Parliament Question: DPR for Third Railway Line in Kerala

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 5389 TO BE ANSWERED ON 25.03.2026 DPR FOR THIRD RAILWAY LINE IN KERALA 5389. SHRI M K RAGHAVAN: Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state: (a) whether the Government has completed the feasibility study and Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the third line projects in Kerala and if so, the details thereof; (b) whether the Government has set timeline for completion of the third railway line projects in Kerala and if so, the expected date of completion; and (c) whether the Government has planned to implement automatic signalling system in the Shoranur–Mangalore section of Southern Railway and if so, the details thereof? ANSWER MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, INFORMATION & BROADCASTING AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW) (a) to (c): To strengthen the railway network in Keralam, the following surveys have been sanctioned for preparation of Detailed Project Report (DPR): S.N Project Status 1 Shoranur - Coimbatore 3rd & 4th Line Survey sanctioned for (99 Km) preparation of DPR 2 Shoranur - Ernakulam 3rd Line S u r v e y sanctioned for (107 Km) preparation of DPR 3 Mangaluru - Shoranur 3rd and 4th line Survey sanctioned for (307 km) preparation of DPR § Page 1 of 74 Ernakulam - Kayankulam 3rd line (via Survey sanctioned for Kottayam) (115 Km) preparation of DPR 5 Thiruvananthapuram - Nagercoil 3rd Survey sanctioned for Line (71 Km) preparation of DPR 6 Kayankulam - Thiruvananthapuram 3rd Survey sanctioned for Line (105 Km) preparation of DPR 7 Mararikulam - Alappuzha doubling D P R p r e p ared (12 Km) Capacity enhancement works such as Automatic Signalling or multitracking works are taken up based on several factors such as topography of the area, operational requirements, anticipated traffic etc. Therefore to increase capacity of Shoranur–Mangaluru which is already a double line section, Final Location Survey for 3rd and 4th line (307 km) has been sanctioned for preparation of Detailed Project Report (DPR) as detailed above. After firming up of Detailed Project Report (DPR), sanctioning of project requires consultation with various stake-holders including State Governments and necessary approvals viz. appraisal of NITI Aayog, Ministry of Finance etc. As sanctioning of projects is a continuous and dynamic process, exact timelines cannot be fixed. Keralam :- Keralam Railway Budget:- Budget allocation in the recent years has increased significantly. Budget allocation for infrastructure projects and safety works, falling fully/partly in the State of Keralam is as under:- Period Outlay 2009-14 ₹ 372 crore/year 2025-26 ₹3,042 crore (more than 8 times) Page 2 of 7Projects sanctioned:- As on 01.04.2025, 06 projects (02 new line and 04 doubling) of 266 km length, costing ₹9,415 crore falling fully/partly in Keralam are sanctioned. The summary is as under:- Category No. of Total Length Balance to Expenditure projects Length Commissioned complete upto March 2025 (₹in Crore) 146 309 New line 02 0 km 146 km km Doubling 120 2,941 04 26 km 94 km /multitracking km 266 3,250 Total 06 26 km 240 km km Zonal Railway wise details of Railway projects are made available in public domain on Indian Railway’s website. Recently Completed Projects:- Details of some of the recently completed projects falling fully/partly in Keralam are as under : S. Cost Project N (₹ in Crores) 1 Dindigul - Pollachi - Palghat & Pollachi - Coimbatore 1,360 gauge conversion (217 km) 2 Quilon-Tirunelveli-Tiruchendur gauge conversion 1,122 (357 km) 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 3 of 7Ongoing Projects:- Some of the projects falling fully/partly in Keralam which have been taken up are as under: Cost S No. Project (₹ in Crores) 1 Tirunnavaya –Guruvayur new line (35 Km) 138 2 Angamali-Sabarimala new line (111 km) 3,801 3 Ernakulam-Kumbalam doubling (8 km) 595 4 Kumbalam - Thuravur Patch doubling 8 0 3 (16 km) 5 Trivandrum- Kanyakumari doubling (87 km) 3,786 6 Shoranur - Vallathol doubling (10 km) 367 7 Palakkad Town to Parli Bypass Line 1 6 4 (2 Km) 8 Alappuzha-Ambalapuzha doubling (13 Km) 324 9 Turavur – Mararikulam doubling (21 Km) 451 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 476 ha Land Acquired 65 ha (14%) Balance Land to be acquired 411 ha (86%) Railway had deposited ₹1,975 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:- SN 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 (111 416 24 392 km) Page 4 of 72. 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. 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. Page 5 of 7All these factors affect the completion time and cost of the project/s. ROBs/ RUBs:- Sanctioning of works of Road over Bridge (ROB)/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 its 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 Jan’26) is as under: Period ROBs/ RUBs constructed 2004-14 4,148 Nos. 2014 - 25 (Upto 14,024 Nos. (including 121 Nos. in the Jan’26) State of Keralam) As on 01.02.2026, 4,802 Nos. ROBs/ RUBs are sanctioned at cost of ₹ 1,14,196 Cr on Indian Railways including 138 Nos. Road Over Bridge (ROB)/Road Under Bridge (RUB) are sanctioned at cost of ₹ 4,835 Cr in Keralam which are at various stages of planning and execution. 106 Nos. ROBs/RUBs are delayed on account of the State Govt. The details are as under: S.No. Reason ROBs/RUBs (in No.) 1. Delay in Land Acquisition by State Govt. 38 2. Finalization of Alignment by State Govt. 63 3. Law & order/ Public Protest/Court cases etc. 2 4. Agency yet to be fixed 3 Page 6 of 7Completion of any ROB/RUB work depends on various factors like, 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, number of working months in a year for particular project / work sites due to climatic conditions etc. All these factors affect the completion time of the projects / works. Further, Railways have taken following measures to expedite the progress of work: i. Joint survey with concerned State Govt./Road Owning Authority is done before finalizing the General Arrangement Drawing (GAD) to ensure smooth execution. ii. Periodic meetings of Railway & State Government officials are done to resolve various issues related to ROB/RUB works. iii. Standardization of superstructure drawings for various combinations of span, skewness and width of road on Railway portion has been done to avoid delays during the design approval. This has been issued in the form of compendium, which can be directly adopted for Road Over Bridge across Railway lines for expeditious planning. ***** Page 7 of 7