Parliament Question: Passenger facilities at Karur Railway Station in Tamil Nadu

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4156 TO BE ANSWERED ON 18.03.2026 PASSENGER FACILITIES AT KARUR RAILWAY STATION IN TAMIL NADU 4156. SHRI MATHESWARAN V S: Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state: (a) the details of timeline to complete the construction of lift at Karur railway station in Tamil Nadu; (b) the names of railway officials along with designation who have been given complimentary travel in Palace on Wheels and Maharaja Express from 2012 to till date; and (c) the rationale of allowing railway officials who are on official duty to take their spouse on complimentary travel in luxury trains at the cost of public money? ANSWER MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, INFORMATION & BROADCASTING AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW) (a) to (c): Ministry of Railways has launched Amrit Bharat Station Scheme for redevelopment of stations with a long-term approach. Karur Junction station, located in Tamil Nadu has been identified for development under Amrit Bharat Station Scheme. Facilities like high level platforms, platform shelter, waiting hall, drinking water arrangement, urinal, lavatory, seating arrangement and Foot Over Bridge etc. are available. In addition to this, 03 lifts are available at Platform No. 1, 2/3 and 4/5 of Karur Junction station. Development works at Karur Junction station under Amrit Bharat Station Scheme have been taken up at good pace. The works of improvement of station building, main entrance arch, platform widening and surfacing of platform no. 1, platform shelter at platform no. 2/3 & 4/5, AC waiting hall, Contd.2/.. §-2- general waiting hall, toilet at platform no. 1, 2/3 & 4/5, circulating area and parking have been completed. The works of platform surfacing at platform no. 2/3 and 4/5, water booth, seating arrangement, lift, escalator and 12meter Foot Over Bridge have been taken up. Further, Railway officials are entitled to travel in Indian Railways trains with their families in accordance with Railway Servants (Pass) Rules, 1986 only. Amrit Bharat Station scheme in Tamil Nadu: 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. Contd.3/..-3- 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, 1,338 stations have been identified for development under the Amrit Bharat Station Scheme. Out of these, 77 stations including Karur Junction station, are located in Tamil Nadu. The name of stations identified under Amrit Bharat Station Scheme in Tamil Nadu are as following: No. of State Name of Stations Stations Tamil 77 Ambasamudram, Ambattur, Arakkonam Jn, Ariyalur, Nadu Avadi, Bommidi, Chengalpattu Jn, Chennai Beach, Chennai Egmore, Chennai Park, Chidambaram, Chinna Salem, Chrompet, Coimbatore Jn, Coimbatore North, Coonoor, Dharmapuri, Dindigul, Erode Jn., Guduvancheri, Guindy, Gummidipundi, Hosur, Jolarpettai Jn, Kanniyakumari Terminus, Karaikkudi Jn, Karur Jn, Katpadi Jn, Kovilpatti, Kulitturai, Kumbakonam, Lalgudi, Madurai Jn, Mambalam, Manaparai, Mannargudi, Mayiladuturai Jn, Mettupalayam, Morappur, Nagercoil Jn, Namakkal, Palani, Paramakkudi, Perambur, Podanur Jn., Pollachi Jn, Polur, Pudukkottai, Puratchi ThalaivarDr. M.G. Ramachandran Central, Rajapalayam, Ramanathapuram, Rameswaram, Salem, Samalpatti, Sholavandan, Srirangam, Srivilliputtur, St.Thomas Mount, Tambaram, Tenkasi, Thanjavur Jn, Thiruvarur Jn., Tiruchendur, Tirunelveli Jn, Tirupadripulyur, Tirupattur, Tiruppur, Tirusulam, Tiruttani, Tiruvallur, Tiruvannamalai, Tuticorin, Udagamandalam, Vellore Cantt., Villupuram Jn., Virudhunagar, Vriddhachalam Jn. Development works at railway stations under Amrit Bharat Station Scheme Contd.4/..-4- in Tamil Nadu have been taken up at a good pace. Till now, works of 20 stations have been completed. The name of stations completed in Tamil Nadu are as following: No. of State Name of stations stations Tamil 20 Bommidi, Chennai Park, Chidambaram, Chinna Salem, Nadu Karaikkudi Jn, Kulitturai, Mambalam, Manaparai, Mannargudi, Morappur, Pollachi Jn, Polur, Samalpatti, Sholavandan, Srirangam, Srivilliputtur, St. Thomas Mount, Thiruvarur Jn., Tiruvannamalai, Vriddhachalam Jn. The activities for development at other stations have also been taken up at good pace and progress of some of the above stations is as given below:  Palani station: The works of improvement of station building, platform shelter, waiting hall, toilet, circulating area, parking, entry/exit arch, lift at existing Foot Over Bridge, coach indication board and train indication board have been completed. The works of Divyangjan facilities and 6 m Foot Over Bridge have been taken up.  Virudhunagar Junction station: The works of circulating area, parking, entry/exit arch, Divyangjan facilities, coach indication board and train indication board have been completed. The works of improvement of station building and 6 m Foot Over Bridge have been taken up.  Thanjavur Junction station: The works of portico, improvement of concourse, platform shelter, improvement of booking office, circulating area, exit arch and signages have been completed. The works of parking, lift, escalator, coach indication board and train indication board have been taken up.  Villupuram Junction station: The works of new arrival building, platform Contd.5/..-5- shelter, improvement of platform surface, booking counter, parcel office, improvement of parking and signages have been completed. The works of improvement of concourse, circulating area, parking, entrance arch, coach indication board, train indication board, escalator and 6 m Foot Over Bridge have been taken up. Development / Upgradation 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 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. 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. Tamil Nadu is covered under the jurisdiction of two railway zones, namely, Southern Railway and South Western Railway. For these zones, an allocation of ₹ 1,697 crore has been made for the financial year 2025-26, out of which an expenditure of ₹ 1,626 crore (up to February, 2026) has been incurred so far. *****