Lok Sabha Question No. 887 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-02-04
Subject: Guest House/Rest House at Silchar Railway Station
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Shri Parimal Suklabaidya

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 887 TO BE ANSWERED ON 04.02.2026

## GUEST HOUSE/REST HOUSE AT SILCHAR RAILWAY STATION

†887.   SHRI PARIMAL SUKLABAIDYA:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government is planning to construct a Guest House/Rest House at Silchar Railway Station for the convenience of passengers and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether the Government  is taking steps to ensure adequate availability of railway quarters for railway employees at Silchar and if so, the number of new railway quarters proposed to be constructed; and (c)  whether  the  Government  is  planning  to  convert  Silchar  local  trains into DEMU rakes and if so, the current status of the said process and the time frame for its implementation?

## ANSWER

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

(SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

- (a)  to  (c):   Development/upgradation of stations on Indian Railways is a continuous and ongoing process and works in this regard are undertaken as per requirement, subject to inter-se priority and availability of funds.

At  Silchar  railway  station  located  in  the  state  of  Assam,  three  retiring rooms  (double-bedded)  and  one  dormitory  (six-bedded)  are  existing  for convenience of the passengers. In recent years, various works related to passenger  amenities  have  been  executed  at  Silchar  station  which include improvement of platform surfacing, waiting hall, platform shelters, circulating area, approach road, provision of lifts, etc.

Further,  Silchar  railway  station  has  been  identified  for  development under Amrit Bharat Station Scheme. This Scheme envisages development of stations on a continuous basis with a long-term approach. The scheme involves preparation of master plans and their implementation  in phases  to improve  the stations.  The  master planning, keeping in view the necessity at each station includes:-

-  Improvement of access to station and circulating areas
-  Integration of station with both sides of city
-  Improvement of station building
-  Improvement of waiting halls, toilets, sitting arrangement, water booths
-  Provision of wider foot over bridge/air concourse commensurate with passenger traffic
-  Provision of lift/escalators/ramp
-  Improvement  /Provision  of  platform  surface  and  cover  over platforms
-  Provision of kiosks for local products through schemes like 'One Station One Product'
-  Parking areas, Multimodal integration
-  Amenities for Divyangjans
-  Better passenger information systems
-  Provision of  executive  lounges,  nominated spaces for business meetings, landscaping, etc.

The scheme also envisages sustainable and environment friendly solutions, provision of ballastless tracks, etc. as per necessity, phasing and feasibility and creation of city centre at the station in the long term.

So far, 1337 stations have been identified for development under Amrit Bharat Station Scheme, out of which 50 stations are located in the state of Assam. The names of stations identified for development under Amrit Bharat Station Scheme in the state of Assam are as following:

| State   |   No. of Amrit Stations | Names of Amrit Stations                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    |
|---------|-------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Assam   |                      50 | Amguri, Arunachal, Chaparmukh, Dhemaji, Dhubri, Dibrugarh, Diphu, Duliajan, Fakiragram Jn., Gauripur, Gohpur, Golaghat, Gosai Gaon Halt, Guwahati, Haibargaon, Harmuti, Hojai, Jagiroad, Jorhat Town, Kamakhya, Kokrajhar, Lanka, Ledo, Lumding, Majbat, Makum Jn, Margherita, Mariani, Murkeongselek, Naharkatiya, Nalbari, Namrup, Narangi, New Bongaigaon, New Haflong, New Karimganj, New Tinsukia, North Lakhimpur, Pathsala, Rangapara North, Rangiya Jn, Sarupathar, Sibsagar Town, Silapathar, Silchar, Simaluguri, Tangla, Tinsukia, Udalguri, Viswanath Chariali |

Presently  work  of  Haibargaon  railway  station  has  been  completed. Progress of some of the other stations is as under:

Majbat Station: The works of new station building block including porch, improvement  works  of  circulating  area,  approach  Road,  toilet  block, extension  of  platform,  provision  of  executive  lounge,  installation  of Coach Indication Board (CIB) and Train Indication Board (TIB), improvement of drainage have been completed. The work for provision of lift has been taken up.

Viswanath  Chariali:  The  works  of  new  station  building  block  including porch,  improvement  works  of  circulating  area,  approach  Road,  toilet block,  extension  of  platform,  provision  of  platform  shelter,  installation works of Coach Indication Board (CIB) and Train Indication Board (TIB) have  been  completed.  The  work  for  provision  of  lift  and  divyangjan pathway has been taken up.

Dhubri  Station:  The  works  of  new  station  building,  platform  shelter, provision  of  new  high  level  platform  (platform  2&3)  including  surfacing have been completed. The girder launching work of 12m wide foot over bridge,  improvement  of  circulating  area,  toilet  block,  construction  of portico and boundary wall have been taken up.

Master  planning  for  development  of  Silchar  station  under  Amrit  Bharat Station Scheme has been taken up. This is an iterative process requiring optimization and the time frame for  such optimization cannot  be indicated at this stage.

At present, 175 Railway quarters are available at Silchar railway station, all  of  which  are  occupied  by  Railway  Staff.  Railway  has  identified  the requirement of additional 100 Nos. staff quarters out of which action has been taken up for execution of work for construction of 22 new quarters in 1 st  phase.

Silchar is presently being served by following 30 train services:

|   SL | Train No. & Name                                             |
|------|--------------------------------------------------------------|
|    1 | 12507/08 Trivandrum-Central-Silchar Express                  |
|    2 | 12513/14 Secunderabad-Silchar Express                        |
|    3 | 12515/16 Coimbatore-Silchar Express                          |
|    4 | 13175/76 Sealdah - Silchar Kanchenjunga Express              |
|    5 | 14037/38 Silchar-New Delhi Poorvottar Sampark Kranti Express |
|    6 | 15611/12 Rangiya-Silchar Express                             |
|    7 | 15615/16 Guwahati-Silchar Express                            |
|    8 | 15641/42 Silchar-New Tinsukia Barak Brahmaputra Express      |
|    9 | 15663/64 Agartala-Silchar Express                            |
|   10 | 55661/62 Maishashan-Silchar Passenger                        |
|   11 | 55665/66 Silchar-Vangaichungpao Passenger                    |
|   12 | 55667/68 Silchar-Bhairabi Passenger                          |
|   13 | 55677/78 Silchar-Dharmanagar Passenger                       |
|   14 | 55685/86 Maishashan-Silchar Passenger                        |
|   15 | 55687/88 Dullabcherra-Silchar Passenger                      |

However, conversion of Passenger trains into MEMU/DEMU services is an on-going process on Indian Railways, which is dependent on factors like operational  feasibility,  availability  of  MEMU/DEMU  rakes,  competing demands etc.

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