Parliament Question: Railway Infrastructure in West Bengal

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4058 TO BE ANSWERED ON 12.08.2026 RAILWAY INFRASTRUCTURE IN WEST BENGAL 4058. SHRI ADHIKARI SOUMENDU: Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state: (a) the details of the Government proposal to support the railway infrastructure in West Bengal; (b) the details of new trains introduced/expanded/extended stations for the people of West Bengal during the last three years including the expansion of railway tracks and gauge conversion projects are taken/proposed during 2026-27; and (c) the details of socio-economic proposal aimed at rehabilitating illegal occupants or encroachers living on railway land in the interest of the livelihoods of the people of West Bengal thereof? ANSWER MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, INFORMATION & BROADCASTING AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW) (a) to (c): Budget allocation in the recent years has increased significantly. Budget allotment of projects is made commensurate to the progress achieved in any project. 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 2026-27 Rs. 14,205 Cr. (More than 3 times) § Page 1 of 16Projects Sanctioned: As on 01.04.2026, 63 projects (14 New Lines, 04 Gauge Conversions and 45 Doubling), covering a total length of 5,148 Km, costing ₹83,433 crore, falling fully/partly in West Bengal are sanctioned. The summary is as under: Category No. of Total Length Total Exp. projects Length Commissioned till upto March, (in March, 2026 2026 Km) (in Km) (Rs. in Cr.) New Lines 14 1,056 337 13,872 Gauge 4 1,201 854 3,676 Conversion Doubling/Multi- 45 2,891 530 10,401 tracking Total 63 5,148 1,721 27,949 Recently Completed Projects: Details of some of the recently completed projects falling fully/partly in the State of West Bengal are as under: S. Project Cost No. (Rs. in Cr.) 1 Rampurhat-Mandarhill new line (130 Km) 908 2 Azimganj-Murshidabad new line (7 Km) 164 3 Bardhaman-Katwa Gauge Conversion (52 Km) 696 4 Ahmedpur-Katwa Gauge 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 Page 2 of 16S. Project Cost No. (Rs. in Cr.) 9 Bethuadhahari-Plassey Doubling (23 km) 132 10 Ambikakalna-Nabadwipdham Doubling (23 km) 145 11 Nalhati-Sagardighi Doubling (26 km) 193 12 Tamluk Jn.- Basulya Sutahata 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 18 Ambari Falakata-New Maynaguri Doubling (38 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 Ongoing Projects: 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 Chandil- Damodar 3rd Line(121 Km) 1,932 2 Tarakeshwar-Bishnupur New Line (83 Km) 1,542 3 Sivok-Rangpo New Line (44 Km) 11,973 Page 3 of 16SN. Project Cost (Rs. in Cr.) 4 Balurghat-Hilli New Line (30 Km) 1,209 5 Kaliyaganj-Buniadpur New Line (33 Km) 1,147 6 Katihar-Kumedpur and Katihar-Mukuria Doubling (65 943 Km) 7 Kharagpur-Adityapur 3rd line (132 Km) 3,450 8 Narayangarh-Bhadrak 3rd line (153 Km) 3,425 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 3rd Line (26 Km) 446 13 Aluabari Road-New Jalpaiguri 3rd & 4th Line (57 1,630 Km) 14 Sainthia-Pakur 4th Line (81 Km) 1,569 15 Santragachi- Kharagpur 4th Line (111 Km) 2,905 16 Barbenda-Damrughutu Doubling, Damrughutu- 815 Bokaro Steel City 3rd & 4th Line (52 Km) 17 Ranaghat-Bangaon doubling (33 Km) 396 18 Hijli to Nimpura Through yard 3rd line (6 Km) 234 19 Doubling of New Jalpaiguri- Siliguri (7 Km) 215 20 Thakurganj-Siliguri Doubling (56 Km) 916 21 Bypass line at Rampur hat (12 Km) 190 Zonal Railway wise details of Railway projects are made available in public domain on Indian Railway’s website. Railway acquires land through concerned State/District Authorities. All the activities in connection with land acquisition like assessment of amount of Page 4 of 16compensation to land losers etc. are under purview of the State Government. Compensation for land acquisition is made to the land losers by the Revenue Department of the State Government after demanding the same from Railways. Coordination with State Government: In order to strengthen coordination for expeditious implementation of railway connectivity projects across state, monitoring progress of such projects & facilitating coordinated resolution of implementation issues, a task force has been constituted under chairmanship of Chief Secretary, West Bengal by Govt of West Bengal. Chingrighata Matter: Further, temporary diversion of traffic at Chingrighata crossing for launching of viaduct segments for construction of Kolkata Metro was permitted by state government in May-26 after almost 1.5 years since the request made. The work of Chingrighata crossing has finally been completed in May-26. During last three years (i.e. 2023-24, 2024-25, 2025-26 and current financial year 2026-27), total 56 Nos. of Surveys (11 New Line, 45 Doubling) falling fully/partly in the State of West Bengal having a total length of 3,867 Km have been sanctioned. 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 Page 5 of 16 Demands raised by State Governments/Central Ministries/Public representatives,  Railway’s own operational requirements  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  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. Page 6 of 16Station Redevelopment: Ministry of Railways has launched Amrit Bharat Station Scheme for redevelopment of stations with a long-term approach. The scheme involves preparation of master plans and their implementation in phases to improve the stations of Indian Railways. The master planning, keeping in view the necessity of each station, includes:  Improvement of access to station and circulating areas  Integration of station with both sides of city  Improvement of station building  Improvement of waiting halls, toilets, sitting arrangement, water booths  Provision of wider foot over bridge/subway to commensurate with passenger traffic  Provision of lifts/escalators/ramps  Improvement of platform surface and provision of platform shelter  Provision of kiosks for local products through schemes like ‘One Station One Product’  Parking development  Amenities for Divyangjans  Better passenger information systems  Provision of air concourse, executive lounges, Multimodal integration, landscaping, etc. The scheme also envisages sustainable and environment friendly solutions etc. as per necessity, phasing and feasibility and creation of city centre at the station in the long term. Page 7 of 16So far, 1,340 stations have been identified for development under this scheme, out of which 102 stations, are located in West Bengal. The names of stations identified for development under Amrit Bharat Station Scheme in West Bengal are as following: State No. of Name of Stations Stations West 102 Adra, Alipurduar Jn., Aluabari Road, Ambika kalna, Bengal Anara, Andal Jn., Andul, Asansol Jn., Azimganj, Bagnan, Bally, Balurghat, Bandel Jn., Bangaon Jn., Bankura, Barabhum, Barasat, Barddhaman, Barrackpore, Belda, Berhampore Court, Bethuadahari, Bhaluka Road, Binnaguri, Bishnupur, Bolpur Shantiniketan, Burnpur, Canning, Chandan nagar, Chandpara, Chandrakona Road, Dalgaon, Dalkhola, Dankuni, Dhulian Ganga, Dhupguri, Digha, Dinhata, Dum Dum Jn., Falakata, Garbeta, Gede, Haldia, Haldibari, Harishchandrapur, Hasimara, Hijli, Howrah Jn, Jalpaiguri, Jalpaiguri Road, Jangipur Road, Jhalida, Jhargram, Joychandi Pahar Jn, Kaliyaganj, Kalyani, Kalyani Ghoshpara, Kamakhyaguri, Katwa Jn, Khagraghat Road, Kharagpur Jn, Kolkata, Krishnanagar City Jn, Kumedpur Jn, Madhukunda, Madhyamgram, Malda Court, Malda Town, Mecheda, Medinipur (Midnapore), Nabadwip Dham, Naihati Jn, New Alipurduar, New Cooch Behar, New Farakka Jn, New Jalpaiguri Jn, New Mal Jn, Ondagram, Panagarh, Pandabeswar, Panskura Jn, Purulia Jn, Rampurhat Jn, Ranaghat, Sainthia Jn, Salboni, Samsi, Santragachi, Sealdah, Shalimar, Shantipur, Sheoraphuli Jn., Page 8 of 16State No. of Name of Stations Stations Shrirampur, Siliguri Jn., Sitarampur, Siuri, Sonarpur Jn., Suisa, Tamluk, Tarakeswar, Tulin, Uluberia Completed Stations located in West Bengal: Development works at railway stations under Amrit Bharat Station Scheme in West Bengal have been taken up at a good pace. Details of stations completed in West Bengal are as under: State No. of Name of stations stations West 13 Anara, Barabhum, Digha, Garbeta, Haldia, Haldibari, Bengal Jalpaiguri Road, Joychandi Pahar Junction, Kalyani Ghoshpara, Kamakhyaguri, Panagarh, Siuri, Tamluk The activities for development at other stations of West Bengal have also been taken up at good pace and progress of some of the stations is as given below: Stations of West Bengal:  Asansol Junction station: The structural work of new station building block no. 4 of South Wing, building block no. 1, 2 and 3 of North Wing have been completed. The structural work of new station building block no. 3 of South Wing, extension of 6 m wide foot over bridge and air concourse have been taken up.  New Jalpaiguri Junction station: The works of new station building at second entry, Rail Mail Service office building and structural work of new departure station building up to fourth floor have been Page 9 of 16completed. The structural works of new arrival station building at main entry, structural work of fifth and sixth floor of new departure station building, podium parking, elevated road and air concourse have been taken up.  Aluabari Road station: The works of extension of platform no. 2, improvement of platform surface at platform no. 1 and 2, circulating area, parking, approach road and boundary wall have been completed. The works of 12 m wide foot over bridge, new station building block and improvement of platform shelter have been taken up.  New Farakka Junction station: The works of improvement of station building, waiting halls, toilet, entrance porch, signages and installation of Train Indication Board have been completed. The works of improvement of circulating area and parking have been taken up.  Barddhaman station: The works of new station building at second entry, entrance porch, waiting hall, booking counter, toilet, improvement of platform surface and platform shelters have been completed. The works of 6 m wide foot over bridge and improvement of circulating area have been taken up. Further, development / redevelopment / upgradation / modernisation of stations on Indian Railways, is a continuous and ongoing process and works in this regard are undertaken as per requirement, subject to inter-se priority and availability of funds. Development / redevelopment / upgradation / modernisation of a station is carried out based on category of station/condition/traffic handled etc. Page 10 of 16Train services in West Bengal: 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 the period 01.04.2024 to 30.06.2026, have introduced 138 train services including 18 Amrit Bharat services and 08 Vande Bharat services (06 Chair Car & 02 Sleeper) which cater to the needs of various stations located in the State of West Bengal. These are listed below: SN Train No. & Name 1 27575 Howrah-Kamakhya Vande Bharat Sleeper Express 2 27576 Kamakhya - Howrah Vande Bharat Sleeper Express 3 20871 Howrah - Rourkela Vande Bharat Express 4 20872 Rourkela-Howrah Vande Bharat Express 5 22309 Howrah - Bhagalpur Vande Bharat Express 6 22310 Bhagalpur-Howrah Vande Bharat Express 7 22303 Howrah - Gaya Vande Bharat Express 8 22304 Gaya-Howrah Vande Bharat Express 9 20603 Nagercoil - New Jalpaiguri Amrit Bharat Express 10 20604 New Jalpaiguri-Nagercoil Amrit Bharat Express 11 20609 Tiruchchirappalli – New Jalpaiguri Amrit Bharat Express 12 20610 New Jalpaiguri -Tiruchchirappalli Amrit Bharat Express 13 16107 Tambaram - Santragachi Amrit Bharat Express 14 16108 Santragachi -Tambaram Amrit Bharat Express 15 16597 SMVT Bengaluru - Alipurduar Amrit Bharat Express 16 16598 Alipurduar -SMVT Bengaluru Amrit Bharat Express 17 17065 Charlapalli - Shalimar Amrit Bharat Express Page 11 of 1618 17066 Shalimar - Charlapalli Amrit Bharat Express 19 13435 Malda Town - Gomti Nagar Amrit Bharat Express 20 13436 Gomti Nagar- Malda Town Amrit Bharat Express 21 11031Panvel - Alipurduar Amrit Bharat Express 22 11032 Alipurduar - Panvel Amrit Bharat Express 23 22587 Banaras - Sealdah Amrit Bharat Express 24 22588 Sealdah-Banaras Amrit Bharat Express 25 13065 Howrah - Anand Vihar(T) Amrit Bharat Express 26 13066 Anand Vihar (T) - Howrah Amrit Bharat Express 27 18041Shalimar - MGR Chennai Express 28 18042 MGR Chennai - Shalimar Express 29 14021 Purulia - Anand Vihar(T) Express 30 14022 Anand Vihar (T) – Purulia Express 31 16523 SMVT Bengaluru - Balurghat Express 32 16524 Balurghat-SMVT Bengaluru Express 33 16223 SMVT Bengaluru - Radhikapur Express 34 16224 Radhikapur – SMVT Bengaluru Express 35 15701 Katihar - Siliguri Express 36 15702 Siliguri – Katihar Express 37 13125 Kolkata - Sairang Express 38 13126 Sairang – Kolkata Express 39 18063 Santragachi - Yelahanka Express 40 18064 Yelahanka – Santragachi Express 41 18641 Hatia - Durg Express 42 18642 Durg – Hatia Express 43 15675 New Jalpaiguri - Guwahati Express 44 15676 Guwahati-New Jalpaiguri Express 45 18039 Shalimar - Puri Express Page 12 of 1646 18040 Puri – Shalimar Express 47 18015 Shalimar - Bhanjpur Express 48 18016 Bhanjpur-Shalimar Express 49 18017 Bhanjpur - Puri Express 50 18018 Puri – Bhanjpur Express 51 13115 Sealdah - Jalpaiguri Road Express 52 13116 Jalpaiguri – Sealdah Express 53 13427 Sahibganj - Howrah Express 54 13428 Howrah – Sahibganj Express 55 14011 Anand Vihar(T) - Radhikapur Express 56 14012 Radhikapur – Anand Vihar (T) Express 57 58029 Santragachi - Digha Passenger 58 58030 Digha – Santragachi Passenger 59 58025 Santragachi - Digha Passenger 60 58026 Digha – Santragachi Express 61 53091 Azimganj - Krishnanagar Passenger 62 53092 Krishnanagar – Azimganj Passenger 63 55055 (63039) Katwa - Ahmadpur MEMU 64 55056 (63040) Ahmadpur – Katwa MEMU 65 63041 Azimganj - Cossimbazar MEMU 66 63042 Cossimbazar – Azimganj MEMU 67 68121 Purulia - Howrah MEMU 68 68122 Howrah – Purulia MEMU 69 63045 Azimganj - Cossimbazar MEMU 70 63046 Cossimbazar – Azimganj MEMU 71 63057 Azimganj - Cossimbazar MEMU 72 63058 Cossimbazar – Azimganj MEMU 73 63552 Asansol - Andal MEMU Page 13 of 1674 63550 Anadal Jn- Barddhaman MEMU 75 63591 Asansol - Bokaro Steel City MEMU 76 63592 Bokaro Steel City – Asansol MEMU 77 63549 Barddhaman-Asansol MEMU 78 31728 Krishnanagar - Ranaghat EMU 79 34336 Ballygunge - Sonarpur EMU 80 34796 Sonarpur - Namkhana EMU 81 34795 Namkhana - Sealdah EMU 82 34556 Sealdah - Canning EMU 83 34371 Canning - Ballygunge EMU 84 34338 Ballygunge - Sonarpur EMU 85 33370 Bangaon - Barasat EMU 86 31635 Sealdah - Ranaghat EMU 87 31544 Shantipur - Sealdah EMU 88 34866 Sonarpur - Diamond Harbour EMU 89 34883 Diamond Harbour - Ballygunge EMU 90 31787 Ranaghat - Shantipur EMU 91 33893 Dumdum Cantt. - Bongaon EMU 92 33372 Bongaon - Barasat EMU 93 31343 Bidhanagar Road - Kalyani EMU 94 31340 Kalyani - Sealdah EMU 95 31777 Berhampore Court - Lalgola EMU 96 33328 Hasnabad - Barasat EMU 97 33329/33324 Barasat - Basirhat EMU 98 33471 Dumdum Cantt. - Barasat EMU 99 33472 Barasat – Dumdum Cantt. EMU 100 33891 Dumdum Cantt. - Bangaon EMU 101 37355 Howrah - Tarakeshwar EMU Page 14 of 16102 37356 Tarakeshwar – Howrah EMU 103 33761 Ranaghat - Sealdah EMU 104 33762 Sealdah – Ranaghat EMU 105 31845 Sealdah - Krishnanagar City EMU 106 31846 Krishnanagar City – Sealdah EMU 107 33331/33326 Barasat - Hasnabad EMU 108 33326 Hasnabad – Barasat EMU 109 31637 / 31638 Sealdah-Ranaghat EMU 110 31638 Ranaghat – Sealdah EMU 111 52545 Siliguri - Bhagalpur MEMU 112 52546 Bhagalpur – Siliguri MEMU 113 35023 Barddhaman - Katwa EMU 114 35024 Katwa – Barddhaman EMU 115 35061 Katwa - Azimganj EMU 116 35062 Azimganj – Katwa EMU 117 35041 Katwa - Ahmadpur EMU 118 35042 Ahmadpur – Katwa EMU 119 31847 Sealdah - Krishnanagar City EMU 120 31848 Krishnanagar City – Sealdah EMU 121 31344 Sealdah - Kalyani EMU 122 31347 Kalyani – Sealdah EMU 123 31881 Krishnanagar City - Amghata Halt EMU 124 31882 Amghata Halt – Krishnanagar City EMU 125 31883 Krishnanagar City - Amghata Halt EMU 126 31884 Amghata Halt – Krishnanagar City EMU 127 31885 Krishnanagar City - Amghata Halt EMU 128 31886 Amghata Halt – Krishnanagar City EMU 129 31761 Ranaghat - Gede EMU Page 15 of 16130 31762 Gede – Ranaghat EMU 131 31762 Gede – Ranaghat EMU 132 31764 Gede - Ranaghat EMU 133 37418 Seoraphuli - Tarakeswar EMU 134 37417 Tarakeswar – Seoraphuli EMU 135 31887 Krishnanagar City – Amghata Halt EMU 136 31888 Amghata Halt – Krishnanagar City EMU 137 31889 Krishnanagar City – Amghata Halt EMU 138 31890 Amghata Halt – Krishnanagar City EMU Proposals/ 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 16 of 16