Parliament Question: New rail projects and modernisation in Punjab

O.I.H GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1713 ANSWERED ON 13.02.2026 NEW RAIL PROJECTS AND MODERNISATION IN PUNJAB 1713# DR. SANDEEP KUMAR PATHAK:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

(a) the current status and progress of new railway lines, railway track doubling, complete electrification and station redevelopment projects in Punjab, the details thereof;

(b) key reasons for cost escalation and delays in timelines in these projects so far, and number of projects relating to Punjab that are running late according to their stipulated timelines, the details thereof, year-wise; and

(c) corrective and penal measures taken to ensure timely completion of these projects, along with monitoring mechanisms put in place by Government to ensure transparency, quality and accountability in execution of railway projects in Punjab, the details thereof? ANSWER MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, INFORMATION & BROADCASTING AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

(a) to (c): Budget allocation for Infrastructure projects and safety works, falling fully/partly in the

Punjab is as under:

Period Outlay 2009-14 ₹225 crore/year 2025-26 ₹ 5,421 Cr. (More than 24 times) As on 01.04.2025, 09 projects (04 new line and 05 doubling) of total length 714 Km, costing Rs.21,926 crore, falling fully/partly in the Punjab are in different stages of planning/sanctioning/execution, out of which 115 Km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of Rs.8,079 crore has been incurred upto March’ 2025. The summary is as under:- Category No. of Total Length Length Expenditure upto March projects Commissioned 2025 (Rs.in Crore) New line 04 252 Km 64 Km 7,359 §Doubling 05 462 Km 51 Km 720 /multitracking Total 09 714 Km 115 Km 8,079 Details of some of the recently completed projects falling fully/partly in the Punjab are as under:

Cost S. No. Project (Rs. in Cr.) 1 Chakki Bank-Bharoli Doubling (3 Km) 15 2 Jakhal- Mansa Doubling (45 Km) 163 3 Mirthal-Bhangala Beas River Doubling (2.5 Km) 74 4 Ambala-Dhapper-Chandigarh Doubling (45 Km) 339 5 Mansa – Bhatinda Doubling (49 Km) 216 6 Amritsar - Chheharta Doubling (7 Km) 31 7 Jallandhar-Pathankot-Jammu Tawi Doubling (209 km) 850 Kathua-Madhopur Punjab - doubling including Bridge on Ravi (2.5 257 8 Km) 9 Rajpura-Bhatinda Doubling (173 Km) 2,459 Some of the projects falling fully/partly in the Punjab which have been taken up are as under:

SN. Project Cost (Rs. in Cr.) 1 Nangal Dam-Talwara - Mukerian New line (123 Km) 2,018 2 Bhanupalli-Bilaspur-Beri New Line(63 Km) 6,753 3 Qadian-Beas New Line(40 km) 842 4 Ferozpur-Patti New Line (26 Km) 300 5 Rama Mandi( Raman)-Maur Mandi(Maur) via Talwandi Sabo ( 29 154 km) New Line 6 Ludhiana-Kila Raipur doubling (19 Km) 238 7 Ludhiana-Mullanpur doubling (21 Km) 235 §8 Rajpura-Mohali New Line (18 km) 443 9 Rajpura Bypass line (14 km) 412 Government of India is geared up to execute projects, however success depends upon the support of Government of Punjab. 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 Balance Land to be required acquired acquired (in Ha) (in Ha) (in Ha) 1 Firozpur-Patti new line 166 0 166 2 Alal-Himmatana Chord line 20 0 20 3 Qadian-Beas New Line 151 0 151 4 Rama Mandi( Raman)- Talwandi 85 0 85 Sabo New Line Firozpur-Patti New line (26 km) situated fully in Punjab is an important project near the international border. Land for project was to be handed over free of cost for this project by State Govt. of Punjab. Total 166 Ha land is to be acquired in the districts of Firozpur and Tarn Taran. Award for entire land has been published in Mar’23. However, disbursement of award has not been done by state govt. Considering delay in execution of this important border area project, Ministry of Railways has decided to take up Firozpur- Patti New line (26 km) through its own funding.

Qadian-Beas (39.6 Km) New Rail Line Project was sanctioned in 2011-12 at a cost of Rs. 205 crore.

However, the project could not be taken forward due to law and order issues. The project was then kept in abeyance. However, considering importance of this project, it has been decided to take up the work again.

Rajpura – Mohali new line project (18 Km) has been sanctioned recently at a cost of Rs. 443 crore. The process of land acquisition has been taken up. The project has been declared as special Railway Project.

Competent Authority for land Acquisition (CALA) has also been nominated in November 2025. This project will directly connect Southern Punjab (Bathinda area), between Sirhind – Gobindgarh and Rajpura area to Chandigarh avoiding Ambala.

§In last three years i.e. 2022-23, 2023-24, 2024-25 and current financial year 2025-26, 22 surveys (09 New Line, 12 Doubling and 01 Gauge Conversion) covering a total length of 2,101 Km have been taken up falling partly/fully in the Punjab.

Various steps taken by the Government for speedy approval and implementation of Railway projects include (i) setting up of Gati Shakti units (ii) prioritisation of projects (iii) substantial increase in allocation of funds on priority projects (iv) delegation of powers at field level (v) close monitoring of progress of project at various levels, and (vi) regular follow up with State Governments and concerned authorities for expeditious land acquisition, forestry and Wildlife clearances and for resolving other issues pertaining to projects. This has led to substantial increase in rate of commissioning since 2014.

Sanction of any railway project depend 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. §Railway Electrification Electrification of railway network on Indian Railways has been taken up in mission mode. So far, about

99.4% of Broad Gauge (BG) network has been electrified. The electrification in remaining network has been taken up. Electrification carried out during 2014-25 and before 2014 is as under:

Period Route Kilometer Before 2014 (about 60 years) 21,801 2014-25 46,900 In Punjab, entire existing BG network has been electrified. Further, all new line/multi-tracking projects are being sanction and constructed with electrification.

Station Redevelopment Ministry of Railways has launched Amrit Bharat Station Scheme for redevelopment of stations with a long-term approach.

The 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.

§So far, 1337 stations have been identified for development under Amrit Bharat Station Scheme, out of which 30 stations are located in Punjab. The name of stations identified for development under Amrit

Bharat Station Scheme in Punjab are as following:

State No. of Name of Stations Stations Abohar, Amritsar, Anandpur Sahib, Beas, Bhatinda Junction, Dhandari Kalan, Dhuri, Fazilka, Firozpur Cantt, Gurdaspur, Hoshiarpur, Jalandhar Cantt Junction, Jalandhar City Junction, Punjab 30 Kapurthala, Kot Kapura Junction, Ludhiana Junction, Malerkotla, Mansa, Moga, Muktsar, Nangal Dam, Pathankot Cantt., Pathankot Junction, Patiala, Phagwara Junction, Phillaur Junction, Rup Nagar, Sahibzada Ajit Singh Nagar Mohali, Sangrur, Sirhind Development works at railway stations under Amrit Bharat Station Scheme in Punjab have been taken up at a good pace. Till now, works of 03 stations (Anandpur Sahib, Muktsar, Sahibzada Ajit Singh Nagar Mohali) in Punjab have been completed under this scheme. 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:  Gurdaspur station:The works of improvement of station building, porch, platform shelter, waiting room, toilet, circulating area, parking and lighting on main entry have been completed.The works of entry/exist gate on main entry, new platform no. 2, booking cum waiting hall, circulating area, parking and entry/exist gate on second entry and 12 m Foot Over Bridge have been taken up.

 Fazilka station:The works of improvement of station building, porch, platform shelter, platform surfacing, toilet, circulating area, parking, entry/exit gates, signage and lighting on main entry have been completed. The work of 6 m Foot Over Bridge has been taken up.

 Phagwara station:The works of improvement of station building, porch, platform shelter, platform surfacing, waiting rooms, toilet, circulating area, parking, executive lounge, entry/exit gate, signage, lighting on main entry, new booking cum waiting hall, circulating area and approach road on second entry have been completed. The works of lift, escalator and 12 m Foot Over Bridge have been taken up.

 Phillaur station: The works of improvement of station building, porch, platform shelter, platform surfacing, toilet, circulating area, parking, entry/exit gates, signage and lighting have been completed.

The work of 12 m Foot Over Bridge have been taken up. § Kapurthala station: The works of improvement of station building, porch, platform shelter, platform surfacing, waiting room, toilet, circulating area, parking, entry/exit gates, signage, lighting on main entry side, new booking cum waiting hall, parking and circulating area on second entry have been completed. The work of 12 m Foot Over Bridge has been taken up.

Further, 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. Development / redevelopment / upgradation / modernisation of a station is carried out based on category of station/condition/traffic handled etc.

Upgradation / development / redevelopment of 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 brown field 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.

Development / Upgradation / Modernisation of stations including under 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. Punjab is covered under the jurisdiction of two railway zones, namely Northern Railway and North Western Railway. For these zones, an allocation of ₹ 2,390 crore has been made for the financial year 2025-26, out of which an expenditure of ₹ 1,950 crore (up to December, 2025) has been incurred so far.

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