Parliament Question: Extension of Chetak and Mewar Express

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 641 TO BE ANSWERED ON 03.12.2025 EXTENSION OF CHETAK AND MEWAR EXPRESS †641. SHRI RAJKUMAR ROAT: Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state: (a) whether it is a fact the Chetak and Mewar Express trains running between Udaipur and Delhi have a halt at Udaipur railway station for more than eight hours; (b) if so, whether the Government proposes to extend its service upto Dungarpur; (c) if so, the time by when it is likely to be done and if not, the reasons therefor; (d) whether the Banswara-Dungarpur Lok Sabha Constituency lacks direct train connectivity to Delhi, Mumbai and other major cities; (e) if so, the details of efforts of the Government to directly connect the Banswara- Dungarpur Lok Sabha Constituency with Delhi and Mumbai; (f) the time by when the Dungarpur-Ratlam via Banswara rail project approved in 2012 is expected to be completed and the details of work completed so far; and (g) the details of the timeframe for completion of the remaining work and the amount of compensation received by the people and the extent to which it remains unpaid? ANSWER MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, INFORMATION & BROADCASTING AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW) (a) to (g) Chetak Express 20473/20474 runs between Delhi Sarai Rohila and Udaipur and has a lie over of about nine hours at Udaipur. Mewar Express 12963/12964 runs between Hazarat Nizamuddin and Udaipur and it has a lie over of about eleven hours at Udaipur during which it undergoes primary maintenance.Occupancy of both Chetak & Mewar express is about 100% in both directions at present. Indian Railways (IR) constantly endeavour to optimise the utilisation of its assets by gainfully utilising the lie-over periods. The lie-over periods are utilised for undertaking maintenance (Primary and Secondary) and/or cleaning of coaches for ensuring safety of operation and cleanliness. The lie-over periods are also utilised for operation of special trains. Gauge conversion of Udaipur - Dungarpur-Himmat Nagar section has been recently completed. After gauge conversion, 5 pairs of trains connecting Dungarpur to important cities like Kota, Indore, Udaipur, Ahmedabad, Jaipur etc have been introduced. Introduction of new train services including extension of existing train services to enhance connectivity, is an ongoing process on IR subject to operational feasibility on any route/section. It depends on various factors which include- • 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 Strengthening of Rail connectivity of Dungapur-Banswara area Ratlam-Banswara-Dungarpur (188 Km) new line project was sanctioned at a cost of 2083 crore on 50:50 cost-sharing between Government of Rajasthan and the Ministry of Railways. Land for this project is to be provided by State Government of Rajasthan at their own cost. So far, 646 hectares land out of total required 1,736 hectares land has been acquired. Railway acquires land through concerned State/District Authorities. All the activities in connection with land acquisition like assessment of amount of compensation to land owners and disbursement of compensation etc. are under purview of the State Government.Compensation for land acquisition is made to the last owners by the Revenue Department of the State Government after demanding the same from Railways. The process is undertaken in coordination with State Governments, following the provisions of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and resettlement Act, 2013. To connect Banswara and surrounding area to Mumbai and Delhi, a survey for Nimach Banswara Dahod-Alirajpur-Nandurbar new line (380 Km) has also been sanctioned for preparation of Detailed Project Report (DPR) In addition, a survey of new line from Mandsor- Pratapgarh - Ghatol - Banswara (168 Km) has been sanctioned for preparation of the Detalled Project Report. The field survey work has been completed. To improve the connectivity of the Banswara - Ratlam region, following projects have been sanctioned recently:- Sl Project Length (in Km) Cost ( ₹ in Cr. ) 1. Ratlam-Nagda 3 rd and 4 th line 41 964 2. Ratlam-Vadodara 3 r d and 4 t h line 259 8387 Feasibility survey of doubling of Chanderiya (Chittaurgarh) - Dungarpur - Himmatnagar (326 Km) has also been sanctioned. Further, after preparation of DPR, sanctioning of the project requires consultation with various stakeholders 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 appraisal and approval by various stakeholders. 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. *****