Lok Sabha Question No. 614 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-07-20
Subject: Gauge Conversion and Doubling of Railway Lines
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: DHARMENDRA YADAV, SURESH KODIKUNNIL, BHAIRON PRASAD MISHRA, VINAYAK BHAURAO RAUT, ARJUNLAL MEENA

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.614

## TO BE ANSWERED ON 20.07.2016

## GAUGE CONVERSION AND DOUBLING OF RAILWAY LINES

- † 614.  SHRI DHARMENDRA YADAV:

SHRI KODIKUNNIL SURESH:

SHRI BHAIRON PRASAD MISHRA:

SHRI VINAYAK BHAURAO RAUT:

SHRI ARJUN LAL MEENA:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  there  has  been  slow  progress  of  gauge  conversion  and doubling of railway lines;
- (b) if  so,  whether  any  study  has  been  conducted  for  ascertaining  the reasons behind slow progress of these works;
- (c) if so, the details thereof;
- (d) the present status of gauge conversion and doubling of railway lines projects  including  gauge  conversion  project  of  Kollam-Chenkotta during the last three years;
- (e) whether  any  monthly  targets  have  been  set  for  all  the  17  railway zones under corrective measures and if so, the details thereof along with the achievements reflected as a result thereof; and
- (f) the  manner  and  the  extent  to  which  these  measures  are  likely  to speed up the works in Railways?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) OF THE MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS AND MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

(SHRI MANOJ SINHA)

- (a) to (f):   A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

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STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  TO  (f)  OF  UNSTARRED QUESTION  NO.  614  BY  SHRI  DHARMENDRA  YADAV,  SHRI  KODIKUNNIL SURESH,  SHRI  BHAIRON  PRASAD  MISHRA,  SHRI  VINAYAK  BHAURAO  RAUT AND SHRI ARJUN LAL MEENA TO BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 20.07.2016 REGARDING GAUGE CONVERSION AND DOUBLING OF RAILWAY LINES

(a) to (c): The progress of commissioning  of Gauge  Conversion and Doubling Projects in last three years over Indian Railways is as given below:-

| Year    |   Gauge Conversion (Km) |   Doubling (Km) |
|---------|-------------------------|-----------------|
| 2013-14 |                     404 |             708 |
| 2014-15 |                     527 |             705 |
| 2015-16 |                    1042 |             972 |

Funds  to the ongoing  Gauge  Conversion  and  Doubling  projects  are allocated project-wise and zone-wise on year to year basis and allocation are presented alongwith cumulative expenditure in the form of Pink Book submitted  to  the  Parliament  along  with  the  Budget  Papers.    Project-wise budget  allotment  is  made  as  per  availability  of  resources  and  progress  of works.  As the overall allocation was less in the past, all the projects could not be allotted adequate funds, thereby affecting the progress adversely of many projects.  No special study has been carried out regarding progress of projects of Indian Railways.

(d):   The status of gauge conversion and doubling projects included in Works Programme during the last three years i.e. 2013-14, 2014-15 and 2015-16 is as given below:-

| Plah Head        |   No. of Project (included in Budget in last three years) | Length (in Km)   | Latest Cost (in Rs. Crores)   |
|------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------|------------------|-------------------------------|
| Gauge Conversion |                                                         2 | 176              | 821                           |
| Doubling         |                                                        89 | 10,391           | 99,032                        |

The present status of Kollam (Quilon)-Sengottai (Chenkotta) (95 Km) Gauge Conversion project is as under:(i)    Quilon-Punalur  (45  Km)  section  is  already  commissioned.   Work  has been taken up on balance length Punalur-Kollam to Sengottai. (e) & (f):   Targets for Gauge Conversion and Doubling are fixed on yearly basis. Outlay  for  Gauge  Conversion  and  Doubling  Projects  has  been  increased substantially  in  the  last  three  years.  However,  to  ensure  steady  progress throughout  the  year  and  to  address  impediments,  if  any,  faced  by  Zonal Railways, monthly monitoring is done for  which such targets have also been circulated.

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