Parliament Question: New coaching terminal at Nemom

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2509 ANSWERED ON 13.03.2026 NEW COACHING TERMINAL AT NEMOM 2509 DR. JOHN BRITTAS: Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state: (a) whether there were any changes in the earlier Detailed Project Report (DPR) submitted to Railway Board for sanction on 02.11.2021 vis-à-vis the final DPR submitted by Southern Railway in 2022- 23 and sanctioned in April 2023, for new coaching terminal in Nemom; (b) whether the initial DPR proposed five pit lines and ten stabling lines, whereas the approved DPR provides only two pit lines and three stabling lines; (c) if so, the reasons therefor; and (d) details of the works dropped or scaled-down in the approved final DPR vis-à-vis the earlier DPR submitted to Railway Board for sanction on 02.11.2021? ANSWER MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, INFORMATION & BROADCASTING AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW) (a) to (d): There was no change in the Detailed Project Report (DPR) submitted by zonal railway vis-a- vis the work sanctioned by Railway Board. The project has been sanctioned in April 2023 at a cost of ₹116.57 crore, in accordance with DPR submitted by Southern Railway in November, 2019. It includes construction of 2 pit lines, 4 stabling lines, 4 platforms, service building & approach road. The earth work has been completed, track work and building work has been taken up. Kerala:- Railway Budget: Budget allocation in the recent years has increased significantly. Budget allocation for infrastructure projects and safety works, falling fully/partly in the State of Kerala including Angamali – Sabarimala project is as under:- ...2/- §-2- Period Outlay 2009-14 ₹ 372 crore/year 2025-26 ₹3,042 crore (more than 8 times) Project Sanctioned: As on 01.04.2025, 06 projects (02 new line and 04 doubling) of 266 km length, costing ₹9,415 crore falling fully/partly in Kerala are sanctioned. The summary is as under:- Category No. of Total Length Balance to Expenditure projects Length Commissioned complete upto March 2025 (₹in Crore) New line 02 146 km 0 km 146 km 309 Doubling 2,941 04 120 km 26 km 94 km /multitracking Total 06 266 km 26 km 240 km 3,250 Zonal Railway wise details of Railway projects are made available in public domain on Indian Railway’s website. Recently completed projects: Details of some of the recently completed projects falling fully/partly in Kerala are as under : Cost S.N Project (₹ in Crores) 1 Dindigul – Pollachi - Palghat & Pollachi - Coimbatore gauge conversion 1,360 (217 km) 2 Quilon-Tirunelveli-Tiruchendur gauge conversion (357 km) 1,122 3 Mulanturutti-Kuruppantara doubling (24 km) 303 4 Chenganur-Chingavanam doubling (27 km) 436 5 Ambalapuzha-Haripad doubling (18 km) 346 6 Kurruppanthara-Chingavanam doubling (27 km) 749 Ongoing projects: Some of the projects falling fully/partly in Kerala which have been taken up are as under: Cost S No. Project (₹ in Crores) 1 Tirunnavaya –Guruvayur new line (35 Km) 138 2 Angamali-Sabarimala new line (111 km) 3,801 ...3/- §-3- 3 Ernakulam-Kumbalam doubling (8 km) 595 4 Kumbalam - Thuravur Patch doubling (16 km) 803 5 Trivandrum- Kanyakumari doubling (87 km) 3,786 6 Shoranur - Vallathol doubling (10 km) 367 7 Palakkad Town to Parli Bypass Line (2 Km) 164 8 Alappuzha-Ambalapuzha doubling (13 Km) 324 9 Turavur – Mararikulam doubling (21 Km) 451 Execution of important infrastructure projects falling fully/partly in the State of Kerala are held up due to delay in land acquisition. Status of land acquisition in the State of Kerala is as under: Total Land required for Projects in Kerala 476 ha Land Acquired 65 ha (14%) Balance Land to be acquired 411 ha (86%) Railway had deposited ₹1,975 crore for land acquisition to Government of Kerala. Support of the Government of Kerala is needed to expedite the land acquisition. For instance, details of some major projects which are delayed due to land acquisition are as under:- SN Name of the project Total land Land acquired Balance required (in Ha) Land to be (in Ha) acquired (in Ha) 1. Angamali - Sabarimala new line (111 km) 416 24 392 2. Ernakulam – Kumbalam Patch doubling (8 km) 4 3 1 3. Kumbalam – Turavur Patch doubling (16 km) 10 9 1 4. Shoranur - Vallathol doubling (10 km) 5 0 5 Road Over Bridges (ROBs)/Road Under Bridges (RUBs): As on 01.02.2026, 138 Road Over Bridges/Road Under Bridges (ROBs/RUBs) across railways tracks have been sanctioned at a cost of ₹ 4,835 crore in the State of Kerala which are at various stages of planning and execution. A total of 106 Nos. ROBs/RUBs are delayed on account of the State Govt. The details are as under: S.No. Reason ROBs/RUBs (in No.) 1. Delay in Land Acquisition by State Govt. 38 ...4/- §-4- 2. Finalization of Alignment by State Govt. 63 3. Law & order/ Public Protest/Court cases 2 etc. 4. Agency yet to be fixed 3 Completion & commissioning of ROBs/RUBs works depends on various factors like cooperation of State Governments in giving consent for closure of LC, fixing of approach alignment, approval of General Arrangement Drawing (GAD), land acquisition, removal of encroachment, shifting of infringing utilities, statutory clearances from various authorities, law and order situation in the area of project / work sites, duration of working season in a year for the particular project / area due to climatic conditions etc. All these factors affect the completion time of the projects / works. Railways have taken following measures to expedite the progress of ROB/RUB works: (i) Joint survey with concerned State Govt./Road Owning Authority is done before finalizing the General Arrangement Drawing (GAD) to ensure smooth execution. (ii) Periodic meetings of Railway & State Government officials are done to resolve various issues related to ROB/RUB works. (iii) Standardization of superstructure drawings for various combinations of span, skewness and width of road on Railway portion has been done to avoid delays during the design approval. This has been issued in the form of compendium, which can be directly adopted for Road Over Bridge across Railway lines for expeditious planning. Government of India is geared up to execute projects, however success depends upon the support of Government of Kerala. 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 ...5/- §-5-  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. ***** §