Lok Sabha Question No. 48 (STARRED), answered on 2025-12-03
Subject: Machilipatnam and Repalle Railway Line
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Shri Balashowry Vallabhaneni

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.48

## TO BE ANSWERED ON 03.12.2025

## MACHILIPATNAM AND REPALLE RAILWAY LINE

- *48.   SHRI BALASHOWRY VALLABHANENI :

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether it is a fact that Machilipatnam and Repalle railway line is  a  long-pending  demand  of  Diviseema  and  Avanigadda  people  in Andhra Pradesh and if so, the details thereof;
- (b)  whether  it  is  a  fact  that  after  completion  of  the  project,  this small stretch will save 55 kms. of train journey and nearly 1½ hours of time and if so, the details thereof;
- (c)  the  details  of  usefulness  of  this  stretch  for  transportation  of goods since Machilipatnam port is coming up;
- (d)  the  details  of  the  reasons  for  pending  construction  of  this stretch since long; and
- (e)  the  details  of  the  timeline  by  which  this  stretch  is  going  to  be completed?

## ANSWER

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

(SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

(a) to (e) A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

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STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  TO  (e)  OF STARRED QUESTION NO.48 TO BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 03.12.2025

(a)  to  (e)  Machilipatnam  and  Repalleare  already  connected  via Vijayawada  Junction  on  the  existing  railway  network.  Recently doubling of Machilipatnam-Gudivada-Vijayawada has been completed  which  will  improve  the  connectivity  to  Machlipatnam port.

To provide direct and shorter connectivity between Machilipatnam and  Repalle,  a  survey  for  construction  of  new  railway  line  (45.30 Km)  has  been  sanctioned.The  field  survey  has  been  taken  up  to prepare the Detailed Project Report (DPR).

Further, to improve the connectivity in the region, following surveys have been sanctioned for preparation of the DPR:

|   SN | Name of Surveys                               |   Length (Km) |
|------|-----------------------------------------------|---------------|
|    1 | Machilipatnam-Narsapur new line               |            74 |
|    2 | Repalle-Bapatlanew line                       |            46 |
|    3 | Gudur-Vijayawada 4 th line                    |           293 |
|    4 | Vijaywada bypass line (Indupalli - Duggirala) |            49 |

After preparation of 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  appraisal  and  approval  by various stakeholders.

## ANDHRA PRADESH:

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

| PERIOD    | OUTLAY                             |
|-----------|------------------------------------|
| 2009-2014 | ₹886 cr/year (including Telangana) |
| 2025-2026 | ₹9,417 cr.                         |

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

| Period   | New Track Commissioned   | Average Commissioning of new tracks   |
|----------|--------------------------|---------------------------------------|
| 2009-14  | 363 km                   | -                                     |
| 2014-25  | 1,582 km                 | More than 4 times                     |

As  on  01.04.2025,  39  projects  (12  New  Lines  and  27  Doubling), covering  total  length  of  4,498  km  length,  costing  ₹70,231  crore, falling fully/partly in Andhra Pradesh, have been sanctioned, out of which 1,179 km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of ₹28,039 crore has been incurred upto March 2025. The status of the work is summarized as:

| Plan Head   |   No. of projects | Total Length (km)   | Length Commi ssioned (Km)   | Balance to complete (km)   | Expupto March 2025 (₹. in cr.)   |
|-------------|-------------------|---------------------|-----------------------------|----------------------------|----------------------------------|
| New Line    |                12 | 1595                | 199                         | 1395                       | 6,413                            |
| Double Line |                27 | 2904                | 979                         | 1925                       | 21,626                           |
| TOTAL       |                39 | 4,498               | 1,179                       | 3,320                      | 28,039                           |

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

|   S.No. | Name of Project                                                                                             | Cost (₹. in cr.)   |
|---------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------|
|       1 | Vijaywada - Gudivada - Bhimavaram - Narsapur, Gudivada-Machlipatnam&Bhimavaram-Nidadavolu doubling (221 km) | 4,688              |
|       2 | Guntur-Tenali doubling (24 km)                                                                              | 205                |
|       3 | Nandyal-Yerraguntla new line (126 km)                                                                       | 1,050              |
|       4 | Jaggayyapeta-Mellacheruvu-Janpahad new line (48 km)                                                         | 737                |
|       5 | Obulavaripalle-Krishnapattnam new line (113 km)                                                             | 2,300              |
|       6 | Vizianagaram-Kottavalsa 3rd Line (35 km)                                                                    | 285                |
|       7 | Raichur-Guntakal doubling (81 km)                                                                           | 388                |
|       8 | Guntakal-Kalluru doubling (41 km)                                                                           | 410                |
|       9 | Yelahanka-Penukonda doubling (123 km)                                                                       | 1,104              |
|      10 | Gooty-Dharmavaram doubling (90 km)                                                                          | 1,800              |

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

|   S.N | Name of Project                                              | Cost (Cr)   |
|-------|--------------------------------------------------------------|-------------|
|     1 | Kotipalli-Narsapur new line (57 Km)                          | 2,120       |
|     2 | Nadikude-Srikalahasti new line (309 Km)                      | 3,122       |
|     3 | Rayadurg-Kalyandurg-Tumkur new line (207 Km)                 | 2,496       |
|     4 | Marikuppam-Kuppam new line (24 Km)                           | 297         |
|     5 | Malugur - Palasamudram new line (18 Km)                      | 342         |
|     6 | Malkangiri- Bhadrachalam - Pandurangapuram new line (174 Km) | 3,592       |
|     7 | Errupalem-Amravati-Namburu new line (57 Km)                  | 2,047       |
|     8 | Kottavalasa-Koraput Doubling (189 Km)                        | 2,500       |
|     9 | Vijaywada- Gudur 3rd line (287 Km)                           | 6,509       |
|    10 | Guntakal- Guntur Doubling (401 Km)                           | 4,306       |
|    11 | Pennukonda-Dharmavarm Doubling (42 Km)                       | 308         |
|    12 | Gooty-Pendekallu Doubling(29 Km)                             | 352         |
|    13 | Duvvada - Simhachalam North 3rd & 4th line (21 Km)           | 356         |
|    14 | Kottavalasa - Vizianagram 4th line (35 Km)                   | 493         |

|   S.N | Name of Project                                   | Cost (Cr)   |
|-------|---------------------------------------------------|-------------|
|    15 | Gudur-Renigunta 3rd Line (83 Km)                  | 877         |
|    16 | Nergundi - Palasa- Vizianagaram 3rd line (385 Km) | 4,963       |

In  last  three  Years  i.e.  2022-23,  2023-24,  2024-25  and  current financial  year  2025-26,  64  surveys  (15  New  Line,  49  Doubling) covering  a  total  length  of  6,967  km  has  been  taken  up  falling fully/partly in the State of Andhra Pradesh.

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 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
-  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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