | 747                 |

|   S.No. | Name of Project                                 | Cost (₹ in crore)   |
|---------|-------------------------------------------------|---------------------|
|       9 | Mavli-Devgarh Madariya Gauge Conversion (83 Km) | 969                 |
|      10 | Mathura-Jhansi 3 rd Line (274 Km)               | 5,924               |
|      11 | Agra Fort-Bandikui Doubling (150 Km)            | 988                 |
|      12 | Sawaimadhopur-Jaipur Doubling (131 Km)          | 1,204               |
|      13 | Churu-Sadulpur & Luni-Bhildi Doubling (330 Km)  | 3,554               |
|      14 | Ajmer-Chanderiya Doubling (178 Km)              | 1,635               |
|      15 | Bye Pass line at Sawaimadhopur (14 Km)          | 304                 |
|      16 | Rewari-Khatuwas Doubling (28 Km)                | 352                 |
|      17 | Khatuwas-Narnaul Doubling (24 Km)               | 313                 |
|      18 | Bye Pass line at Marwar (4 Km)                  | 71                  |
|      19 | Bypass line at Churu (5 Km)                     | 63                  |
|      20 | Bypass line at Samdari (1 Km)                   | 26                  |
|      21 | Ramdevra-Pokhran new line (13 Km)               | 189                 |
|      22 | Lalgarh-Bikaner East Cabin doubling (11 Km)     | 279                 |

In  last  three  years,  2022-23,  2023-24,  2024-25  and  current  financial year 2025-26, 59 surveys (25 new line & 34 doubling) of total length 5,666  Km  falling  fully/partly  in  the  State  of  Rajasthan  have  been sanctioned in the state of Rajasthan.

Moreover  to  improve  further  connectivity  in  the  State  of  Rajasthan, following surveys have been taken up:

|   S.No. | Name of Project                                                |   Length (In Km) |
|---------|----------------------------------------------------------------|------------------|
|       1 | Anupgarh-Bikaner New Line & Spur line from Rojhri to Khajuwala |              185 |
|       2 | Jaisalmer-Bhabhar/Bhildi New Line                              |              380 |
|       3 | Khajuwala-Jaisalmer New Line                                   |              260 |
|       4 | Ringus-Loharu Doubling                                         |              172 |
|       5 | Bypass line at Bikaner                                         |               43 |
|       6 | Khatu Shyam Ji- Sujangarh New Line                             |               45 |
|       7 | Phalodi - Nagaur new line                                      |              148 |
|       8 | Bypass at Jodhpur                                              |               80 |
|       9 | Marwar Bhinmal - Marwar Ratanpur Doubling                      |               43 |
|      10 | Ajmer-Dausa New Line                                           |              236 |
|      11 | Mandsor- Banswara New Line                                     |              168 |
|      12 | Raas-Bilara New Line                                           |               53 |
|      13 | Loharu-Pilani New Line                                         |               24 |
|      14 | Jaipur-Phulera 3 rd line                                       |               55 |
|      15 | Sonu- Ramgarh New Line                                         |               20 |
|      16 | Bikaner East - Ratangarh Junction Doubling                     |              130 |
|      17 | Elevated Rail Corridor from Delhi to Jaipur via Rewari         |              310 |
|      18 | Rewari - Sadulpur Doubling                                     |              141 |
|      19 | Narnaul - Phulera Doubling                                     |              164 |
|      20 | Bhatinda - Jaisalmer Doubling                                  |              635 |

## Tamil Nadu

Railway infrastructure projects falling fully/partly in the State of Tamil Nadu are covered under Southern Railway (SR), South Central Railway (SCR) and South Western Railway (SWR) zone of Indian Railways.

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 than 7.5 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.  The summary is as under:-

| Category         | No. of sanctioned   | Total Length   | Length Commissioned upto Mar'25   | Expenditure upto Mar' (₹ in Cr.)   |
|------------------|---------------------|----------------|-----------------------------------|------------------------------------|
|                  |                     | (in km)        | 25                                | 25                                 |
|                  | projects            |                |                                   |                                    |
|                  |                     |                | (in km)                           |                                    |
|                  |                     |                | 24                                | 1,337                              |
| New Line         | 9                   |                |                                   |                                    |
| Gauge Conversion | 3                   | 812 748        | 604 37                            | 3,471                              |
|                  | 3                   | 140            |                                   | 2,783                              |
| Doubling         |                     |                | 665                               |                                    |
| /Multitracking   | 15                  | 1,700          |                                   | 7,591                              |
| Total            |                     |                |                                   |                                    |

..P/10

Zonal Railway wise details of Railway projects are made available in public domain on Indian Railway's website.

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

|   S.N. | Project                                                       | Cost (₹in Crores)   |
|--------|---------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------|
|      1 | Dindigal-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                 |

..P/11

|   S.N. | Project                                                              | Cost (₹in Crores)   |
|--------|----------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------|
|     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 :

|   S.N | 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 and Ambattur stations 5th & 6th lines project (6 Km) | 178                  |

In last three years i.e. 2022-23, 2023-24, 2024-25 and current financial year 2025-26, 29 surveys (06 new line and 23 doubling) covering a total length of 2,501 km has been sanctioned falling fully/partly in the State of Tamil Nadu.

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 as under:-

|   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 |

|   SN | Name of the project                      |   Total land required (in ha) |   Land acquired (in ha) |   Balance Land to be acquired (in ha) |
|------|------------------------------------------|-------------------------------|-------------------------|---------------------------------------|
|    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.

Sanction of any railway project depend 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 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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