Parliament Question: North-East and North Bengal Corridor Rail Project

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3066 TO BE ANSWERED ON 11.03.2026 NORTH-EAST AND NORTH BENGAL CORRIDOR RAIL PROJECT 3066. SHRI ADHIKARI SOUMENDU: Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state: (a) the details of the total amount of funds allocated for northeast and North-Bengal corridor rail project in the Union Budget for the financial year 2026-27, Project-wise; (b) whether Government is aware of the environmental related aspects with strict adherence to environmental regulations to minimize ecological damage while implementing the projects in this region and if so, the details and steps taken to ensure environment protection therein; (c) the details of the ongoing Railway projects in North Eastern Region (NER) including North Bengal, State-wise; and (d) the details of the project connecting Bhutan and neighboring countries including projects proposed/expected project outcomes/the expected year of completion thereof? ANSWER MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, INFORMATION & BROADCASTING AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW) (a) to (d): Budget allocation during the last five years has increased significantly. Budget allocation for infrastructure projects and safety works, falling fully/partly in North Eastern Region (NER) is as under:- Period Outlay 2009-14 ₹2,122 crore/year 2025-26 ₹10,440 crore (about 5 times) §Track Construction: The details of commissioning/laying of new track falling fully/partly in North Eastern Region (NER) during 2009-14 and 2014-2025 is as under:- Period New track Average commissioning of new Commissioned tracks 2009-14 333 Km 66.6 Km/year 2014-25 1,840 Km 167.27 Km/year (about 2.5 times) Projects sanctioned: As on 01.04.2025, 12 Railway projects (08 New Lines, 04 Doubling), of a total length of 777 Km, costing ₹69,342 crore falling fully/partly in North Eastern Region (NER) have been sanctioned. The summary is as under:- Category No. of Total Length Exp. sanctione Length Commissioned upto d projects (in Km) upto Mar’25 (in Mar’25 Km) (₹ in Cr.) New Lines 08 448 113 38,078 Doubling/Multitrack 04 329 165 3,598 ing Total 12 777 278 41,676 Recently completed projects: Projects commissioned falling fully/partly in North East Region, are as under:S.No. Project Cost (₹ in crore) 1 Agartala - Sabroom new line (112 Km) 3,170 2 865 Agartala - Akhaura new line (5 Km) 3 Rangiya - Murkongselek gauge conversion (510 3,019 Km) 4 1,242 Kumarghat - Agartala gauge conversion (109 Km) 5 Lumding - Badarpur - Silchar & Badarpur - 6,500 Kumarghat gauge conversion (412 Km) 6 410 Lumding - Hojai doubling (45 Km) 7 Digaru - Hojai doubling (102 Km) 1,873 8 New Bongaigaon - Agthori doubling (143 Km) 2,048 9 Bogibeel Bridge (92 Km) 5,820 Ongoing Projects: Some of the main projects falling fully/partly in the North East Region which have been taken up are as under:- S.No. Name of the project Cost (₹ In crore) 1 Jiribam - Imphal new line (111 Km) 21,886 2 Dimapur - Kohima new line (82 Km) 15,230 3 Murkongselek - Pasighat new line (27 Km) 1,2494 New Bongaigaon - Goalpara - Guwahati 4,962 (Kamakhaya) doubling (176 Km) 5 Saraighat Bridge doubling (7 Km) 1,474 6 Kamkhya Guwahati 3rd line (6 Km) 395 7 Lumding – Furkating doubling (140 Km) 2,124 8 Furkating – Tinsukia doubling (194 Km) 3,634 Connectivity with Bhutan and neighbouring countries: The details of rail connectivity projects taken up between India and neighbouring countries are as under: S.No. Name of the project Cost (₹ in crore) Bhutan 1. Kokrajhar (Assam, India)-Gelephu (Bhutan) Rail 3,456 Link (67 km) 2. Banarhat (West Bengal, India)-Samtse (Bhutan) 577 Rail Link (17 km) Nepal 1. Jogbani (Bihar, India)-Biratnagar (Nepal) Rail 480 Link (18 km) 2. Jaynagar (Bihar, India)-Bijalpura with extension 784 to Bardibas (Nepal) Rail Link (69 km) Bangladesh 1. Mahishashan (Assam, India)-Zero Point 39 (Bangladesh) Rail Link (3 km)These projects are being progressed in close consultation with the respective countries and timelines for completion will depend upon statutory clearances, land acquisition and geo-political scenarios of the country. The advantage of above projects are expected to significantly enhance regional connectivity and economic integration by improving cross-border rail links, thereby reducing logistics costs and transit time for import and export cargo. These initiatives will also improve promote development of border areas, and further strengthen bilateral trade and strategic cooperation with neighbouring countries. 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. Various steps taken by the Government for effective and speedy implementation of rail projects include:  Substantial increase in allocation of funds.  Delegation of powers at field level.  Close monitoring of progress of project at various levels.  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.Environment Aspects: Railways are environment friendly and energy-efficient mode of transportation, yielding substantially lower CO2 emissions. Reduction in CO2 emissions in transportation by railways as compared to transportation by road is as under (Ref:- NITI Aayog Report titled Fast Tracking Freight in India, June 2021”): Mode of transportation CO2 emission for transportation of 1 tonne for 1 Km Road 101 gm Rail 11.5 gm (about 89% less) Shifting of one MT of freight from road to rail reduces the carbon emission by about 5.37 Crore Kg. During the period from 2014 to 2025, about 562 MT freight has shifted to railways which corresponds to reduction in carbon emission amounting to 3,018 crore kg. As per the extant policy guidelines, Railway projects are exempted from environmental clearance. However, forestry/wild life clearances are taken from Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC), wherever the diversion of forest land is involved. Electric traction is more environment friendly and energy efficient. Accordingly, electrification of railway network on Indian Railways has been taken up in mission mode. So far, 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 Kilometre Before 2014 (about 60 years) 21,801 2014-25 46,900Further, Indian Railways has instituted several mechanisms to minimize ecological impacts during construction and operation of projects, which inter alia include: Afforestation in coordination with State Forest Departments where forest land is involved, adoption of eco-friendly construction practices, including proper disposal of construction debris, slope stabilization, and protection of natural drainage, provision of wildlife crossings, animal underpasses/overpasses and other mitigation measures in environmentally sensitive areas, wherever required and continuous monitoring of environmental safeguards during project implementation by concerned railway authorities. Vande Bharat /Amrit Bharat / Vande Bharat Sleeper Trains: As the railway network straddles across State/regional boundaries Constituency(ies), trains are operated, as per network requirement, across such boundaries. However, on originating/terminating basis, 18 Vande Bharat Chair Car services, 02 Vande Bharat Sleeper train services and 18 Amrit Bharat services are catering to the needs of stations located in the State of West Bengal. These are listed below: Vande Bharat Services [chair car]: SN Train no. and Name 1 22301/22302 Howrah-New Jalpaiguri Vande Bharat Express 2 22895/22896 Howrah-Puri Vande Bharat Express 3 22227/22228 Guwahati-New jalpaiguri Vande Bharat Express 4 20897/20898 Howrah-Ranchi Vande Bharat Express 5 22347/22348 Howrah-Patna Vande Bharat Express 6 22233/22234 New jalpaiguri -Patna Vande Bharat Express 7 22303/22304 Howrah-Gaya Vande Bharat Express 8 20871/20872 Howrah-Rourkela Vande Bharat Express 9 22309/22310 Howrah-Jamalpur Vande Bharat ExpressVande Bharat Services(Sleeper) SN Train no. and Name 1 27575/27576 Howrah- Kamakhya Vande Bharat Sleeper Express Amrit Bharat services SN Train no. and Name 1 13434/13433 Malda town-SMVT Bengaluru Amrit Bharat Express 2 13435/13436 Malda Town-Gomti Nagar Amrit Bharat Express 3 20603/20604 Nagercoil -New jalpaiguri Amrit Bharat Express 4 20609/20610 Tiruchchirappalli-New jalpaiguri Amrit Bharat Express 5 16107/16108 Tambaram-Santragachi Amrit Bharat Express 6 13065/13066 Howrah-Anand Vihar(T) Amrit Bharat Express 7 22587/22588 Banaras-Sealdah Amrit Bharat Express 8 16597/16598 SMVT Bengaluru-Alipurduar Amrit Bharat Express 9 11031/11032 Panvel-Alipurduar Amrit Bharat Express Further, Presently, stations located in Northeast region, served by Northeast Frontier Railway, are being catered by 02 Vande Bharat Chair Car services, 02 Vande Bharat Sleeper services and 04 Amrit Bharat Services as listed below:- Vande Bharat services [Chair Car] SN Train Number and Name 1 22227/22228 New Jalpaiguri – Guwahati Vande Bharat Express Vande Bharat services [Sleeper] SN Train Number and Name 1 27575/27578 Howrah – Kamakhya Vande Bharat Sleeper ExpressAmrit Bharat Services SN Train Number and Name 1 15671/15672 Kamakhya - Rohtak Amrit Bharat Express 2 15949/15950 Dibrugarh - Gomti Nagar (Lucknow) Amrit Bharat Express *****