Parliament Question: Guest House/Rest House at Silchar Railway Station

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 887 TO BE ANSWERED ON 04.02.2026 GUEST HOUSE/REST HOUSE AT SILCHAR RAILWAY STATION †887. SHRI PARIMAL SUKLABAIDYA:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

(a) whether the Government is planning to construct a Guest House/Rest House at Silchar Railway Station for the convenience of passengers and if so, the details thereof;

(b) whether the Government is taking steps to ensure adequate availability of railway quarters for railway employees at Silchar and if so, the number of new railway quarters proposed to be constructed; and

(c) whether the Government is planning to convert Silchar local trains into DEMU rakes and if so, the current status of the said process and the time frame for its implementation? ANSWER MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, INFORMATION & BROADCASTING AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

(a) to (c): Development/upgradation 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.At Silchar railway station located in the state of Assam, three retiring rooms (double-bedded) and one dormitory (six-bedded) are existing for convenience of the passengers. In recent years, various works related to passenger amenities have been executed at Silchar station which include improvement of platform surfacing, waiting hall, platform shelters, circulating area, approach road, provision of lifts, etc.

Further, Silchar railway station has been identified for development under Amrit Bharat Station Scheme. This Scheme envisages development of stations on a continuous basis with a long-term approach. The scheme involves preparation of master plans and their implementation in phases to improve the stations. The master planning, keeping in view the necessity at each station 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.

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, 1337 stations have been identified for development under Amrit Bharat Station Scheme, out of which 50 stations are located in the state of Assam. The names of stations identified for development under Amrit

Bharat Station Scheme in the state of Assam are as following:

No. of State Names of Amrit Stations Amrit Stations Amguri, Arunachal, Chaparmukh, Dhemaji, Dhubri, Assam 50 Dibrugarh, Diphu, Duliajan, Fakiragram Jn., Gauripur, Gohpur, Golaghat, Gosai Gaon Halt, Guwahati, Haibargaon, Harmuti, Hojai, Jagiroad, Jorhat Town, Kamakhya, Kokrajhar, Lanka, Ledo, Lumding, Majbat, Makum Jn, Margherita, Mariani, Murkeongselek, Naharkatiya, Nalbari, Namrup, Narangi, New Bongaigaon, New Haflong, New Karimganj, New Tinsukia, North Lakhimpur, Pathsala, Rangapara North, Rangiya Jn, Sarupathar, Sibsagar Town, Silapathar, Silchar, Simaluguri, Tangla, Tinsukia, Udalguri, Viswanath CharialiPresently work of Haibargaon railway station has been completed.

Progress of some of the other stations is as under:

Majbat Station: The works of new station building block including porch, improvement works of circulating area, approach Road, toilet block, extension of platform, provision of executive lounge, installation of Coach Indication Board (CIB) and Train Indication Board (TIB), improvement of drainage have been completed. The work for provision of lift has been taken up.

Viswanath Chariali: The works of new station building block including porch, improvement works of circulating area, approach Road, toilet block, extension of platform, provision of platform shelter, installation works of Coach Indication Board (CIB) and Train Indication Board (TIB) have been completed. The work for provision of lift and divyangjan pathway has been taken up.

Dhubri Station: The works of new station building, platform shelter, provision of new high level platform (platform 2&3) including surfacing have been completed. The girder launching work of 12m wide foot over bridge, improvement of circulating area, toilet block, construction of portico and boundary wall have been taken up.

Master planning for development of Silchar station under Amrit Bharat Station Scheme has been taken up. This is an iterative process requiring optimization and the time frame for such optimization cannot be indicated at this stage.

At present, 175 Railway quarters are available at Silchar railway station, all of which are occupied by Railway Staff. Railway has identified therequirement of additional 100 Nos. staff quarters out of which action has been taken up for execution of work for construction of 22 new quarters in 1st phase.

Silchar is presently being served by following 30 train services:

SL Train No. & Name 1 12507/08 Trivandrum-Central–Silchar Express 2 12513/14 Secunderabad–Silchar Express 3 12515/16 Coimbatore–Silchar Express 4 13175/76 Sealdah - Silchar Kanchenjunga Express 5 14037/38 Silchar-New Delhi Poorvottar Sampark Kranti Express 6 15611/12 Rangiya–Silchar Express 7 15615/16 Guwahati–Silchar Express 8 15641/42 Silchar-New Tinsukia Barak Brahmaputra Express 9 15663/64 Agartala–Silchar Express 10 55661/62 Maishashan–Silchar Passenger 11 55665/66 Silchar–Vangaichungpao Passenger 12 55667/68 Silchar–Bhairabi Passenger 13 55677/78 Silchar–Dharmanagar Passenger 14 55685/86 Maishashan–Silchar Passenger 15 55687/88 Dullabcherra–Silchar Passenger However, conversion of Passenger trains into MEMU/DEMU services is an on-going process on Indian Railways, which is dependent on factors like operational feasibility, availability of MEMU/DEMU rakes, competing demands etc.

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