Parliament Question: Introduction of New Express/Superfast and Vande Bharat Trains

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1723 TO BE ANSWERED ON 30.07.2025 INTRODUCTION OF NEW EXPRESS/SUPERFAST AND VANDE BHARAT TRAINS †1723. SHRI UMMEDA RAM BENIWAL: Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state: (a) whether Barmer-Jaisalmer Lok Sabha Constituency is still lagging behind in terms of rail facilities due to which the passengers, tourists and soldiers face difficulties; (b) if so, whether any scheme is being implemented for laying tracks, gauge conversion, electrification, modernisation of station or introduction of new trains to connect the district of Barmer, Balotra, Jaisalmer and the other areas, if so, the details thereof; (c) whether the Government is contemplating to introduce new express/superfast or Vande Bharat trains in view of the long pending demands of additional long distance trains from Jaisalmer-Jodhpur, Barmer-Jodhpur to Jaipur, Delhi or South India; and (d) if so, the details of the said schemes, works and proposed, sanctioned Budget progress made so far and the time by which it is likely to be materialised? ANSWER MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, INFORMATION & BROADCASTING AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW) (a) to (d) Railway network straddles across State/District boundaries, accordingly trains are introduced, as per network requirement, across such boundaries. During 2021-2022 to 2025-2026 (till 25.07.2025), Indian Railways have introduced 04 train services for Barmer and 02 train services catering Jaisalmer station. Accordingly, at present, Barmer, Balotra and Jaisalmer stations are being served by 28 train services, 24 train services and 14 train services respectively, which are providing connectivity of Barmer and Jaisalmer to various destinations like Jaipur, Bikaner, Delhi, Jammu Tawi, Ambala, Kathgodam, Rishikesh, Jalandhar, Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Mumbai,Yesvantpur, Howrah, etc. Presently, 04 pairs and 03 Pairs of trains directly connect Barmer to Jaipur and Delhi respectively. Similarly, Jaisalmer is directly connected to Jaipur and Delhi by 02 pairs of train services each. Besides, introduction of new train services, including Vande Bharat train services is an ongoing process on Indian Railways subject to traffic justification, operational feasibility, resource availability, etc. Railway projects are surveyed/ sanctioned/executed Zonal Railway wise and not State-wise/UT wise/District wise as the Railway projects may span across State/UT/District boundaries. Railway projects are sanctioned on the basis of remunerativeness, traffic projections, last mile connectivity, missing links and alternate routes, augmentation of congested/saturated lines, demands raised by State Governments, Central Ministries, Members of Parliament, other public representatives, Railway’s own operational requirement, socio-economic considerations etc. depending upon throwforward of ongoing projects and overall availability of funds. As on 01.04.2025, 28 Railway projects (13 New Lines, 05 Gauge Conversion and 10 Doubling), of total length of 3,409 Km costing Rs 43,918 cr. falling fully/partly in the State of Rajasthan are at various stages of planning and implementation, out of which 1,238 Km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of Rs. 18,955 cr. has been incurred upto March 2025. The status of work is summarized as under:- Plan Head No. of Total Length Expenditure upto projects Length Commissioned March 2024 (Rs. in (in Km) (in Km) Cr) New Lines 13 981 196 5769 Gauge 5 1252 788 6829 Conversion Doubling/ 10 1176 254 6357 Multitracking Total 28 3,409 1,238 18,955 These 2 important projects falling fully/partly in the district of Barmer, Balotra and Jaisalmer have been sanctioned:S.No. Project Cost (in cr.) 1. New Line between Ramdevra-Pokhran via 189 Bhairav Gufa and Kailash Tekri (13 Km) 2. Doubling of Luni-Samdari-Bhildi section 3086 The Electrification works of the above projects are also in progress. Survey of total 55 projects (23 new line and 32 doubling) of total length 5,497 Km falling fully/partly in the State of Rajasthan including districts of Barmer, Balotra and Jaisalmer have been sanctioned during last three years (2022-23, 2023-24, 2024-25 and current Financial Year 2025-26). The sanctioning of the 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 project is a continuous and dynamic process, exact timelines cannot be fixed. Completion of Railway project/s depends on various factors like quick land acquisition by State Government, forest clearance by officials of forest department, shifting of infringing utilities, statutory clearances from various authorities, geological and topographical conditions of area, law and order situation in the area of project/s 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. 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. The priority for development / redevelopment / upgradation / modernisation of stations is accorded to higher category of station over lower category of station while sanctioning and executing the works. Ministry of Railways has launched Amrit Bharat Station Scheme for 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 amenities at the stations like improvement of station access, circulating areas, waiting halls, toilets, lift/escalators asnecessary, platform surfacing and cover over platform, cleanliness, free Wi-Fi, kiosks for local products through schemes like ‘One Station One Product’, better passenger information systems, executive lounges, nominated spaces for business meetings, landscaping, etc. keeping in view the necessity at each station. The scheme also envisages improvement of building, integrating the station with both sides of the city, multimodal integration, amenities for Divyangjans, 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 railway stations including 85 stations in the state of Rajasthan have been identified for development under Amrit Bharat Station Scheme. The names of stations identified for development under this scheme in the state of Rajasthan are as following: State No. of Names of stations Stations Rajasthan 85 Abu Road, Ajmer, Alwar, Anupgarh, AsalpurJobner, Balotra, Bandikui, Baran, Barmer, Bayana, Beawar, Bharatpur, Bhawani Mandi, Bhilwara, Bijainagar, Bikaner, Bundi, Chanderiya, Chhabra Gugor, Chittorgarh Jn., Churu, Dakaniya Talav, Dausa, Deeg, Degana, Deshnoke, Dholpur, Didwana, Dungarpur, Falna, Fatehnagar, Fatehpur Shekhawati, Gandhinagar Jaipur, Gangapur City, Gogameri, Gotan, Govind Garh, Hanumangarh, Hindaun City, Jaipur Jn, Jaisalmer, Jalor, Jawai Bandh, Jhalawar City, Jhunjhunu, Jodhpur, Kapasan, Khairthal, Kherli, Kota Jn, Lalgarh Jn, Mandal Garh, Mandawar Mahwa Road, Marwar Bhinmal, Marwar Jn, Mavli Jn, Merta Road Jn, Nagaur, Naraina, Nim ka Thana, Nokha, Pali Marwar, Phalodi Jn, Phulera Jn, Pindwara, Rai singhnagar, Rajgarh, Ramdevra, Ramganj Mandi Jn, Ranapratapnagar, Rani, Ratangarh Jn, Ren, Ringas, Sadulpur, Sanganer, Sawai Madhopur,Shri Mahaveerji, Sikar, Sojat Road, Somesar, Sri ganganagar, Sujangarh, Suratgarh, Udaipur City Development works at railway stations under Amrit Bharat Station Scheme in the state of Rajasthan have been taken up at a good pace. Till now, phase – I works of 08 stations (Bundi, Deshnoke, Fatehpur Shekhawati, Gogameri, Govind Garh, Mandal Garh, Mandawar Mahwa Road and Rajgarh) in the state of Rajasthan have been completed under this scheme. The works at other stations have also been taken up at good pace and progress of some of the above stations is as given below: ● At Barmer station, the structural work of station building, waiting hall, toilet blocks, platform raising, platform shelter and circulating area have been completed. The finishing works of station building, improvement of platform no. 1, construction of new Foot Over Bridge and lift have been taken up. ● At Jaisalmer station, the works of station building including departure and arrival block, air concourse, Foot Over Bridges, platform shelter, improvement to platform surfacing, sub station building and sewage treatment plant have been completed. The works of development of circulating area, lift and escalator have been taken up. ● At Balotra station, the structural work of station building, waiting hall, toilet blocks, platform raising and platform shelter have been completed. The works of improvement to circulating area, construction of new Foot Over Bridge and lift have been taken up. Development / Upgradation / Modernization of stations including under Amrit Bharat Station Scheme is generally funded under Plan Head-53 ‘Customer Amenities’. The details of allocation of funds for development and maintenance of stations are maintained Zonal Railway-wise and not work-wise or station-wise or state-wise. The state of Rajasthan is covered under 05 (five) Railway zones, namely Northern Railway, North Central Railway, North Western Railway, Western Railway and West Central Railway. For these zones, allocation of ₹ 5,257 crore has been made forthe financial year 2025-26 under Plan Head-53 and expenditure (up to June, 2025) of ₹ 1,024 crore has been incurred so far. Development / Upgradation of railway 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. Therefore, no time frame can be indicated at this stage. *****