Parliament Question: New Railway Line for Arakalagudu in Hassan District

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 651 TO BE ANSWERED ON 22.07.2026 NEW RAILWAY LINE FOR ARAKALAGUDU IN HASSAN DISTRICT 651. SHRI SHREYAS M PATEL: Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state: (a) whether the Government has received any proposal or representation for construction of a new railway line connecting Arakalagudu in Hassan district with the existing railway network and if so, the details thereof; (b) whether any survey, reconnaissance, feasibility study or Detailed Project Report (DPR) has been conducted or is proposed for a new railway line to Arakalagudu and if so, the details and present status thereof; (c) whether the Government proposes to consider a new railway line on the Shravanabelagola – Holenarasipura – Arakalagudu – Somwarpet – Madikeri - Mangaluru corridor to improve connectivity in the region; (d) if so, the details of the proposal, including the estimated cost, funding pattern and expected timeline for approval and implementation; and (e) if not, the reasons therefor and the criteria adopted by the Ministry for sanctioning new railway line projects in the region? ANSWER MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, INFORMATION & BROADCASTING AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW) (a) to (e): Arakalagudu is about 22 Km away from Hole Narsipur Railway station which serves as the transportation hub for the nearby regions. § Page 1 of 6Shravanabelagola and Mangaluru are already connected through existing railway network via Hassan. Subsequently, to provide connectivity to Madikeri, a feasibility study of Shravanabelagola to Madikeri via Holenarsipura-Arkalgud-Konanur-Khushalnagar new line (117 Km) has been carried out. The project has low traffic projections. 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 Karnataka is as under: Period Outlay 2009-14 ₹835 crore/year 2026-27 ₹7,748 crore (more than 9 times) Track Construction: The details of constructing new track falling fully/partly in the State of Karnataka is as under: Period New track Commissioned Average commissioning of new tracks 2009-14 565 Km 113 Km/year 2014-26 1,769 Km 147.4 Km/year Projects sanctioned:- As on 01.04.2026, 25 projects (15 new lines and 10 doubling) of 2,935 km length, costing ₹49,272 crore falling fully/partly in Karnataka are sanctioned. The summary is as under:- Page 2 of 6Category No of Total Length Exp sanctioned Length Commissioned upto Mar'26 Projects (in Km) Upto Mar'26 (₹ in cr.) (Km) New Line 15 2,034 445 8,836 Doubling/ 10 901 301 4,562 Multitracking Total 25 2,935 746 13,398 Recently Completed Projects:- Details of some of the recently completed projects falling fully/partly in Karnataka are as under: S. Project Cost No. (₹ in Crores) 1 Kottur-Harihar new line (65 km) 468 2 Hassan-Bangalore new line (167 km) 1,290 3 Bidar-Gulbarga new line (110 km) 1,543 4 Shivani - Hosadurga Road doubling (10 km) 50 5 Shivani-Birur doubling (29 km) 143 6 Hosadurga-Chikjajur doubling (29 km) 260 7 Ramanagram - Mysore patch doubling (94 km) 998 8 Yelahanka – Chennasadra doubling (13 km) 108 9 Yeshwantpur - Yelahanka doubling(12 km) 95 10 Netrawati - Mangalore Central doubling (2 km) 28 11 Kankanadi - Panambur doubling (19 km) 350 12 Arsikere-Tumkur doubling (96 km) 758 13 Yelahanka - Penukonda doubling (123 km) 1,104 14 Daund-Gulbarga doubling (225 km) 3,182 15 Hubli-Chikjajur doubling (190 km) 1,850 16 Hotgi-Gadag doubling (284 km) 2,459 17 Pune-Miraj-Londa doubling (466 km) 6,464 18 Jokkate-Thokur doubling (2 km) 102 Ongoing Projects:- Details of some of the projects falling fully/partly in Karnataka which have been taken up are as under: Page 3 of 6Cost S No. Project (₹ in Crores) 1. Munirabad-Mahabubnagar new line (247 km) 3,978 2. Kadur - Sakleshpur new line (68 km) 908 3. Rayadurg - Tumkur new line (207 km) 4,565 4. Bagalkot - Kudachi new line (142 km) 1,694 5. Tumkur - Devangere new line (182 km) 2,142 6. Marikuppam - Kuppam new line (24 km) 518 7. Gadag - Wadi new line (257 km) 3,668 8. Shimoga - Ranebennur new line (96 km) 994 9. Hassan - Belur new line (32 km) 749 10. Dharwad -Belgaum new line (73 km) 927 Hospet - Hubli - Londa - Tinaighat - Vasco - de - Gama 4,730 11. doubling (312 km) 12. Baiyyapanahalli - Hosur doubling (48 km) 1,160 13. Yeshwanthpur- Channasandra doubling (22 km) 684 14. Ballari-Chikjajur doubling (185 km) 3,342 15. Secunderabad - Wadi 3rd & 4th line (173 km) 5,012 16. Bellary - Hosapete 3rd & 4th line (65 km) 2,372 17. Guntakal-Wadi 3rd & 4th line (230 km) 4,758 Details of some major projects which are delayed due to land acquisition are as under:- Total Land Balance S Land acquired Land to be Project No. required (in ha) acquired (in ha) (in ha) 1 Shimoga–Rannebennur new line 559 283 276 (96 km) 2 Belgaum–Dharwad new line (73 581 0 581 km) 3 Shimoga– Harihar new line (79 km) 488 0 488 4 Whitefield-Kolar new line (53 km) 337 0 337 5 Hassan-Belur new line (32 km) 206 0 206 Page 4 of 6Summary of the status of land acquisition in Karnataka is as under:- Total Land required for Projects in Karnataka 10,123 ha Land Acquired 6,134 ha (61%) Balance Land to be acquired 3,989 ha (39%) Government of India is geared up to execute projects, however success depends upon the support of Government of Karnataka. 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 Page 5 of 6 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. ***** Page 6 of 6