Parliament Question: Capital Expenditure Allocation for Railways

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 521 TO BE ANSWERED ON 01.04.2026 CAPITAL EXPENDITURE ALLOCATION FOR RAILWAYS *521. SMT. SHAMBHAVI: SHRI ARUN BHARTI: Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state: (a) whether the Union Budget 2026-27 has provided a record capital expenditure allocation of Rs. 2.93 lakh crore for the Railways; (b) if so, the detailed breakdown of this allocation directed towards track renewal, electrification and new line construction; (c) the details of funds allocated, State-wise particularly highlighting the investments made in Bihar; (d) whether the Economic Survey 2025-26 noted an increase in the operating ratio of the Railways and if so, the details thereof; and (e) the details of strategic steps taken by the Government to ensure that this massive capital outlay results in timely completion of projects without cost overruns? 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. ***** §STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (e) OF STARRED QUESTION NO.521 TO BE ANSWERED ON 01.04.2026 IN LOK SABHA (a) to (e): Government has provided Gross Budgetary Support of Rs. 2,78,030 crore in Budget Estimates 2026-27 out of which Rs 79,072 cr has been allocated for construction of new tracks. Capacity enhancement of railway network has been taken up by Indian Railways in a big way during last 11 years. The details of commissioning / laying of new track across Indian Railways is given below:- New track Average commissioning of new Period Commissioned tracks 2009-14 7,599 Km 4.2 Km/day 2014-25 34,428 Km 8.6 Km/day (more than 2 times) As on 01.04.2025, across Indian Railways, 431 Railway infrastructure projects (154 New Line, 33 Gauge Conversion and 244 Doubling) of total length 35,966 Km, costing approx. Rs. 6.75 lakh crore are sanctioned. The summary is as under:- Total Length Total Exp No of Length Commissioned till Category upto Mar’25 Projects NL/GC/DL Mar’25 (Rs. in Cr) (km) (Km) New Lines 154 16,142 3,036 1,45,318 Gauge 33 4,180 2,997 22,753 Conversion Doubling / 244 15,644 6,736 1,22,858 Multi-tracking Total 431 35,966 12,769 2,90,929 Zone-wise/year-wise details of all Railway projects are made available in public domain on Indian Railway’s website. Close monitoring of the progress of projects at various levels, regular follow up with State Governments and relevant authorities for expeditious land acquisition, forestry and wildlife clearances and resolving other issues Page 1 of 10pertaining to the projects has helped in completion of various projects in all zones. Bihar Railway Budget: 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) Track construction: 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:- New Track Average Commissioning of new Period Commissioned tracks 2009-14 318 Km 63.6 Km/yr 2014-25 1,899 Km 172.6 Km/yr(More than 2.5 times) Projects sanctioned: 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. The summary is as under:- Length No of Total Length Total Exp Commissioned Category sanctioned NL/GC/DL upto Mar'25 till Mar'25 Projects (in Km) (₹ in Cr) (in Km) New Lines 31 2,691 516 16,814 Gauge 1 69 52 544 Conversion Doubling/Multi- 20 1,904 446 11,995 tracking Total 52 4,663 1,014 29,353 Page 2 of 10Zonal Railway wise details of Railway projects are made available in public domain on Indian Railway’s website. Details of some of the recently completed projects falling fully/partly in the State of Bihar are as under: S.No. Project Cost (₹ in Crore) 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- 1,500 Murarai- 3rd line (160 km) 8 Jaynagar-Darbhanga-Narkatiaganj and Narkatiaganj- 1,193 Bhikhna Tori Gauge Conversion (295 Km) 9 Sakri-Laukaha Bazar-Nirmali & Saharsa-Forbesganj 2,113 Gauge Conversion (206 Km) 10 Bakhtiyarpur Flyover (4 Km) 402 11 Katareah-Kursela Patch Doubling incl. bridge on river 222 Kosi (7 km) 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: S.No. Project Cost (₹ in Crore) 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 2,200 New Line (166 Km) 5 Koderma-Tilaiya New Line (65 Km) 1,626 6 Hajipur-Sagauli New Line (151 Km) 2,087 Page 3 of 10S.No. Project Cost (₹ in Crore) 7 Araria-Supaul New Line (96 Km) 1,605 8 Vikramshila-Katareah New Line with Bridge over 2,090 RiverGanga(26 Km) 9 Pirpainti-Jasidih New Line (97 Km) excluding 2,140 Hansdiha-Godda New Line (30 Km) 10 Sonnagar – Patratu multitracking (291 Km) 5,148 11 Samastipur – Darbhanga Doubling (38 Km) 624 12 Rampur Dumra - Tal-Rajendra Pul-Additional bridge 1,677 and doubling (14 Km) 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 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. Track Renewal: Total expenditure on Safety related activities for the 2026-27 is estimated to be Rs 1,20,389 cr, out of which Rs 46,189 cr is allocated towards safety of track infrastructure. Strengthening, upgradation, modernisation and improvement of track infrastructure is a continuous and ongoing process over Indian Railways. Page 4 of 10The following measures are being taken by Indian Railways to upgrade railway tracks:  Modern track structure consisting of 60kg, 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.  The Thick Web Switches and Weldable CMS Crossings are being used in turnout renewal works.  Supply of 260m long rail panels have been increased to avoid welding of joints, thereby improving safety and riding quality.  Thick Web Switch Expansion Joints are being used in place of earlier Conventional/Improved SEJs.  Adoption of better welding technology for rails i.e. Flash Butt Welding.  Adoption of mechanized system for track maintenance using high output plain tampers and points & crossing tampers for improved maintainability & reliability of track.  Deployment of state-of-the-art modern machines including Rail Grinding Machines to further improve asset reliability.  Mechanisation of track laying activities through use of track machines like PQRS, TRT, T-28 etc.  Interlocking of Level Crossing (LC) Gates for enhancing safety at LC gates.  Use of advanced Phased Array technology of testing of rail and welds.  Deployment of Integrated Track Monitoring Systems (ITMS) and Oscillation Monitoring System (OMS) for comprehensive health assessment to ascertain optimal maintenance requirements.  Adoption of portable Track Measuring Trolley for continuous recording of track parameters in yards.  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. As a result of above measures, there has been significant increase in speed potential of the tracks. The details of speed potential of railway tracks during 2014 vis-a-vis 2026 are as under: Page 5 of 10Sectional Speed 2014 2026 (up to Feb’26) (kmph) Track Km % Track Km % 130 & above 5,036 6.3 23,713 22.4 110 - 130 26,409 33.3 62,036 58.7 < 110 47,897 60.4 19,923 18.9 Total 79,342 100 1,05,672 100 Railway Electrification: Funding of Railway Electrification has been significantly increased from Rs. 5,545 crore in 2004-14 to Rs. 53,122 crore in 2014-24  Electrification of railway network on Indian Railways has been taken up in mission mode. So far, about 99.4% of Broad Gauge (BG) network has been electrified. The electrification in remaining network has been taken up. Electrification carried out during 2014- 25 and before 2014 is as under: Period Route Kilometer Before 2014 (about 60 years) 21,801 2014-25 46,900  In Bihar, 100% of BG network has been electrified. Further, all new line / multitracking projects are being sanctioned and constructed with electrification.  Allocation towards Railway Electrification for 2026-27 is Rs 5,000 cr. Amrit Bharat Stations: 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. The master planning includes:  Improvement of access to station and circulating areas  Integration of station with both sides of city  Improvement of station building Page 6 of 10 Improvement of waiting halls, toilets, sitting arrangement, water booths  Provision of wider foot over bridge/air concourse commensurate with passenger traffic  Provision of lift/escalators/ramp  Improvement /Provision of platform surface and cover over platforms  Provision of kiosks for local products through schemes like ‘One Station One Product’  Parking areas, Multimodal integration  Amenities for Divyangjans  Better passenger information systems  Provision of executive lounges, nominated spaces for business meetings, landscaping, etc. keeping in view the necessity at each station. The scheme also envisages sustainable and environment friendly solutions, provision of ballastless tracks etc. as per necessity, phasing and feasibility and creation of city centre at the station in the long term. So far, 1338 stations have been identified for development under Amrit Bharat Station Scheme, out of which 98 stations are located in Bihar. The names of stations identified for development under Amrit Bharat Station Scheme in Bihar are as following: State No. of Name of Stations Stations Bihar 98 Anugraha Narayan Road, Ara, Arariya Court, Bakhtiyarpur, Banka, Banmankhi, BapudhamMotihari, Barahiya, Barauni, Barh, Barsoi Jn, Begusarai, Bettiah, Bhabua Road, Bhagalpur, Bhagwanpur, Bihar Sharif, Bihiya, Bikramganj, Buxar, Chakia, Chausa, Chhapra, Dalsingh Sarai, Darbhanga, Dauram Madhepura, Dehri On Sone, Dholi, Dighwara, Dumraon, Durgauti, Ekma, Fatuha, Gaya, Ghorasahan, Guraru, Hajipur Jn, Jamalpur Jn, Jamui, Janakpur Road, Jaynagar, Jehanabad, Jhanjharpur, Kahalgaon, Karhagola Road, Page 7 of 10State No. of Name of Stations Stations Katihar Jn, Khagaria Jn, Kishanganj, Kudra, Labha, Laheria Sarai, Lakhminia, Luckeesarai Jn, Madhubani, Maheshkhunt, Mairwa, Mansi Jn, Masrakh, Mokama, Motipur, Munger (Monghyr), Muzaffarpur Jn, Nabinagar Road, Narkatiaganj Jn, Naugachia, Nawadah, Paharpur, Patliputra, Patna Jn, Piro, Pirpainti, Rafiganj, Raghunathpur, Rajendra Nagar Terminal (Patna), Rajgir, Ram Dayalu Nagar, Raxaul, Sabaur, Sagauli, Saharsa, Sahibpur Kamal, Sakri, Salauna, Salmari, Samastipur, Sasaram, Shahpur Patoree, Shivanarayanpur, Simri Bakhtiyarpur, Simultala, Sitamarhi, Siwan, Sonpur Jn., Sultanganj, Supaul, Taregna, Thakurganj, Thawe Completed Stations: Development works at railway stations under Amrit Bharat Station Scheme in Bihar have been taken up at a good pace. Details of stations completed in Bihar are as under: No. of State Name of stations stations Bihar 05 Pirpainti, Sabaur, Shivanarayanpur, Simultala, Thawe The activities for development at other stations have also been taken up at good pace and progress of some of the stations is as given below:  Barsoi Junction station: The works of dismantling of old quarters and shifting of utilities have been completed. The works of station building, circulating area and 12m Foot Over Bridge have been taken up.  Kishanganj station: The works of platform surfacing at platform no.1&2, drinking water taps at platform no. 1&2, improvement of circulating area, parking at second entry, approach road and Page 8 of 10boundary wall have been completed. The works of horticulture and 12m Foot Over Bridge have been taken up.  Salmari station: The works of improvement of station building, extension and raising of platform no.1 andplatform shelter at platform no.1 have been completed. The works of circulating area and 3 m Foot Over Bridge have been taken up.  Thakurganj station: The works of raising of platform no. 1, platform surfacing at platform no. 2, platform shelter at platform no. 1 & 2 and12m Foot Over Bridge have been completed. The works of platform surfacing at platform no. 1, toilet at platform no. 2, coach indication board and train indication board 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.  Indian Railways has a well established mechanism to monitor implementation of projects including their reviews, inspection, check for quality of works and audits. Works are carried out adhering to the standards and specifications laid down in various codes and manuals. Inspections/audits/checks are carried out from time to time by various agencies/officials/multi-disciplinary teams as per laid down instructions and actions for correction including damages are taken immediately. This is a continuous and ongoing process.  Development / Upgradation of railway stations is complex in nature involving safety of passengers & trains and requires various statutory clearances such as fire clearance, heritage, tree cutting, airport clearance etc. The progress also gets affected due to brownfield related challenges such as shifting of utilities (involving water/sewage lines, optical fibre cables, gas pipe lines, power/signal cables, etc.), infringements, operation of trains without hindering passenger movement, speed restrictions due to works carried out in close proximity of tracks and high voltage power lines, etc. and these factors affect the completion time. Page 9 of 10 Development / Upgradation / Modernization of stations including Amrit Bharat Station Scheme is generally funded under Plan Head-53 ‘Customer Amenities’. The details of allocation and expenditure under Plan Head-53 are maintained Zonal Railway-wise and not work-wise or station-wise or state-wise. Bihar is covered under the jurisdiction of four railway zones, namely, Eastern Railway, Northeast Frontier Railway, North Eastern Railway and East Central Railway. For these zones, an allocation of ₹ 1,828 crore has been made for the financial year 2025-26, out of which an expenditure (up to January, 2026) of ₹ 1,793 crore has been incurred so far. Operating Ratio: Railway’s operating ratio in 2024-25 was 98.22%. Indian Railway after meeting all the Revenue Expenditure, including pension expenditure, generated a modest surplus of Rs. 2660 cr. in 2024-25. ***** Page 10 of 10