Lok Sabha Question No. 4161 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-03-18
Subject: Rail Connectivity to Wayanad
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Smt. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra

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## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4161 TO BE ANSWERED ON 18.03.2026

## RAIL CONNECTIVITY TO WAYANAD

## 4161. SMT. PRIYANKA GANDHI VADRA:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government is considering proposals to improve inter and intra State rail connectivity to Wayanad Lok Sabha Constituency and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether the Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the Nanjangud-Nilambur railway line has been finalized and  if so, the details thereof including the timeline for submission;
- (c) the  details  of  railway  overbridges  and  underpasses  sanctioned  to replace  level  crossings  in  Wayanad  Lok  Sabha  Constituency  including the current progress; and
- (d) whether the Government proposes to introduce special tourist trains to promote the unique heritage of Wayanad Lok Sabha Constituency and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

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

(SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

(a) to (d):  Wayanad district is already connected with railway network and served by Nilambur Road Station which is catered by the following 16 train services:

|   SN | Train No. and Name                     |
|------|----------------------------------------|
|    1 | 16325 Nilambur Road - Kottayam Express |

| 2     | 16326 Kottayam - Nilambur Road Express                                            |
|-------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 3     | 16349 Thiruvananthapuram North - Nilambur Road Express                            |
| 4     | 16350 Nilambur Road - Thiruvananthapuram North Express                            |
| 5     | 56322 Nilambur Road - Shoranur Passenger                                          |
| 6     | 56323 Shoranur - Nilambur Road Passenger                                          |
| 7     | 56607 Palakkad - Nilambur Road Passenger                                          |
| 8     | 56608 Nilambur Road - Palakkad Passenger                                          |
| 9     | 56609 Shoranur - Nilambur Road Passenger 56610 Nilambur Road - Shoranur Passenger |
| 10 11 | 56611 Shoranur - Nilambur Road Passenger                                          |
| 12    | 56612 Nilambur Road - Shoranur Passenger                                          |
| 13    | 56613 Shoranur - Nilambur Road Passenger                                          |
| 14    | 56614 Nilambur Road - Shoranur Passenger                                          |
| 15    | 66325 Nilambur Road - Shoranur Passenger                                          |
| 16    | 66326 Shoranur - Nilambur Road Passenger                                          |

For  providing  connectivity  of  Nilambur  road  station  with  Karnataka,  the Survey  of  Nilambur-Nanjangud  new  line  was  carried  out  in  2007-08  but project could not be taken forward due to low traffic projections.

However,  on  public  demand,  a  fresh  Final  Location  Survey  (FLS)  for Nilambur-Nanjangud  new  line  project  (236  Km)  has  been  sanctioned  for preparation  of  Detailed  Project  Report  (DPR).  The  field  survey  has  been completed.

After preparation of Detailed Project Report (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 cannot be fixed.

## Keralam :-

## Railway Budget:-

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

| Period   | Outlay                           |
|----------|----------------------------------|
| 2009-14  | ₹ 372 crore/year                 |
| 2025-26  | ₹3,042 crore (more than 8 times) |

## Recently Completed Projects:-

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

|   S. N | Project                                                                         | Cost (₹ in Crores)   |
|--------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------|
|      1 | Dindigul - Pollachi - Palghat & Pollachi - Coimbatore gauge conversion (217 km) | 1,360                |
|      2 | Quilon - Tirunelveli - Tiruchendur gauge conversion (357 km)                    | 1,122                |
|      3 | Mulanturutti-Kuruppantara doubling (24 km)                                      | 303                  |
|      4 | Chenganur-Chingavanam doubling (27 km)                                          | 436                  |
|      5 | Ambalapuzha-Haripad doubling (18 km)                                            | 346                  |
|      6 | Kurruppanthara-Chingavanam doubling (27 km)                                     | 749                  |

## Ongoing Projects:-

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

|   S No. | Project                                    | Cost (₹ in Crores)   |
|---------|--------------------------------------------|----------------------|
|       1 | Tirunnavaya -Guruvayur new line (35 Km)    | 138                  |
|       2 | Angamali-Sabarimala new line (111 km)      | 3,801                |
|       3 | Ernakulam-Kumbalam doubling (8 km)         | 595                  |
|       4 | Kumbalam - Thuravur Patch doubling (16 km) | 803                  |
|       5 | Trivandrum- Kanyakumari doubling (87 km)   | 3,786                |
|       6 | Shoranur - Vallathol doubling (10 km)      | 367                  |
|       7 | Palakkad Town to Parli Bypass Line (2 Km)  | 164                  |
|       8 | Alappuzha-Ambalapuzha doubling (13 Km)     | 324                  |
|       9 | Turavur - Mararikulam doubling (21 Km)     | 451                  |

## Project sanctioned:-

As  on  01.04.2025,  06  projects  (02  new  line  and  04  doubling)  of  266  km length, costing ₹9,415 crore falling fully/partly in  Keralam  are  sanctioned. The summary is as under:-

| Category                |   No. of projects | Total Length   | Length Commissioned   | Balance to complete   | Expenditure upto March 2025 (₹in Crore)   |
|-------------------------|-------------------|----------------|-----------------------|-----------------------|-------------------------------------------|
| New line                |                02 | 146 km         | 0 km                  | 146 km                | 309                                       |
| Doubling /multitracking |                04 | 120 km         | 26 km                 | 94 km                 | 2,941                                     |
| Total                   |                06 | 266 km         | 26 km                 | 240 km                | 3,250                                     |

...5/-

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

Execution  of  important  infrastructure  projects  falling  fully/partly  in  the State of Keralam are held up due to delay in land acquisition. Status of land acquisition in the State of Keralam is as under:

| Total Land required for Projects in Keralam   | 476 ha       |
|-----------------------------------------------|--------------|
| Land Acquired                                 | 65 ha (14%)  |
| Balance Land to be acquired                   | 411 ha (86%) |

Railway had deposited ₹1,975 crore for land acquisition to Government of Keralam.  Support of the Government of Keralam is needed to expedite the land  acquisition.  For  instance,  details  of  some  major  projects  which  are delayed due to land acquisition are as under:-

|   SN | Name of the project                        |   Total land required (in Ha) |   Land acquired (in Ha) |   Balance Land to be acquired (in Ha) |
|------|--------------------------------------------|-------------------------------|-------------------------|---------------------------------------|
|    1 | Angamali - Sabarimala new line (111 km)    |                           416 |                      24 |                                   392 |
|    2 | Ernakulam - Kumbalam Patch doubling (8 km) |                             4 |                       3 |                                     1 |
|    3 | Kumbalam - Turavur Patch doubling (16 km)  |                            10 |                       9 |                                     1 |
|    4 | Shoranur - Vallathol doubling (10 km)      |                             5 |                       0 |                                     5 |

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

...6/-

Sanction  of  any  railway  project  depends  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.

## ROBs/ RUBs:-

Sanctioning of works of Road over Bridge (ROB)/Road under Bridge (RUB) in lieu of Level crossings (LCs) is a continuous and dynamic process of Indian

Railway. Such works are prioritised and taken up on the basis of its impact on safety in train operations, mobility of trains & impact for road users and feasibility etc.

## No. of ROBs/ RUBs constructed on Indian Railways during the period 200414 vis a vis 2014-26 (Upto Jan'26) is as under:

| Period                | ROBs/ RUBs constructed                                   |
|-----------------------|----------------------------------------------------------|
| 2004-14               | 4,148 Nos.                                               |
| 2014-25 (Upto Jan'26) | 14,024 Nos. (including 121 Nos. in the State of Keralam) |

As  on  01.02.2026,  4,802  Nos.  ROBs/  RUBs  are  sanctioned  at  cost  of ₹  1,14,196  Cr  on  Indian  Railways  including  138  Nos.  Road  Over  Bridge (ROB)/Road  Under  Bridge  (RUB)  are  sanctioned  at  cost  of  ₹  4,835  Cr  in Keralam which are at various stages of planning and execution.

01 No. Level  Crossing  (LC  No.  10)  exists  in  Wayanad  Lok  Sabha Parliamentary and the work for construction of ROB has been sanctioned at this location. General Arrangement Drawing (GAD) has been approved.

106 Nos. ROBs/RUBs are delayed on account of the State Govt. The details are as under:

|   S.No. | Reason                                       |   ROBs/RUBs (in No.) |
|---------|----------------------------------------------|----------------------|
|       1 | Delay in Land Acquisition by State Govt.     |                   38 |
|       2 | Finalization of Alignment by State Govt.     |                   63 |
|       3 | Law & order/ Public Protest/Court cases etc. |                    2 |
|       4 | Agency yet to be fixed                       |                    3 |

...8/-

Completion of any ROB/RUB work depends on various factors like, fixing of approach alignment, approval of General Arrangement Drawing (GAD), land acquisition,  removal of encroachment,  shifting of infringing utilities, statutory  clearances  from  various  authorities,  law  and  order  situation  in the  area of project / work sites, number of working months in a year for particular  project  /  work  sites  due  to  climatic  conditions  etc.  All  these factors affect the completion time of the projects / works.

Further, Railways have taken following measures to expedite the progress of work:

- i. Joint  survey  with  concerned  State  Govt./Road  Owning  Authority  is done  before  finalizing  the  General  Arrangement  Drawing   (GAD)  to ensure smooth execution.
- ii. Periodic meetings of Railway & State Government officials are done to resolve various issues related to ROB/RUB works.
- iii. Standardization of superstructure drawings for various combinations of  span,  skewness  and  width  of  road  on  Railway  portion  has  been done to avoid delays during the design approval. This has been issued in  the form of compendium, which can be directly adopted for Road Over Bridge across Railway lines for expeditious planning.

## Tourism:-

Indian  Railways  have  issued  'Bharat  Gaurav  Trains'  policy  in  November' 2021, under which theme based tourist circuit trains are being run with the objective  to  showcase  Indian's  rich  cultural  heritage  and  magnificent historical places to the people  of India  and  the  world. As per  this  policy,

service  providers  have  full  flexibility  to  decide  the  themes/itineraries  for operation of Bharat Gaurav tourist circuit trains, which may include tourist circuits of any part of India including Wayanad, based on market demand, commercial viability etc.

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