Parliament Question: Development of Kollam Railway Station

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 635 TO BE ANSWERED ON 22.07.2026 DEVELOPMENT OF KOLLAM RAILWAY STATION 635. SHRI N K PREMACHANDRAN: Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state: (a) whether the Government proposes to complete the railway development works in a time-bound manner and if so, the details thereof; (b) the present status of development work of Kollam Railway Station and the percentage of works completed, physical progress, financial progress and proposed date of completion; (c) whether the Government initiated action to complete the development of Railway Over Bridge (ROB) works in Kollam Lok Sabha Constituency and if so, the details thereof; (d) whether the Government initiated action to construct the ROB at Kundara Pallimukku in a time-bound manner and if so, the details thereof; and (e) whether the Government initiated timely action to give permission to construct a ROB at Valacode considering the black spot if so, the details of action taken thereon? ANSWER MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, INFORMATION & BROADCASTING AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW) (a) to (e): Keralam: Railway Budget:- Budget allocation in the recent years has increased significantly. Budget allocation for infrastructure projects and safety works, falling § Page 1 of 9fully/partly in the State of Keralam is as under:- Period Outlay 2009-14 ₹ 372 crore/year 2026-27 ₹3,795 crore (more than 10 times) Projects Sanctioned:- As on 01.04.2026, 09 projects (03 new line and 06 doubling) of 302 km length, costing ₹11,650 crore falling fully/partly in Keralam are sanctioned. The summary is as under:- Category No. of Total Length Total Exp. projects Length Commissioned upto upto March, (in Km) March, 2026 2026 (in Km) (₹ in Cr.) New line 03 148 0 317 Doubling 06 154 40 3,550 /multitracking Total 09 302 40 3,867 Recently Completed Projects:- Details of some of the recently completed projects falling fully/partly in the State of Keralam are as under: S.N Project Cost (₹ in Crores) 1 Dindigul - Palghat & Pollachi - Coimbatore gauge 1,360 conversion (217 km) 2 Quilon- 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 Page 2 of 9Ongoing Projects:- Some of the projects falling fully/partly in the State of Keralam which have been taken up are as under: S No. Project Cost (₹ in Crores) 1 Tirunnavaya –Guruvayur new line (35 km) 144 2 Angamali-Sabarimala new line (111 km) 3,801 3 Ernakulam-Kumbalam doubling (8 km) 808 4 Kumbalam - Thuravur Patch doubling (16 km) 1,172 5 Trivandrum- Kanyakumari doubling (87 km) 4,494 6 Alappuzha-Ambalapuzha doubling (13 km) 324 7 Turavur - Mararikulam doubling (21 km) 451 8 Mararikulam-Alappuzha doubling (11 km) 221 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 618 ha Land Acquired 78 ha (13%) Balance Land to be acquired 540 ha (87%) Railway had deposited ₹1,976 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:- Page 3 of 9SN Name of the project Total Land Balance land acquired Land to required (in Ha) be (in Ha) acquired (in Ha) 1. Angamali - Sabarimala new line (111 304 25 279 km) 2. Ernakulam – Kumbalam Patch 4 3 1 doubling (8 km) 3. Kumbalam – Turavur Patch doubling 10 9 1 (16 km) 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. Station Redevelopment:- Ministry of Railways has identified Kollam Railway Station for redevelopment under Amrit Bharat Station Scheme. The works at Kollam station has been taken up at good pace. At Kollam station, the works of service building, multi level car parking and parcel building have been completed. The works of 12 m wide foot over bridge, air concourse, north terminal building, south terminal building and platform upgradation have been taken up. Amrit Bharat Station Scheme envisages development of stations on a continuous basis with a long-term approach. It 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 Page 4 of 9 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/ 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, 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, 1340 stations have been identified for development under Amrit Bharat Station Scheme, out of which 35 stations including Kollam are located in Keralam. The names of stations identified for development under Amrit Bharat Station Scheme in Keralam are as following: State No.of Names of Stations Stations Alappuzha , Angadippuram, Angamali For Kaladi, Keralam 35 Chalakudi, Changanassery, Chengannur, Chirayinkeezh, Ernakulam, Ernakulam Town, Ettumanur, Ferok, Guruvayur ,Kannur, Kasargod, Page 5 of 9Kayankulam Jn, Kollam Jn, Kozhikode, Kuttippuram, Mavelikara, Neyyattinkara , Nilambur Road, Ottappalam, Parappanangadi, Payyanur, Punalur, Shoranur Jn., Thalassery, Thiruvananthapuram Central, Thrisur, Tirur, Tiruvalla, Tripunithura, Vadakara, Varkala Shivagiri, Wadakancheri Completed Stations: Development works at railway stations under Amrit Bharat Station Scheme in Keralam have been taken up at a good pace. The detail of stations where development works are completed in Keralam is as given below: State No. of Name of Stations Stations Keralam 16 Angamaly for Kaladi, Chalakudi, Changanassery, Chirayinkeezh, Ferok, Guruvayur, Kuttippuram, Mavelikara, Nilambur Road, Parappanangadi, Shoranur Jn., Thalassery, Tirur, Tripunithura, Vadakara, Wadakancheri 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 6 of 9Development / upgradation / modernisation of stations including under 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 station-wise or state- wise. Kollam railway station falls under the jurisdiction of Southern Railway. For this zone, an allocation of ₹ 665 crore has been made for the financial year 2026-27, out of which an expenditure of ₹ 398 crore (upto June, 2026) has been incurred so far. Development / Upgradation of 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. 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 Page 7 of 9 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 (ROD)/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 their 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 2004- 14 vis-a-vis 2014-26 (Upto May'26) is as under: Period ROBS/RUBs constructed 2004-14 4,148 Nos. 2014-26 (Upto May'26) 14,451 Nos. (131 Nos. in the State of Keralam) Page 8 of 9As on 01.06.2026, 4,993 Nos. ROBS/ RUBs works are sanctioned at a cost of approx. ₹1,17,492 Cr. on Indian Railways including 145 Nos. ROBs/ RUBs works at a cost of approx. ₹24,786 Cr. in the state of Keralam which are at various stages of planning and execution. In Kollam Lok Sabha Constituency, 11 Nos. ROBs/ RUBs works are ongoing at a cost of approx. ₹390 Cr in which are at various stages of planning and execution. The construction of ROB at Kundara Pallimukku is in lieu of LC No.526 at Km.748/1-2 in between Ezhukone-Kundara stations in Kollam-Sengottai Section of Madurai Division was sanctioned at cost ₹37.24 Cr. on cost sharing basis. The General Arrangement Drawing (GAD) has been approved by Railways and land acquisition has been taken up. The work for widening of the existing ROB No. 2134 at Valacode at Km 714/900-715/100 in between Edamon-Punalur section is being taken up by NHAI. The General Arrangement Drawing (GAD) has been taken up. Completion & commissioning of ROB/RUB works depends on various factors like cooperation of State Governments in giving consent for closure of LC, 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, duration of working season in a year for the particular project / area due to climatic conditions etc. All these factors affect the completion time of the projects / works. ***** Page 9 of 9