Parliament Question: Electrification/Broad Gauge Lines in Punjab

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2845 TO BE ANSWERED ON 17.12.2025 ELECTRIFICATION/BROAD GAUGE LINES IN PUNJAB †2845. SHRI SUKHJINDER SINGH RANDHAWA:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

(a) the details of the number of such railway lines in Punjab which have not been converted into broad gauge lines/electrified till date;

(b) the details of steps being taken by the Government to connect these lines into broad gauge lines; and

(c) the details of the steps being taken/proposed to be taken by the Government to strengthen railway services in Punjab especially in border areas? ANSWER MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, INFORMATION & BROADCASTING AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

(a) to (c): Railway projects are surveyed/ sanctioned/executed Zonal Railway wise and not State-wise as the Railways’ projects may span across State boundaries.

There is only one narrow gauge rail line falling fully/partly in the state of Punjab i.e. Pathankot to Joginder Nagar (200 km). The survey for gauge conversion of this line has been sanctioned and survey work has been taken up for preparation of Detailed Project Report.

--2/--2- After preparation 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 depend upon appraisals and approvals by various stakeholders.

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  Demands raised by State Governments/Central Ministries/Public representatives,  Railway’s own operational requirements  Socio-economic considerations  Overall availability of funds Electrification of railway network on Indian Railways has been taken up in mission mode. So far, about 99.2% 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 --3/--3- In Punjab, entire existing BG network has been electrified. Further, all new line / multitracking projects are being sanctioned and constructed with electrification.

Punjab Budget allocation for Infrastructure projects and safety works, falling fully/partly in the State of Punjab is as under:

Period Outlay 2009-14 ₹225 crore/year 2025-26 ₹ 5,421 Cr. (More than 24 times) As on 01.04.2025, 09 projects (04 new line and 05 doubling) of total length 714 Km, costing Rs.21,926 crore, falling fully/partly in the State of Punjab are in different stages of planning/sanctioning/execution, out of which 115 Km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of Rs.8,079 crore has been incurred upto March’ 2025. The summary is as

under:- Category No. of Total Length Expenditure upto projects Length Commissio March 2025 ned (Rs.in Crore) New line 04 252 Km 64 Km 7359 Doubling 05 462 Km 51 Km 720 /multitracking Total 09 714 Km 115 Km 8,079 Details of some of the recently completed projects falling fully/partly in

the State of Punjab are as under:

S. Cost Project No. (Rs. in Cr.) 1 Chakki Bank-Bharoli Doubling (3 Km) 15 --4/--5- 2 Jakhal- Mansa Doubling (45 Km) 163 Mirthal-Bhangala Beas River Doubling (2.5 74 3 Km) 4 Ambala-Dhapper-chandigarh Doubling (45 Km) 339 5 Mansa – Bhatinda Doubling (49 Km) 216 6 Amritsar - Chheharta Doubling (7 Km) 31 Jallandhar-Pathankot-Jammu Tawi Doubling 850 7 (209 km) Kathua-Madhopur Punjab - doubling including 257 8 Bridge on Ravi (2.5 Km) 9 Rajpura-Bhatinda Doubling (173 Km) 2459 Some of the projects falling fully/partly in the State of Punjab which

have been taken up are as under:

SN. Project Cost (Rs. in Cr.) 1 Nangal Dam-Talwara - Mukerian New line (143 Km) 2018 2 Bhanupalli-Bilaspur-Beri New Line(63 Km) 6753 3 Qadian-Beas New Line(40 km) 842 4 Ferozpur-Patti New Line (26 Km) 300 5 Rama Mandi( Raman)-Maur Mandi(Maur) via 154 Talwandi Sabo ( 29 km) New Line 6 Ludhiana-Kila Raipur doubling (19 Km) 238 7 Ludhiana-Mullanpur doubling (21 Km) 235 8 Rajpura-Mohali New Line (18 km) 443 Government of India is geared up to execute projects, however success depends upon the support of Government of Punjab. For instance, --5/--5- details of some major projects which are delayed due to land

acquisition are as under: - SN Name of the project Total land Land Balance Land required acquired to be acquired (in Ha) (in Ha) (in Ha) 1 Firozpur-Patti new line 166 0 166 2 Alal-Himmatana Chord 20 0 20 line 3 Qadian-Beas New Line 151 0 151 4 Rama Mandi( Raman)- 85 0 85 Talwandi Sabo New Line Firozpur-Patti New line (26 km) situated fully in Punjab is an important project near the international border. Land for project was to be handed over free of cost for this project by State Govt. of Punjab. Total 166 Ha land is to be acquired in the districts of Firozpur and Tarn Taran. Award for entire land has been published in Mar’23. However, disbursement of award has not been done by state govt. considering delay in execution of this important border area project, Ministry of Railways has decided to take up Firozpur-Patti New line (26 km) through its own funding.

In last three years i.e. 2022-23, 2023-24, 2024-25 and current financial year 2025-26, 22 surveys (09 New Line, 12 Doubling and 01 Gauge Conversion) covering a total length of 2,101 Km have been taken up falling partly/fully in the State of Punjab.

Various steps taken by the Government for speedy approval and implementation of Railway projects include (i) setting up of Gati Shakti units (ii) prioritisation of projects (iii) substantial increase in allocation of funds on priority projects (iv) delegation of powers at field level (v) --6/--6- close monitoring of progress of project at various levels, and (vi) 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. This has led to substantial increase in rate of commissioning since 2014.

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 The railway stations located in Punjab near International Border are well connected. At present, Fazilka is served by 28 train services.

Similarly, Firozpur Cantt. is served by 76 train services including 02 Vande Bharat Express services while Amritsar is served by 132 train services including 04 Vande Bharat Express services.

Besides, introduction of new train services is an on-going process on Indian Railways which depends on various factors including - • 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 *****