Parliament Question: Railway Connectivity in Western Assam

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4022 TO BE ANSWERED ON 12.08.2026 RAILWAY CONNECTIVITY IN WESTERN ASSAM 4022. MD. RAKIBUL HUSSAIN: Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state: (a) whether the Government is aware of the long-standing demand of the people of Dhubri and adjoining districts for improving railway connectivity in Western Assam and if so, the details thereof; (b) whether the Government has received any representation seeking: (i) an increase in the frequency of the Rajya Rani Express between Dhubri and Silghat from three days to at least six days a week, (ii) introduction of a daily Intercity Express between Dhubri and Guwahati, and (iii) diversion of the Saraighat Express (Train No. 12345/12346) via Bilasipara– Gauripur–Dhubri– Tufanganj–New Cooch Behar; (c) if so, the details of the action taken by the Government on each of these demands along with the present status thereof; and (d) whether the Government has conducted any feasibility study, passenger demand assessment or operational evaluation regarding these proposals and if so, the details and outcome thereof? ANSWER MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, INFORMATION & BROADCASTING AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW) (a) to (d): Dhubri is an existing station on Indian Railway Network. To further improve the connectivity and enhance the capacity at Dhubri in Western Assam, following Final Location Surveys (FLS) have also been sanctioned:- S.No. Project Status 1. New Coochbehar - Golakganj - FLS has been sanctioned for the § Page 1 of 8Gauripur - Abhyapuri Doubling preparation of the Detailed Project (152 Km) Report (DPR). 2. New Jalpaiguri - Kamakhya FLS has been sanctioned for the 3rd & 4th Line (422 Km) preparation of DPR. The details of trains serving Dhubri and nearby Gauripur Jn. are as under:- Trains serving at Dhubri Jn. S.No. Train No. and Name 1 15417/15418 Alipurduar - Silghat Town Rajya Rani Express 2 15601/15602 Dhubri - Guwahati Express 3 75725/75726 Siliguri - New Bongaigaon DEMU 4 75741/75742 Siliguri - Dhubri DEMU Train serving at Gauripur Jn. (next to Dhubri Jn.) S.No. Train No. and Name 1 15417/15418 Alipurduar - Silghat Town Rajya Rani Express 2 15601/15602 Dhubri - Guwahati Express 3 75725/75726 Siliguri - New Bongaigaon DEMU 4 75741/75742 Siliguri - Dhubri DEMU 5 13125/13126 Kolkata - Sairang Express North Eastern Region Railway Budget Budget allocation in recent years has increased significantly. Budget allocation for infrastructure projects and safety works, falling fully/partly in North Eastern Region (NER) including Western Assam, is as under:- Period Outlay 2009-14 ₹2,122 crore/year 2026-27 ₹11,486 crore (More than 5 times) Page 2 of 8Track Construction: The details of commissioning/laying of new track falling fully/partly in North Eastern Region (NER) including Western Assam, during 2009-14 and 2014- 2026 is as under:- Period New track Average commissioning of new tracks Commissioned 2009-14 333 Km ~ 67 Km/year 2014-26 1,890 Km ~ 158 Km/year (about 2.5 times) Projects sanctioned: As on 01.04.2026, 13 Railway projects (08 New Lines, 05 Doubling), of a total length of 988 Km, costing ₹67,453 crore falling fully/partly in North Eastern Region (NER) including Western Assam, have been sanctioned. The summary is as under:- Category No. of Total Length Exp. upto sanctioned Length Commissioned upto Mar’26 projects (in Km) Mar’26 (in Km) (₹ in Cr.) New Lines 08 466 113 35,658 Doubling/ 05 523 165 3,898 Multitracking Total 13 988 278 39,556 Recently completed projects: Projects commissioned falling fully/partly in North East Region including Western Assam, are as under: Page 3 of 8S.No. Project Cost (₹ in crore) 1 Bairabi - Sairang New Line (51 Km) 8,601 2 Agartala - Sabroom New Line (112 Km) 3,170 3 Agartala - Akhaura New Line (5 Km) 865 4 Rangiya - Murkongselek Gauge Conversion (510 3,019 Km) 5 Kumarghat - Agartala Gauge Conversion (109 Km) 1,242 6 Lumding - Badarpur - Silchar & Badarpur - 6,500 Kumarghat Gauge Conversion (412 Km) 7 Lumding - Hojai Doubling (45 Km) 410 8 Digaru - Hojai Doubling (102 Km) 1,873 9 New Bongaigaon - Agthori Doubling (143 Km) 2,048 10 Bogibeel Bridge (46 Km) 5,820 Ongoing Projects: Some of the main projects falling fully/partly in the North East Region including Western Assam, which have been taken up are as under:- S.No. Name of the project Cost (₹ In crore) 1 Jiribam - Imphal New Line (111 Km) 21,886 2 Dimapur - Kohima New Line (82 Km) 15,230 Page 4 of 83 Murkongselek - Pasighat New Line (27 Km) 1,249 4 Sivok - Rangpo New Line (44 Km) 11,775 5 Kokrajhar (India) - Gelephu (Bhutan) New Line (69 3,456 Km) 6 Saraighat Bridge Doubling (7 Km) 1,474 7 Kamakhya - Guwahati 3rd Line (6 Km) 395 8 New Bongaigaon - Goalpara - Guwahati Doubling 4,984 (176 Km) 9 Lumding - Furkating Doubling (140 Km) 2,124 10 Furkating - Tinsukia Doubling (194 Km) 3,634 Further, during the last three years i.e. 2023-24, 2024-25, 2025-26 and the current financial year 2026-27, 18 surveys (12 New Line and 06 Doubling) of total length 1,847 Km falling fully/ partly in the North East Region including Western Assam, have been sanctioned. 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 Page 5 of 8 Socio-economic considerations  Overall availability of funds Railway Infrastructure projects enable socio-economic development of the region including:  Better integration of the region with other parts of the country  Faster movement of goods and services  Improving logistics efficiency  Enhance line capacity  Increase in direct and indirect employment opportunities for the people of the region  Reduces operational bottlenecks  Development of tourism industry and increase in industrial activities in the region. 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. Various steps taken by the Government for effective and speedy implementation of rail projects include:  Substantial increase in allocation of funds.  Delegation of powers at field level. Page 6 of 8 Close monitoring of progress of project at various levels.  Regular follow up with State Governments and concerned authorities for expeditious land acquisition, forestry and Wildlife clearances and for resolving other issues pertaining to projects. Train Services in Assam As the Railway network straddles across State boundaries, trains are introduced, as per network requirement, across such boundaries. However, Indian Railways (IR) constantly endeavours to improve connectivity for the travelling passengers and to this end, IR, during recent times, have introduced 15 pairs of trains including 4 pairs of Amrit Bharat and 02 pairs of Vande Bharat Express which cater to the needs of various stations located in the State of Assam. These are listed below: S.No. Train No. and Name 1 27575/27576 Kamakhya - Howrah Vande Bharat Sleeper Express 2 22227/22228 Guwahati - New Jalpaiguri Vande Bharat Express 3 14663/14664 New Jalpaiguri - Amritsar Amrit Bharat Express 4 15673/15674 Charlapalli - Kamakhya Amrit Bharat Express 5 15671/15672 Kamakhya - Rohtak Amrit Bharat Express 6 15949/15950 Dibrugarh - Gomti Nagar Amrit Bharat Express 7 15675/15676 New Jalpaiguri - Guwahati Express 8 15649/15650 Agartala - Narangi Express 9 55669/55670 Silchar - Sairang Passenger 10 15609/15610 Guwahati - Sairang Express 11 12047/12048 Guwahati - North Lakhimpur Jan Shatabdi Express 12 15911/15912 Tinsukia - Naharlagun Express 13 55817/55818 New Bongaigaon - Guwahati Passenger 14 15925/15926 Dibrugarh - Deoghar Express 15 15617/15618 Guwahati - Dullabcherra Express Page 7 of 8Proposals/ requests/ suggestions/ representations, both formal and informal inter alia for introduction/extension/increase in frequency of trains are received from Members of Parliament, elected representatives, organizations/rail users etc. at various levels including Railway Board, Zonal Railways, Divisional Office etc. These proposals are examined and action as found feasible and justified is taken from time to time, which is an on-going process. Besides, introduction of new train services, extension/increase in frequency of the existing train services, which is an on-going process, depends on various factors which include:- ● Capacity of that section ● Availability of path ● Availability of required rolling stock ● Availability of matching infrastructure for rolling stock ● Maintenance requirement of railway tracks and other assets. ● Occupancy and the traffic requirement of the section. ***** Page 8 of 8