Parliament Question: Delay in railway infrastructure projects in Maharashtra

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3933 ANSWERED ON 27.03.2026 DELAY IN RAILWAY INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS IN MAHARASHTRA 3933 SMT. RAJANI ASHOKRAO PATIL: Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state: (a) whether Government has reviewed the status of major railway projects sanctioned in Maharashtra; (b) the list of sanctioned projects, including new lines, gauge conversions, electrification and station modernisation works; (c) the projects currently facing cost overruns, delays or stalled execution, along with estimated time and budget escalations; (d) the reasons for such delays, including land acquisition challenges, environmental clearances, fund release issues and contractor-related factors; and (e) the reasons as to why project timelines continue to slip, affecting regional connectivity, freight and passenger movement and economic growth and the steps proposed to ensure timely completion and enhanced rail infrastructure in the State? ANSWER MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, INFORMATION & BROADCASTING AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW) (a) to (e): Railway Budget: Budget allocation during the last five years has increased significantly. Budget allocation for infrastructure projects and safety works, falling fully/partly in the State of Maharashtra is as under: Period Outlay 2009-14 ₹1,171 crore/year 2025-26 ₹23,778 crore (More than 20 times) Track Construction: The details of constructing new track falling fully/partly in the State of Maharashtra during 2009-14 and 2014-25 is as under: Page 1 of 13 §Period New track Commissioned Average commissioning of new tracks 2009-14 292 Km 58.4 Km/year 2014-25 2,292 Km 208.4 Km/year (More than 3 times) Projects sanctioned: As on 01.04.2025, 38 projects (11 New Lines, 02 Gauge Conversion and 25 Doubling), of a total length of 5,098 km, costing ₹89,780 crore, falling fully/partly in Maharashtra, including remote and tribal areas, are sanctioned. The summary is as under:- Category No. of Total Length Exp. sanctioned Length Commissioned upto Mar'25 Projects (in Km) Upto Mar'25 (Km) (₹ in Cr.) New Line 11 1,355 234 10,504 Gauge Conversion 02 609 334 4,286 Doubling/ Multitracking 25 3,134 1,792 24,617 Total 38 5,098 2,360 39,407 Recently completed projects: Details of some of the recently completed projects falling fully/partly in Maharashtra are as under: S.No. Project Cost (₹ in crore) 1 Pune-Miraj-Londa Doubling (467 Km) 4,670 2 Jabalpur-Gondia Gauge Conversion (300 Km) 2,005 3 Chhindwara-Nagpur Gauge Conversion (150 Km) 1,512 4 Panvel-Pen Doubling (35 Km) 263 5 Pen-Roha Doubling (40 Km) 330 6 Udhna-Jalgaon Doubling (307 Km) 2,448 7 Mudkhed-Parbhani Doubling (81 Km) 673 8 Bhusawal-Jalgaon 3rd Line (24 Km) 325 9 Jalgaon-Bhusawal 4th Line (24 Km) 261 10 Daund-Gulbarga Doubling (225 Km) 3,182 Page 2 of 13 §Ongoing Projects: To further improve the Railway Infrastructure in the state of Maharashtra, following works have been taken up:- S.No. Name of the project Cost (₹ In crore) 1 Ahilyanagar (Ahmednagar)-Beed-Parli Vaijnath New Line (261 4,957 Km) 2 Baramati-Lonand New Line (64 Km) 1,844 3 Wardha-Nanded New Line (284 Km) 3,445 4 Indore-Manmad New Line (360 Km) 18,529 5 Wadsa-Gadchiroli New Line (52 Km) 1,886 6 Jalna-Jalgaon New Line (174 Km) 5,804 7 Daund-Manmad Doubling (236 Km) 3,037 8 Kalyan-Kasara 3rd Line (68 Km) 1,433 9 Wardha-Nagpur 3rd Line (76 Km) 698 10 Wardha-Ballarshah 3rd Line (132 Km) 1,385 11 Itarsi-Nagpur 3rd Line (280 Km) 2,450 12 Rajnandgaon-Nagpur 3rd Line (228 Km) 3,545 13 Wardha-Nagpur 4th Line (79 Km) 1,137 14 Jalgaon-Manmad 4th Line (160 Km) 2,574 15 Bhusawal-Khandwa 3rd & 4th Line (131 Km) 3,285 16 Solapur-Tuljapur-Osmanabad New Line (95 Km) 2,933 17 Panvel-Chowk Double Line (17 Km) 491 18 Wardha-Balharshah 4th Line (135 Km) 2,226 19 Itarsi-Nagpur 4th Line (297 Km) 5,010 20 Wardha-Bhusawal 3rd & 4th Line (314 Km) 9,197 21 Asangaon-Kasara 4th Line (35 Km) 794 22 Badlapur-Karjat 3rd & 4th Line (32 Km) 1,324 23 Gondia-Dongargarh 4th Line (84 Km) 2,223 24 Gondia-Balharshah Doubling (240 Km) 4,819 Page 3 of 13 §Increasing train handling capacity in Mumbai area: Presently, about 120 originating Mail/Express trains and about 3200 sub urban trains are handled daily in Mumbai area. To increase train handling capacity at various stations in Mumbai area, following works have been completed/taken up/planned at various stations: SN Location Details 1 Bandra Terminus 3 Pit Lines have been completed 2 Mumbai Central Platform extension for 24 LHB coaches 3 Jogeshwari 2 additional platforms 4 Dadar 1 additional platform 5 Vasai road 6 platforms, 3 pit lines and 5 stabling lines 6 Panvel-Kalamboli 5 platforms , 4 pit lines and 2 sick lines 7 Kalyan 6 platforms and 4 pit lines 8 LTT 4 platforms and 2 pit lines 9 Parel 6 platforms, 5 pit lines, 6 stabling lines 10 Virar 25 stabling lines 11 Dahanu road 11 stabling lines 12 Mira road 25 stabling lines Platform length extension: In addition to above, Platform extension work at 34 stations to accommodate 15 car EMUs have been taken up. New projects for increasing capacity: To improve the capacity of rail network in Mumbai suburban area, Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP)-II costing ₹8,087 crore, MUTP-III costing ₹10,947 crore and MUTP-IIIA costing ₹33,690 crore have been sanctioned. These projects include following works in Mumbai Suburban Area: SN Name of Project Cost (in Cr.) 1 CSMT-Kurla 5th & 6th Line (MUTP-II) (17.5 km) 891 2 Mumbai Central-Borivali 6th Line (MUTP-II) (30 km) 919 3 Extension of Harbour Line from Goregaon-Borivali (MUTP-IIIA) (7 km) 826 4 Borivali-Virar 5th & 6th Line (MUTP-IIIA) (26 km) 2,184 Page 4 of 13 §5 Virar-Dahanu Road 3rd & 4th Line (MUTP-III) (64 km) 3,587 6 Panvel-Karjat Suburban Corridor (MUTP-III) (29.6 km) 2,782 7 Airoli-Kalwa (elevated) Suburban Corridor link (MUTP-III) (3.3 km) 476 8 Kalyan-Asangaon 4thLine (MUTP-IIIA) (32 km) 1,759 9 Kalyan-Badlapur 3rd& 4th line (MUTP-IIIA) (14 km) 1,510 10 Kalyan-Kasara 3rd Line (67 km) 793 11 Naigaon-Juichandra double chord Line (6 km) 176 12 Nilaje-Kopar double chord Line (5 km) 338 13 Kalyan Yard remodeling work 866 New generation trains: To enhance passenger carrying capacity, 238 rakes of 12 cars each with doors have been sanctioned under MUTP-III & IIIA at a cost of ₹19,293 crore. The process for procurement of these rakes has been taken up. Capacity Augmentation works for Pune Area: Presently, about 33 originating Mail/Express trains are handled daily in Pune area. To increase train handling capacity at various stations in Pune area, following works have been completed/taken up/planned at various stations: SN Location Details 1 Pune Junction 6 additional Platforms and Extension of 5 Platforms. 2 Hadapsar Extension of 3 Platforms to handle full length trains. 3 Khadki Raising and Extension of PF-3/4 and extension of running lines completed in July’2025. 4 Alandi New Coaching Terminal with 9 additional Platforms, 8 pit lines and 8 stabling lines 5 Phursungi 5 Stabling Lines at Phursungi In addition to above, following capacity additional works have been undertaken in Pune Area to increase the train handling capacity: SN Name of Project 1 3rd Line between Hadapsar and Ghorpuri Yard Page 5 of 13 §2 New Block station at Manjari Bhadrukin Pune-Daund Section and Ramtekdi in Pune-Sasvad section 3 Bidirectional Signalling in Pune Sasvad Road Section Bullet Train project: Presently, the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail (MAHSR) Project (508 km) is under execution. The Project is passing through the States of Gujarat, Maharashtra and Union Territory of Dadra & Nagar Haveli with 12 stations planned at Mumbai, Thane, Virar, Boisar, Vapi, Billimora, Surat, Bharuch, Vadodara, Anand, Ahmedabad and Sabarmati. Entire land (1389.5 Ha.) for MAHSR project has been acquired. All Statutory Clearances have been obtained. All 1651 utilities have been shifted. The delay in land acquisition in the State of Maharashtra has impacted the project till 2021. The land acquisition picked up in 2022 in Maharashtra. The progress of various major items so far is as under: Item Progress Piers 430 kms. Girder 341 kms. Track Bed 174 kms. OHE Masts 153 kms. The progress of stations is given below:- S.No. Station Status Foundation works completed, Platform slab & roof structural works and 1 Sabarmati finishing works are in progress 2 Ahmedabad Structural works completed and finishing works have been taken up. 3 Anand/Nadiad Foundation work completed, structural works and finishing works have 4 Vadodara been taken up. 5 Bharuch 6 Surat Structural works completed and finishing works have been taken up. 7 Bilimora 8 Vapi Page 6 of 13 §9 Boisar Foundation works have been taken up and in advanced stage. Structural 10 Virar works have been taken up. 11 Thane This is an underground station. Foundation works almost completed and 12 BKC (Mumbai) Base Slab has been taken up. The progress on the River Bridges is as under:- S. No. River Name Status Sub-Structure work completed, Superstructure work has been 1 Sabarmati River (480m) taken up. 2 Meshwa River (120m) 3 Vatrak River (280m) Bridge construction completed. Mohar (Shedhi) River 4 (160m) 5 Mahi River (720m) 11 out of 12 wells completed;5 spans launched 6 Vishwamitri River (80m) Bridge construction completed. 7 Dhadhar River (120m) 8 Narmada River (1366m) 21 out of 25 wells completed; 4 spans launched 9 Kim River (120m) Bridge construction completed. Foundation work has been taken up, 10 out of 12 wells 10 Tapi River (720m) completed 11 Mindhola River (240m) 12 Purna River (360m) 13 Ambika River (200m) 14 Venganiya River (200m) 15 Kaveri River (120m) 16 Kharera River (120m) Bridge construction completed. 17 Auranga River (320m) 18 Par River (320m) 19 Kolak River (160m) Daman Ganga River 20 (360m) 21 Darotha River (80m) 22 Jagani River (360m) Foundation works have been completed Page 7 of 13 §23 VaitarnaRiver (2320m) 12 Pile Cap and 11 Pier (out of 58) completed. Ulhas River Branch Temporary Access Bridge (TAB) completed to start the 24 (120m) foundation work. Desai Khadi River Bridge Geo-technical Investigation (GTI) has been completed and 25 (400m) Design work has been taken up. The work of the under-sea tunnel (approximately 21 km) has commenced, out of which 4.8 km of tunnel between Ghansoli and Shilphata in Maharashtra has been completed. Further, to strengthen national transport infrastructure, provide a fillip to regional connectivity, economic growth, tourism, investment and employment generation, and encourage modal shift from road and air transport to rail, the Government has announced the development of the following seven new High-Speed Rail (HSR) corridors in the Union Budget 2026-27:- (i) Mumbai–Pune (ii) Pune–Hyderabad (iii) Hyderabad–Bengaluru (iv) Hyderabad–Chennai (v) Chennai–Bengaluru (vi) Delhi–Varanasi (vii) Varanasi–Siliguri Being highly capital intensive, the decision to sanction any HSR Corridor/Project depends on many factors such as outcome of DPR, techno-economic feasibility studies and availability of resources such as financing options etc. Dedicated freight corridor: Western DFC also passes through Maharashtra. About 178 route Km of western DFC is situated in Maharashtra which is about 12% of overall route length of western DFC. 76 Km of this project from New Gholvad to New Vaitarna in Maharashtra has already been commissioned. Balance works have been taken up. Connectivity of WDFC to JNPT will boost the capacity to handle cargo and container traffic from port to Delhi NCR. Railway Electrification: 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: Page 8 of 13 §Period Route Kilometer Before 2014 (about 60 years) 21,801 2014-25 46,900 In Maharashtra, entire existing BG network has been electrified. Further, all new line/ Multi-tracking projects are being sanctioned and constructed with electrification. Station 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. The master planning 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/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, 1,338 stations have been identified for development under this scheme, out of which 132 stations are located in Maharashtra. The names of stations identified for development under Amrit Bharat Station Scheme in Maharashtra are as following: Page 9 of 13 §State No. of Name of Stations Stations Maharashtra 132 Ahmednagar, Ajni (Nagpur), Akalkot Road, Akola, Akurdi, Amalner, Amgaon, Amravati, Andheri, Badnera, Balharshah, Bandra Terminus, Baramati, Belapur, Bhandara Road, Bhokar, Bhusawal, Borivali, Byculla, Chalisgaon, Chanda Fort, Chandrapur, Charni Road, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, Chinchpokli, Chinchwad, Dadar (CR), Dadar (WR), Dahisar, Daund, Dehu Road, Devlali, Dhamangaon, Dharangaon, Dharashiv, Dharmabad , Dhule, Diva, Dudhani, Gangakher , Godhani, Gondia, Grant Road, Hadapsar, Hatkanangale, Hazur Sahib Nanded, Himayatnagar, Hinganghat, Hingoli Deccan, Igatpuri, Jalgaon, Jalna, Jeur, Jogeshwari, Kalyan Jn, Kamptee, Kandivali, Kanjur Marg, Karad, Katol, Kedgaon, Kinwat, Kopargaon, Kurduwadi Jn, Kurla Jn, Lasalgaon, Latur, Lokmanya Tilak Terminus, Lonand Jn, Lonavla, Lower Parel, Malad, Malkapur, Manmad Jn, Manwath Road, Marine Lines, Matunga, Miraj Jn, Mudkhed Jn, Mumbai Central, Mumbra, Murtizapur Jn, Nagarsol, Nagpur Jn, Nandgaon, Nandura, Nandurbar, Narkher Jn, Nashik Road, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Itwari Junction, Pachora Jn, Palghar, Pandharpur, Panvel Jn, Parbhani Jn, Parel, Parli Vaijnath, Partur , Phaltan, Prabhadevi, Pulgaon Jn, Pune Jn, Purna Jn, Raver, Rotegaon, Sainagar Shirdi, Sandhurst Road, Sangli, Satara, Savda, Selu, Sewagram, Shahad, Shegaon, Shivaji Nagar Pune, Shri Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj Terminus Kolhapur, Solapur, Talegaon, Thakurli, Thane, Titvala, Tumsar Road, Umri, Uruli, Vadala Road, Vidyavihar, Vikhroli, Wadsa, Wardha, Washim, Wathar Development works at railway stations under Amrit Bharat Station Scheme in Maharashtra have been taken up at a good pace. Till now, works of 17 stations have been completed. The name of stations completed in Maharashtra are as following: No. of State Name of stations stations Maharashtra 17 Amgaon, Baramati, Chanda Fort, Chinchpokli, Devlali, Dhule, Kedgaon, Page 10 of 13 §Lasalgaon, Lonand Jn, Matunga, Murtizapur Jn, Nandura, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Itwari Junction, Parel, Savda, Shahad, Vadala Road 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:  Palghar station: The works of new platform shelter at platform no. 2/3, platform surfacing, new coping blocks and tactile tile work at platform no. 4 have been completed. The works of utility shifting and 12 m Foot Over Bridge have been taken up.  Diva station: The works of improvement of station building, circulating area and parking on East side, new entry gate, platform raising and flooring of platform no. 5/6 and 7/8, platform shelter at platform no. 7/8, new toilet block, sewage treatment plant on West side, improvement of Foot Over Bridge at Kalyan end and Mumbai end have been completed. The work of new 6 m Foot Over Bridge has been taken up.  Mumbra station: The works for improvement of platform surface, seating arrangement, new toilet block, improvement of booking office, circulating area, sewage treatment plant and flooring of Foot Over Bridge have been completed. The work of escalator has been taken up.  Titwala station: The works for station building, entrance gate, platform surfacing, improvement of ticket booking office, toilet block, sewage treatment plant, improvement of two wheeler parking and approach road on East and West side have been completed. The work of new 6 m Foot Over Bridge has been taken up.  Hingoli Deccan station: The works of platform shelter and improvement of platform surface of platform no. 2 have been completed. The works of new station building, improvement of existing station building, platform surface of platform no. 1, lift and 12 m Foot Over Bridge 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. 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 Page 11 of 13 §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. 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. Maharashtra is covered under the jurisdiction of four railway zones, namely, Central Railway, South Central Railway, South East Central Railway and Western Railway. For these zones, an allocation of ₹ 3,834 crore (Revised Estimate) has been made for the financial year 2025-26, out of which an expenditure of ₹ 3,886 crore (up to February, 2026) has been incurred so far. 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. Page 12 of 13 §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.  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. ***** Page 13 of 13 §