Parliament Question: Lack of FOBs at Railway Stations under East Central Railway

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 271 TO BE ANSWERED ON 11.03.2026 LACK OF FOBS AT RAILWAY STATIONS UNDER EAST CENTRAL RAILWAY †*271. SHRI SUDHAKAR SINGH: Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state: (a) whether passengers are reportedly facing serious difficulties and risk of accidents while crossing the platforms at Dumraon railway station under Danapur division and Karmanasha and Mahmudganj railway stations under Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhayaya Division of East Central Railway in absence of Foot Over Bridges there and if so, the details thereof; (b) whether the arrangement of safe pedestrian crossing facilities is extremely necessary considering the large daily footfall of rural passengers, women, elderly people and students at the said railway stations and if so, the details thereof; (c) whether any survey has been conducted/proposal received and approval accorded for the construction of Foot Over Bridges at the said three stations; (d) if so, the present status of the said proposals and the time by which action is likely to be taken in this regard; and (e) if not, the reasons for not including the said stations in the priority list for the construction of FOBs? ANSWER MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, INFORMATION & BROADCASTING AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW) (a) to (e): A Statement is laid on the Table of the House. ***** §STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (e) OF STARRED QUESTION NO. 271 TO BE ANSWERED ON 11.03.2026 IN LOK SABHA (a) to (e) Foot Over Bridges (FOBs) are available at Dumraon, Karamnasa and Muhammad Ganj railway stations of East Central Railway. The details are as under: Station Details of FOB Dumraon One FOB is existing and construction of one additional FOB has been taken up. Karamnasa One FOB is existing and one additional FOB has been planned. Muhammad One FOB is existing and construction of one Ganj additional FOB has been taken up. Dumraon station of Danapur division, East Central Railway, located in Bihar and Muhammad Ganj station of Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhayay division, East Central Railway, located in Jharkhand have been identified for development under Amrit Bharat Station Scheme. Development works at Dumraon and Muhammad Ganj stations have been taken up at good pace. At Dumraon station, platform shelter, waiting hall, drinking water arrangement, urinal, lavatory, seating arrangement, Foot Over Bridge etc. amenities are available. The works of new station building, new platform, circulating area, parking and additional Foot Over Bridge have been taken up. Work has also been sanctioned for replacement of the existing Foot Over Bridge. At Muhammad Ganj station, high level platform, platform shelter, waiting hall, drinking water arrangement, urinal, lavatory, seating arrangement, Foot Over Bridge etc. amenities are available. The works completed at Muhammad Ganj station includes:  New station building Raising and extension of platform no. 1, 2/3 and 4/5  Circulating area and parking at main entry side Further, the works of canopy, platform shelter, platform surfacing, toilet block, entry gate and additional Foot Over Bridge have been taken up. At Karamnasa station of Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhayay division, East Central Railway, located in Bihar, high level platform, platform shelter, waiting hall, drinking water arrangement, urinal, lavatory, seating arrangement, Foot Over Bridge, Divyangjan toilet etc. are available. One additional Foot Over Bridge has also been planned. Further, development / redevelopment / upgradation / modernisation of stations on Indian Railways including provision of Foot Over Bridge 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. Development / redevelopment / upgradation / modernisation of a station is carried out based on category of station/condition/traffic handled etc. Ministry of Railways has launched Amrit Bharat Station Scheme for redevelopment of stations with a long-term approach. So far, 1337 stations have been identified for development under Amrit Bharat Station Scheme, out of which 98 stations including Dumraon station of Danapur division, East Central Railway, are located in Bihar and 57 stations including Muhammad Ganj station of Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhayay division, East Central Railway, are located in Jharkhand. The division-wise names of stations identified for development under Amrit Bharat Station Scheme in Bihar and Jharkhand are as following: State Division No. of Name of Stations Stations Bihar Asansol 1 Simultala Danapur 21 Ara, Bakhtiyarpur, Barahiya,State Division No. of Name of Stations Stations Barh, Bihar Sharif, Bihiya, Buxar, Chausa, Dumraon, Fatuha, Jamui, Jehanabad, Luckeesarai Jn, Mokama, Nawadah, Patliputra, Patna Jn, Raghunathpur., Rajendra Nagar Terminal (Patna), Rajgir, Taregna Dhanbad 1 Paharpur Katihar 7 Arariya Court, Barsoi Jn, Katihar Jn, Kishanganj, Labha, Salmari, Thakurganj Malda 9 Banka, Bhagalpur, Jamalpur Jn, Kahalgaon, Munger (Monghyr), Pirpainti, Sabaur, Shivanarayanpur, Sultanganj Pandit Deen 12 Anugraha Narayan Road, Dayal Bhabua Road, Bikramganj, Upadhyaya Dehri On Sone, Durgauti, Gaya, Guraru, Kudra, Nabinagar Road, Piro, Rafiganj, Sasaram Samastipur 25 Banmankhi, Bapudham Motihari, Bettiah, Chakia, Darbhanga, Dauram Madhepura, Dholi, Ghorasahan, Janakpur Road, Jaynagar, Jhanjharpur, Laheria Sarai, Madhubani, Motipur, Muzaffarpur Jn, NarkatiaganjState Division No. of Name of Stations Stations Jn, Raxaul, Sagauli, Saharsa, Sakri, Salauna, Samastipur, Simri Bakhtiyarpur, Sitamarhi, Supaul Sonpur 16 Barauni, Begusarai, Bhagwanpur, Dalsingh Sarai, Dighwara, Hajipur Jn, Karhagola Road, Khagaria Jn, Lakhminia, Maheshkhunt, Mansi Jn, Naugachia, Ram Dayalu Nagar, Sahibpur Kamal, Shahpur Patoree, Sonpur Jn. Varanasi 6 Chhapra, Ekma, Mairwa, Masrakh, Siwan, Thawe Jharkhand Adra 3 Bhaga, Bokaro Steel City, Chandil Asansol 10 Basukinath, Deoghar, Dumka, Giridih, Jamtara, Jasidih Jn, Kumardubi, Madhupur Jn, Sankarpur, Vidyasagar Chakradharpur 9 Barajamda Jn, Chaibasa, Chakradharpur, Dangoaposi, Gamharia, Manoharpur, Rajkharswan, Sini, Tatanagar Dhanbad 13 Barkakana, Chandrapura, Daltonganj, Dhanbad, Garhwa Road, Garhwa Town, Hazaribagh Road, Katrasgarh,State Division No. of Name of Stations Stations Koderma Jn, Latehar, N.S.C.B. Jn Gomoh, Nagar Untari, Parasnath Howrah 1 Pakur Kharagpur 1 Ghatsila Malda 3 Godda, Rajmahal, Sahibganj Pandit Deen 3 Haidar Nagar, Japla, Dayal Muhammad Ganj Upadhyaya Ranchi 14 Balsiring, Bano, Gangaghat, Govindpur Road, Hatia, Lohardaga, Muri Jn, Namkom, Orga, Piska, Ramgarh Cantt, Ranchi Jn, Silli, Tatisilwai Completed Stations: Development works at railway stations under Amrit Bharat Station Scheme in Bihar and Jharkhand have been taken up at a good pace and the works have been completed at following stations in Bihar and Jharkhand: Godda, Govindpur Road, Lohardaga, Madhupur Jn, Muri Jn, Pirpainti, Piska, Rajmahal, Sahibganj, Sankarpur and Thawe. The activities for development at other stations have also been taken up at good pace and progress of some of the stations is as given below: Bihar:  Chausa station: The structural work of new station building has been completed. The works of circulating area, parking, lift, 6 m Foot OverBridge, brick work and plastering of new station building have been taken up.  Durgauti station: The works of raising and extension of platform no. 1/2 & 3/4 and toilet block have been completed. The works of improvement of station building, platform shelter, platform surfacing, improvement of waiting hall, toilet block, circulating area, parking at main entry side, landscaping, entry gate, tactile pathway for Divyangjan and 3 m Foot Over Bridge have been taken up.  Raghunathpur station: The work of station building, circulating area, lift and 6 m Foot Over Bridge have been taken up.  Barsoi Junction station: The works of dismantling of old quarters and shifting of utilities have been completed. The works of station building, circulating area and 12 m Foot Over Bridge have been taken up.  Kishanganj station: The works of platform surfacing at platform no. 1&2, drinking water taps at platform no. 1&2, improvement of circulating area, parking at second entry, approach road and boundary wall have been completed. The works of horticulture and 12 m Foot Over Bridge have been taken up. Jharkhand:  Daltonganj station: The works of raising and surfacing of platform no. 1, 2 & 3 and toilet complex have been completed. The works of improvement of station building, porch, platform shelter, circulating area, 2-wheeler, 3-wheeler and 4-wheeler parking, approach road, boundary wall and 12 m Foot Over Bridge have been taken up.  Garhwa Road station: The works of raising and surfacing of platform no. 1, 2 & 3 have been completed. The works of improvement of stationbuilding, porch, platform shelter, toilet complex, 2-wheeler, 3 and 4- wheeler parking, approach road, boundary wall, entry/exit gate and 12 m Foot Over Bridge have been taken up.  Haidar Nagar station: The works of circulating area at main entry side and landscaping have been completed. The works of improvement of station building, platform shelter, platform surfacing, improvement of waiting hall, toilet block, parking at main entry side, tactile pathway for Divyangjan and 6 m Foot Over Bridge have been taken up.  Japla station: The works of new station building and landscaping have been completed. The works of improvement of existing station building, platform shelter, platform surfacing, improvement of waiting hall, toilet block, circulating area, parking at main entry side, entry gate and 6 m Foot Over Bridge have been taken up.  Nagar Untari station: The works of improvement of waiting hall, platform shelter, platform surfacing, parking, approach road and 12 m Foot Over Bridge have been taken up. Amrit Bharat Station Scheme involves preparation of master plans and their implementation in phases to improve the stations. The master planning 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. keeping in view the necessity at each station. 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. 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. Proposals / Requests / Suggestions / Representations, both formal and informal for Railway projects/ works across the country are received on the basis of demands raised by State Governments, Members of Parliament, Ministries of Central Government, elected representatives, Railways' own requirements, organizations / rail users etc., at various levels including Railway Board, Zonal Railways, Division Office etc. Receipt of such proposals / requests / suggestions / representations is a continuous and dynamic process and these are examined and action as found feasible and justified is taken from time to time.Development / Upgradation / Modernization of stations including Amrit Bharat Station Scheme is generally funded under Plan Head-53 ‘Customer Amenities’. The details of allocation and expenditure under Plan Head-53 are maintained Zonal Railway-wise and not work-wise or station-wise or state-wise. Bihar is covered under the jurisdiction of four railway zones, namely, Eastern Railway, East Central Railway, Northeast Frontier Railway and North Eastern Railway. For these zones, an allocation of ₹ 1,828 crore has been made for the financial year 2025-26, out of which an expenditure (up to January, 2026) of ₹ 1,584 crore has been incurred so far. Jharkhand is covered under the jurisdiction of three railway zones, namely, Eastern Railway, East Central Railway and South Eastern Railway. For these zones, an allocation of ₹ 1,469 crore has been made for the financial year 2025-26, out of which an expenditure (up to January, 2026) of ₹ 1,292 crore has been incurred so far. *****