Lok Sabha Question No. 5501 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-03-25
Subject: High Density Network of Railways
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Shri G Kumar Naik

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 5501

## TO BE ANSWERED ON 25.03.2026

## HIGH DENSITY NETWORK OF RAILWAYS

## 5501. SHRI G KUMAR NAIK:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a)  the  details  of  the  High  Density  Network  (HDN)  of  Indian  Railways  at present  including  total  route-kilometres  covered,  corridor-wise  length and their share in overall passenger and freight traffic;
- (b) the details of the number of High Density Network corridors identified during  the  last  ten  years  and  whether  any  new  corridors  have  been added or reclassified during this period and if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether any High Density Network corridor passes through the State of Karnataka and if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor including  the  average  line  capacity  utilisation  across  various  railway zones; and
- (d) the details of the decongestion measures undertaken during the last ten years on HDN and non-HDN corridors, year-wise and State-wise?

## ANSWER

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

(SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

(a)  to  (d)  There  are  7  High  Density  Network  (HDN)  Routes  on  Indian Railways. The details are as under:

| HDN   | Route                 | Route km   |
|-------|-----------------------|------------|
| HDN-1 | Delhi - Howrah 1463km |            |
| HDN-2 | Howrah - Mumbai       | 1889km     |
| HDN-3 | Delhi - Mumbai        | 1387km     |
| HDN-4 | Delhi - Guwahati      | 1845km     |
| HDN-5 | Delhi - Chennai       | 2048km     |

| HDN-6   | Howrah - Chennai         | 1113km   |
|---------|--------------------------|----------|
|         | (Kharagpur - Vijayawada) |          |
| HDN-7   | Mumbai - Chennai         | 1224km   |

HDN routes  cover  about  16%  of  the  total  rail  network  and  handle  about 41% of total rail traffic. The HDN-7, Mumbai-Chennai route passes through the state of Karnataka.

During  last  11  years  Indian  Railways  has  undertaken  a  large  number  of capacity augmentation, network expansion and infrastructure modernization projects across the country to improve the capacity of the railway network.

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)        |

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   |

In addition to the construction of new lines, gauge conversion, doubling/multitracking, additional measures taken up to decongest railway network and upgrade/modernize railway infrastructure include:

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 (102Rkm) has been taken up. DFC has contributed to creating additional paths on the conventional network by diverting freight traffic to EDFC and WDFC. Presently, 443 average trains per day are being run on these corridors.

Karnataka:

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

| Period   | Outlay                           |
|----------|----------------------------------|
| 2009-14  | ₹835 crore/year                  |
| 2025-26  | ₹7,564 crore (more than 9 times) |

As  on  01.04.2025,  25  projects  (15  new  lines,  10  doubling)  of  3,264  km length, costing ₹ 42,517 crore falling fully/partly in Karnataka are sanctioned. The summary is as under:

| Category                  |   No. of sanctioned Projects | Total Length (in km)   | Length Commissioned upto Mar'25 (km)   | Exp upto Mar'25 (₹ in cr.)   |
|---------------------------|------------------------------|------------------------|----------------------------------------|------------------------------|
| New Line                  |                           15 | 2,034                  | 421                                    | 8,794                        |
| Doubling/ Multi- tracking |                           10 | 1,230                  | 973                                    | 12,516                       |
| Total                     |                           25 | 3,264                  | 1,394                                  | 21,310                       |

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

|   S. No | Project                                      | Cost (₹ in Crores)   |
|---------|----------------------------------------------|----------------------|
|       1 | Kotturu-Harihar new line (65 km)             | 468                  |
|       2 | Hassan-Bengaluru new line (167 km)           | 1,290                |
|       3 | Bidar-Gulbarga new line (110 km)             | 1,543                |
|       4 | Shivani-Hosadurga Road doubling (10 km)      | 50                   |
|       5 | Shivani-Birur doubling (29 km)               | 143                  |
|       6 | Hosadurga-Chikjajur doubling (29 km)         | 260                  |
|       7 | Ramanagaram-Mysuru patch doubling (94 km)    | 998                  |
|       8 | Yelahanka - Channasandra doubling (13 km)    | 108                  |
|       9 | Yesvantpur-Yelahanka doubling (12 km)        | 95                   |
|      10 | Netravathi-Mangaluru Central doubling (2 km) | 28                   |
|      11 | Kankanadi-Panamburu doubling (19 km)         | 350                  |
|      12 | Arsikere-Tumakuru doubling (96 km)           | 758                  |
|      13 | Yelahanka-Penukonda doubling (123 km)        | 1,104                |

|   14 | Daund-Gulbarga doubling (225 km)     | 3,182   |
|------|--------------------------------------|---------|
|   15 | Hubballi-Chikjajur doubling (190 km) | 1,850   |

Details  of  some  of  the  major  projects  taken  up  falling  fully/partly  in  the state of Karnataka are as under:

|   S. No | Project                                                 | Cost (₹ in Crores)   |
|---------|---------------------------------------------------------|----------------------|
|       1 | Hosapete-Hubballi-Londa-Vasco-de-Gama doubling (312 km) | 4,153                |
|       2 | Hotgi-Gadag doubling (284 km)                           | 2,459                |
|       3 | Ginigera-Raichur new line (165 km)                      | 3,401                |
|       4 | Gadag - Wadi new line (257 km)                          | 2,842                |
|       5 | Bagalkot - Kudachi new line (142 km)                    | 1,649                |
|       6 | Tumakuru - Rayadurga new line (207 km)                  | 2,496                |
|       7 | Tumakuru - Davangere new line (182 km)                  | 2,142                |
|       8 | Kadur - Chikkamagaluru - Belur new line (68 km)         | 825                  |
|       9 | Baiyyapanahalli - Hosur doubling (48 km)                | 336                  |
|      10 | Yesvantpur - Channasandra doubling (22 km)              | 314                  |
|      11 | Hosapete - Ballari 3rd & 4th line (65 Km)               | 2,372                |
|      12 | Ballari-Chikjajur doubling (185 KM)                     | 3,342                |
|      13 | Bypass line between Bettahalsoor-Rajankunte (6 Km)      | 248                  |

Details  of  some  of  the  major  projects  which  are  delayed  due  to  land acquisition are as under:-

| S No.   | Project   | Total Land required (in ha)   | Land acquired (in ha)   | Balance Land to be acquired (in ha)   |
|---------|-----------|-------------------------------|-------------------------|---------------------------------------|

|   1 | Shivamogga - Ranibennur new line (96 km)   |   559 |   226 |   333 |
|-----|--------------------------------------------|-------|-------|-------|
|   2 | Belgaum - Dharwad new line (73 km)         |   581 |     0 |   581 |
|   3 | Shivamogga - Harihar new line (79 km)      |   488 |     0 |   488 |
|   4 | Whitefield-Kolar new line (53 km)          |   337 |     0 |   337 |
|   5 | Hassan-Belur new line (32 km)              |   206 |     0 |   206 |

Summary of the status of land acquisition in Karnataka is as under:

| Particulars                                   | Details        |
|-----------------------------------------------|----------------|
| Total Land required for Projects in Karnataka | 9,064 ha       |
| Land Acquired                                 | 5,707 ha (63%) |
| Balance Land to be acquired                   | 3,357 ha (37%) |

Government  of  India  is  geared  up  to  execute  projects,  however  success depends upon the support of Government of Karnataka.

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