Lok Sabha Question No. 3087 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-03-11
Subject: Renewal of Railway Tracks
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Shri Dileshwar Kamait, Smt. Vijaylakshmi Devi, Shri Chandra Prakash Choudhary

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## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3087 TO BE ANSWERED ON 11.03.2026

## RENEWAL OF RAILWAY TRACKS

†3087. SMT. VIJAYLAKSHMI DEVI:

SHRI CHANDRA PRAKASH CHOUDHARY: SHRI DILESHWAR KAMAIT:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) the total number of track kilometers (route kilometers) identified for renewal  across  the  entire  rail  network  particularly  in  North-Eastern Railway Network;
- (b)  the  year-wise  targets  for  track  renewal  and  new  track  installation during the last seven years;
- (c) State-wise details of the actual route kilometers of track renewal and new  track  installation  during  this  period  especially  in  Jharkhand including pending work, zone-wise;
- (d) the current status of the Parasnath-Madhuban-Giridih new railway line project, the foundation stone of which was laid in 2019;
- (e) the status of renewal of rail network in the States including Bihar and Kolkata; and
- (f)  whether  the  Government  proposes to construct new railway  lines  in the States including Bihar and Kolkata and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

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

(SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

(a) to (f) Upgradation and renewal of tracks is a continuous and ongoing process.  The  track  renewal  is  carried  out  as  per  the  laid  down  criteria based on age, traffic carried, condition etc.

§

Track  Renewal  Works  are  planned  and  executed  duly  prioritizing  the condition of track and various other factors so as to ensure that track is safe for running of trains at permitted speed.

The details of track renewal carried out across the entire railway network during 2014-26 (up to Feb'26) are as under:

| Track renewed   | ~ 54600 Km   |
|-----------------|--------------|

The  above  track  renewal  includes  railway  tracks  situated  in  NorthEastern region, Jharkhand, Bihar and Kolkata.

Further,  following  measures  are  being  taken  to  upgrade  the  railway tracks:

- i. Modern  track  structure  consisting  of  60  kg,  90  Ultimate  Tensile Strength (UTS) rails, Wider and heavier Pre-stressed Concrete Sleepers (PSC) with elastic fastening, fan-shaped layout turnout on PSC sleepers and H-beam Sleepers on girder bridges are being used while carrying out primary track renewals.
- ii. The Thick Web Switches and Weldable CMS Crossings are being used in turnout renewal works.
- iii. Supply of  260  meter  long  rail  panels  have  been  increased  to  avoid welding of joints, thereby improving safety.
- iv. Thick Web Switch Expansion Joints are being used in place of earlier Conventional/Improved SEJs.
- v. Adoption  of  better  welding  technology  for  rails  i.e.  Flash  Butt Welding.
- vi. Adoption  of  mechanized  system  for  track  maintenance  using  high output  plain  tampers  and  points  &  crossing  tampers  for  improved maintainability & reliability of track.
- vii. Deployment of state-of-the-art modern  machines including Rail Grinding Machines to further improve asset reliability.

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- viii. Mechanisation of track laying activities through use of track machines like PQRS, TRT, T-28 etc.
- ix. Use  of  advanced  Phased  Array  technology  of  testing  of  rail  and welds.
- x. Deployment  of  Integrated  Track  Monitoring  Systems  (ITMS)  and Oscillation Monitoring System (OMS) for comprehensive health assessment to ascertain optimal maintenance requirements.
- xi. Adoption of portable Track Measuring Trolley for continuous recording of track parameters in yards.
- xii. Using web enabled Track Management System (TMS) for integration and data analytics of the track inspection records received through various sources to enable precise maintenance inputs.

## Parasnath-Giridih-Madhuban New Line:

Parasnath-Giridih-Madhuban New Line Project was sanctioned in 2018-19 on 50:50 cost - sharing basis with the Government of Jharkhand, at an estimated  cost  of  ₹903  Cr.  Accordingly,  Railways  requested  the  State Government to deposit its share of the cost. However, the Government of Jharkhand  is  yet  to  deposit  its  share.  As  a  result,  the  project  has  not progressed.

## Jharkhand:

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

| Period   | Outlay                       |
|----------|------------------------------|
| 2009-14  | ₹457 Cr./Yr                  |
| 2025-26  | ₹7306 Cr. (approx. 16 times) |

As  on  01.04.2025,  26  projects  (9  New  Lines  and  17  Doubling),  of  total length of 2363 Km, costing ₹47,729 crore falling fully/partly in the State of Jharkhand including those which are in planning/approval/construction stage,  out  of  which,  598  km  length  has  been  commissioned  and  an expenditure of ₹15,845 crore has been incurred upto March, 2025.

The summary is as under:-

| Category     |   No. of projects |   Total Length (in Km) |   Length Commissioned till March, 2025 (in Km) |   Total Exp. Upto March, 2025 (Rs. in Cr.) |
|--------------|-------------------|------------------------|------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------|
| New Lines    |                 9 |                    749 |                                            156 |                                       4239 |
| Doubling/Mu- |                17 |                   1614 |                                            442 |                                      11606 |
| Total        |                26 |                   2363 |                                            598 |                                      15845 |

The details of commissioning/ laying of new track falling fully/partly in the State of Jharkhand is as under:-

| Period   | New Track Commissioned   | Average Commissioning of new tracks   |
|----------|--------------------------|---------------------------------------|
| 2009-14  | 287 Km                   | 57.4 Km                               |
| 2014-25  | 1316 Km                  | 119.64 Km (More than 2 times)         |

During  last  three  years  (i.e.  2022-2023,  2023-24,  2024-2025  and  current Financial  Year  i.e.  2025-26),  total  85  Nos.  of  Surveys  (18  New  Line,  67

Doubling)  falling  fully/partly  in  the  State  of  Jharkhand  having  a  total length of 3303 Km have been sanctioned.

## West Bengal:

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

| Period   | Outlay                             |
|----------|------------------------------------|
| 2009-14  | Rs.4,380 Cr./year                  |
| 2025-26  | Rs. 13,955 Cr. (More than 3 times) |

As on 01.04.2025, 42 projects (12 New Lines, 04 Gauge Conversions and 26  Doubling),  of  total  length  of  4402  Km,  costing  ₹67,991  crore  falling fully/partly in the State of West Bengal are sanctioned, out of which, 1702 km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of ₹23,410 crore has been incurred up to March, 2025. The summary is as under:

| Category                 |   No. of projects | Total Length (in Km)   | Length Commissioned till March, 2025 (in Km)   | Total Exp. upto March, 2025 (Rs. in Cr.)   |
|--------------------------|-------------------|------------------------|------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------|
| New Lines                |                12 | 1,032                  | 337                                            | 11,368                                     |
| Gauge Conversion         |                 4 | 1,201                  | 854                                            | 3,673                                      |
| Doubling/Mu lti-tracking |                26 | 2,169                  | 511                                            | 8,370                                      |
| Total                    |                42 | 4,402                  | 1,702                                          | 23,410                                     |

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

|   S. No. | Project                                                            | Cost (Rs. in Cr.)   |
|----------|--------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------|
|        1 | Rampurhat-Mandarhill new line Rampurhat- Murarai 3rd line (159 Km) | 1,500               |
|        2 | Azimganj-Murshidabad new line (7 Km)                               | 164                 |
|        3 | Bardhaman-Katwa Gauge Conversion (52 Km)                           | 696                 |
|        4 | Ahmedpur-KatwaGauge Conversion (52 Km)                             | 440                 |
|        5 | Panskura Kharagpur Doubling (45 Km)                                | 408                 |
|        6 | Lalgola - Jiaganj Doubling (23 Km)                                 | 124                 |
|        7 | Krishnanagar-Bethuadahari Doubling (28 Km)                         | 152                 |
|        8 | Nabadwipdham-Patuli Doubling (22 Km)                               | 170                 |
|        9 | Bethuadhahari-Plassey Doubling (23 km)                             | 132                 |
|       10 | Ambikakalna-Nabadwipdham Doubling (23 km)                          | 145                 |
|       11 | Nalhati-Sagardighi Doubling (26 km)                                | 193                 |
|       12 | Tamluk Jn.- BasulyaSutahata Doubling (24 km)                       | 245                 |
|       13 | Plassey- Jiaganj Doubling (54 km)                                  | 234                 |
|       14 | Azimganj-Manigram Doubling (21 km)                                 | 150                 |
|       15 | New Coochbehar-Gumanihat Doubling (29 km)                          | 330                 |
|       16 | New Coochbehar-Samuktala Road Doubling (29 km)                     | 445                 |
|       17 | Sainthia-Tarapith 3rd line (22 Km)                                 | 186                 |

|   S. No. | Project                                        |   Cost (Rs. in Cr.) |
|----------|------------------------------------------------|---------------------|
|       18 | Ambari Falakata-New Maynaguri Doubling (37 km) |                 843 |
|       19 | Bandel-Boinchi - 3rd line (31 km)              |                 546 |
|       20 | Boinchi-Shaktigarh 3rd line (26 km)            |                 424 |
|       21 | Bazar Sau-Azimganj Jn. Doubling (42 km)        |                 343 |
|       22 | Sagardighi- Malda Town Doubling (25 Km)        |                 248 |
|       23 | Kharagpur-Narayangarh 3rd line (24 km)         |                 270 |
|       24 | Monigram-Nimtita Doubling (24 Km)              |                 713 |
|       25 | Purulia-Kotshila Doubling (36 Km)              |                 393 |

## Some of the projects falling fully/partly in the State of West Bengal which have been taken up are as under:

|   SN. | Project                                               | Cost (Rs. in Cr.)   |
|-------|-------------------------------------------------------|---------------------|
|     1 | Tarakeshwar-Bishnupur New Line (83 Km)                | 1,542               |
|     2 | Sivok-Rangpo New Line (44 Km)                         | 11,973              |
|     3 | Balurghat-Hilli New Line (30 Km)                      | 1,209               |
|     4 | Kaliyaganj-Buniadpur New Line (33 Km)                 | 1,147               |
|     5 | Katihar-Kumedpur and Katihar-Mukuria Doubling (65 Km) | 943                 |
|     6 | Kharagpur-Adityapur 3rd line (132 Km)                 | 3,250               |
|     7 | Narayangarh-Bhadrak 3rd line (153 Km)                 | 2,136               |
|     8 | Chandil-Anara-Damodar 3 rd Line(121 Km)               | 1,932               |

|   9 | Kalipahari-Bakhtarnagar 5th Line (18Km)             | 350   |
|-----|-----------------------------------------------------|-------|
|  10 | Dankuni-Baltikuri 3rd & 4th line (18 Km)            | 429   |
|  11 | Murarai-Barharwa 3rd Line (49 Km)                   | 935   |
|  12 | Ranaghat-Krishnanagar City 3 rd Line (26 Km)        | 446   |
|  13 | Aluabari Road-New Jalpaiguri 3rd & 4th Line (57 Km) | 1,630 |

During  last  three  years  (i.e.  2022-2023,  2023-24,  2024-25  and  current Financial  Year  i.e.  2025-26),  total  97  Nos.  of  Surveys  (10  New  Line,  87 Doubling)  falling  fully/partly  in  the  State  of  West  Bengal  having  a  total length of 4,004 Km have been sanctioned.

## Kolkata Metro:

Metro  project  in  Kolkata  started  in  1972.  The  details  of  the  Metro commissioned since then are as under:

| Period                   | Metro Commissioned   |
|--------------------------|----------------------|
| 1972 to 2014 ( 42 years) | 28 km                |
| 2014 to 2025 ( 11 years) | 45 km                |

Presently, 4 metro corridors of total 52 km are under construction in and around Kolkata out of which 20 Km is held up due to land acquisition and utility shifting issues pertaining to State Government. The status of these corridors is as given below:

- (i) Joka  -  Esplanade  (14  km):-  Joka  -  Majerhat  (7.74  km)  has  been commissioned and balance work from Majerhat to Esplanade (6.62 km) has been taken up. However, progress of the work is affected due to the

## following issues:

|   S.No. | Location                 | Issues                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       |
|---------|--------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|       1 | Khidderpur Metro Station | 1. 837 square meter permanent and 1702 sq.m. temporary land of Kolkata Armed Police (KAP) was required for utility shifting and road traffic diversion for which proposal was sent to State Government on 24.08.2020. 2. Multiple meetings with officials of Government of West Bengal (GoWB) were held. 3. State Government finally accorded approval on 09.07.2025 after almost 5 years.                                                                                                                                   |
|       2 | Dr. B.C. Roy Market      | 1. For construction of Esplanade Metro Station, temporary shifting of unauthorised 528 Shops at B.C. Roy Market on Defence land was required. The proposal for NOC of temporary shifting of market was submitted in February, 2022. 2. Shops for temporary shifting were also constructed. 3. The State Government has been requested to facilitate shifting. Regular coordination with PWD is being done also, a meeting was held with Hon'ble Mayor of Kolkata on 30.07.2025. 4. Issue is pending for more than 3.5 years. |

- (ii) New Garia - Dum Dum Airport (32 km): New Garia - Belaghata (9.8 km) has been  commissioned and balance work  from Belaghata to Dum Dum Airport (22.2 km) has been taken up. However, progress of the work is affected due to the following issues:

|   S.No. | Location                                                               | Issues                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          |
|---------|------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|       1 | Chingrighata Crossing (Between Beleghata - Gour Kishore Ghosh station) | 1. Temporary traffic diversion at Chingrighata crossing for launching of viaduct segments is required for 3 + 3 nights (8 hours each) on each side of road alternately. The proposal was submitted to Government of West Bengal (GoWB) in February, 2025. 2. The diversion road as desired by Kolkata traffic police has already been constructed in February, 2025. 3. Multiple meetings were held with various State Government and Kolkata police officials for NOC. 4. The NOC is still awaited even after about 10 months. |

## (iii) Noapara - Barasat (18 km): Noapara- Jai Hind Airport (6.77 km) has been commissioned and work from Jai Hind Airport to Michael Nagar is in progress.  However,  work  from  New  Barrackpore  to  Barasat  (7.5  Km)  is held  up  due  to  land  acquisition  and  encroachment  issues  by  State authorities.

|   S.No. | Location   | Issues                                |
|---------|------------|---------------------------------------|
|       1 | New        | 1. Land acquisition (23000 sq. m) and |

| to Barasat   | hutments, 764 shops) are involved in this section. 2. The matter is not yet resolved by GoWB.   |
|--------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

- (iv) BaranagarBarrackpore -Dakshineshwar (14.5 km):BaranagarDakshineshwar(2  km)  has  been  commissioned  and  balance  work  from Baranagar  to  Barrackpore  (12.5  Km)  is  held  up  due  to  pending  utility shifting in the alignment by state government authorities.

|   S.No. | Location                 | Issues                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  |
|---------|--------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|       1 | Baranagar to Barrackpore | 1. The original alignment along the B.T road was agreed in 2011 as per MoU between Metro Railway, RVNL and Kolkata Municipal Corporation. 2. As per MoU, existing pipeline was to be replaced by new 64 inch pipeline by the State Government. 3. Shifting of 64 inch pipeline was completed in 2012. 4. Now, the State Government is insisting for construction of a new 90 inch pipeline costing about ₹1400 crore. 5. The demand is not covered under the cost of the project and MoU provisions. 6. NOC is still awaited from GoWB. |

Bihar:

Budget  allocation  for  Infrastructure  projects  and  safety  works,  falling fully/partly in the State of Bihar is as under:

| Period   | Outlay                       |
|----------|------------------------------|
| 2009-14  | ₹1,132 Cr./year              |
| 2025-26  | ₹10,066 Cr. (Nearly 9 times) |

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

| Period   | New Track Commissioned   | Average Commissioning of new tracks   |
|----------|--------------------------|---------------------------------------|
| 2009-14  | 318 Km                   | 63.6 Km                               |
| 2014-25  | 1,899 Km                 | 172.6 (More than 2.5 times)           |

As on 01.04.2025, 52 projects (31 New Lines, 01 Gauge Conversions and 20 Doubling), of a total length of 4,663 km, costing ₹86,107 crore, falling fully/partly  in  Bihar,  are  sanctioned,  out  of  which  1,250  km  length  has been  commissioned  and  an  expenditure  of  ₹29,353  crore  has  been incurred upto March' 2025. The summary is as under:-

| Category         |   No of sanctioned Projects | Total Length NL/GC/DL (in Km)   |   Length Commissioned till Mar'25 (in Km) | Total Exp upto Mar'25 (₹ in Cr)   |
|------------------|-----------------------------|---------------------------------|-------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
| New Lines        |                          31 | 2,691                           |                                       516 | 16,814                            |
| Gauge Conversion |                           1 | 69                              |                                        52 | 544                               |

| Doubling/Multi- tracking   |   20 | 1,904   | 446   | 11,995   |
|----------------------------|------|---------|-------|----------|
| Total                      |   52 | 4,663   | 1,014 | 29,353   |

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

|   SN. | Project                                                                                 | Cost (In Crores of Rs)   |
|-------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------|
|     1 | Munger Bridge (19 km)                                                                   | 2,774                    |
|     2 | Kosi Bridge (22 Km)                                                                     | 516                      |
|     3 | Patna Bridge (40 Km)                                                                    | 3,555                    |
|     4 | Hajipur-Bachwara Doubling (72 km)                                                       | 930                      |
|     5 | Kiul-Gaya Doubling (123 km)                                                             | 1,200                    |
|     6 | KarotaPatner-Mankatha - Surface triangle (8 km)                                         | 129                      |
|     7 | Rampurhat-Mandarhill New Line and Rampurhat-Murarai- 3rd line (160 km)                  | 1,500                    |
|     8 | Jaynagar-Darbhanga-Narkatiaganj and Narkatiaganj-Bhikhna Tori Gauge Conversion (295 Km) | 1,193                    |
|     9 | Sakri-Laukaha Bazar-Nirmali & Saharsa- Forbesganj Gauge Conversion (206 Km)             | 2,113                    |
|    10 | Bakhtiyarpur Flyover (4 Km)                                                             | 402                      |

|   11 | Katareah-Kursela Patch Doubling incl. bridge on river Kosi (7 km)   | 222    |
|------|---------------------------------------------------------------------|--------|
|   12 | Araria-Galgalia New Line (111 Km)                                   | 4, 415 |

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

|   SN. | Project                                                                      | Cost (Rs. in Cr.)   |
|-------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------|
|     1 | Sitamarhi-Sheohar New Line (28 Km)                                           | 567                 |
|     2 | Sakri-Hasanpur New Line (76 Km)                                              | 735                 |
|     3 | Khagaria-Kusheshwarsthan New Line (42 Km)                                    | 1,511               |
|     4 | Neora-Daniawan-Biharsharif - Barbigha- Shekhpura New Line (166 Km)           | 2,200               |
|     5 | Koderma-Tilaiya New Line (65 Km)                                             | 1,626               |
|     6 | Hajipur-Sagauli New Line (151 Km)                                            | 2,087               |
|     7 | Araria-Supaul New Line (96 Km)                                               | 1,605               |
|     8 | Vikramshila-Katareah New Line with Bridge over River Ganga(26 Km)            | 2,090               |
|     9 | Pirpainti-Jasidih New Line (97 Km) excluding Hansdiha-Godda New Line (30 Km) | 2,140               |
|    10 | Sonnagar - Patratu multitracking (291 Km)                                    | 5,148               |
|    11 | Samastipur - Darbhanga Doubling (38 Km)                                      | 624                 |
|    12 | Rampur Dumra - Tal-Rajendra Pul-Additional bridge and doubling (14 Km)       | 1,677               |

|   13 | Sagauli-Valmiknagar Doubling (110 Km)         | 1,280   |
|------|-----------------------------------------------|---------|
|   14 | Muzaffarpur-Sagauli Doubling (101 Km)         | 1,465   |
|   15 | Barauni- Bachwara 3rd & 4th line (32 Km)      | 124     |
|   16 | Son Nagar - Andal Multi tracking (749 Km)     | 12,334  |
|   17 | Bakhtiyarpur-Rajgir-Tilaiya doubling (104 Km) | 2,192   |
|   18 | Bakthiyarpur-Fatuha 3rd and 4th line (24 Km)  | 931     |

During  last  three  years  (i.e.  2022-2023,  2023-24,  2024-25  and  current financial  year  2025-26),  total  92  Nos.  of  Surveys  (16  New  Line,  76 Doubling) falling fully/partly in the State of Bihar having a total length of 4,530 Km have been sanctioned.

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

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 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.

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