Parliament Question: Pit/Stable Lines at Amb Andaura, Himachal Pradesh

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2921 TO BE ANSWERED ON 05.08.2026 PIT/STABLE LINES AT AMB ANDAURA, HIMACHAL PRADESH 2921. SHRI ANURAG SINGH THAKUR: Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state: (a) whether any proposal to create a dedicated washing facility with associated pit/stabling lines at Amb Andaura/nearby is being considered to speed up turnaround time of rakes, thereby facilitating the introduction of more long distance express services to Amb Andaura and beyond and if so, the details thereof; (b) the present status of Nangal-Una-Daulatpur Chowk-Kartoli-Talwara- Mukerian broad gauge rail line, along with details of commissioning, construction progress and pending works under this said Project, section-wise; (c) the salient features of the newly inaugurated Amb Andaura station on this line, under Amrit Bharat Station Scheme (ABSS); (d) the details of passenger amenities available at Una Himachal and Daulatpur Chowk Station such as platforms, FOBs, waiting halls, parking facilities etc; (e) the details of annual passenger footfall of the station of this line during the last three years, station and year-wise; and (f) the steps taken/being taken by the Government to augment long distance express connectivity from Amb Andaura, in view of the completion of new sections of the said project and rising passenger demand in Una district of Himachal Pradesh? ANSWER MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, INFORMATION & BROADCASTING AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW) (a) to (f) Washing Pit-Line facilities are planned and executed as per operational and maintenance requirement. Currently, washing pit-line § Page 1 of 7facilities are available at Chandigarh, Kalka and Ambala which are considered sufficient to meet the current and near future requirements of Amb Andaura and its nearby areas. Amb Andaura is an existing station on Nangal Dam- Daulatpur Chowk- Kartoli line. The status of Nangal Dam- Daulatpur Chowk- Mukerian project is as under: Nangal Dam - Daulatpur Chowk - Kartoli Punjab section (70 Kms) of this project has been commissioned. Works have been taken up in Kartoli Punjab – Mukerian (52 Kms). Section wise progress is as under: Section Status Daulatpur Chowk- Kartoli Commissioned Punjab (10.5 km) Kartoli Punjab – Talwara Works taken up on 01 Major (13.65 km) Bridge. Works taken up on 07 Minor Bridges. Works taken up on 02 ROBs. 06 out of 08 RUBs completed and Works taken up in Balance. Talwara –Mukerian ( 28.70 Works taken up on 15 Major km) Bridges. 34 out of 40 RUBs completed, Works taken up in balance. 2 out of 3 Station Buildings completed, Works taken up in balance. Page 2 of 7Patial – Bhangala (9.89 km) Works taken up on 02 Major Bridges. Works taken up on 1 RUB. 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 of Indian Railways. The master planning, keeping in view the necessity of each station, 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/subway to commensurate with passenger traffic  Provision of lifts/escalators/ramps  Improvement of platform surface/ provision of platform shelter  Provision of kiosks for local products through schemes like ‘One Station One Product’  Parking development  Amenities for Divyangjans  Better passenger information systems  Provision of air concourse, executive lounges, Multimodal integration, landscaping, etc. Page 3 of 7The scheme also envisages sustainable and environment friendly solutions etc. as per necessity, phasing and feasibility and creation of city centre at the station in the long term. So far, 1340 stations have been identified for development under Amrit Bharat Station Scheme, out of which 04 stations, including Amb Andaura station, are located in Himachal Pradesh. Development works have been completed at Baijnath Paprola and Amb Andaura stations. At Amb Andaura station, located in Himachal Pradesh, the works of improvement of station building, new entrance porch, improvement of circulating area, parking, waiting room, improvement of platform surface, 12 m wide foot over bridge, new waiting lounge, toilets, platform shelters, improved lighting, installation of Train Indication Boards, improved seating arrangements, landscape, lifts and ramps on 12 m wide foot over bridge have been completed under Amrit Bharat Station Scheme. Palampur Himachal and Shimla stations are under master planning / tendering stage. Master Planning is an iterative process requiring optimization and the time frame and other details for such optimization cannot be indicated at this stage. At Una Himachal station, located in Himachal Pradesh, facilities like adequate lighting arrangements, platform shelter, high level platform, waiting hall, water coolers and drinking water taps, foot over bridge, urinal, lavatory, seating arrangement, etc. are available. The works of foot over bridge, widening of entry road and platform shelter have been completed in the recent years. The works of improvement of circulating area, parking, improvement of station building, platform upgradation and amenities for Divyangjans have been sanctioned. Page 4 of 7At Daulatpur Chowk station, located in Himachal Pradesh, facilities like adequate lighting arrangements, platform shelter, high level platform, waiting hall, water cooler and drinking water taps, urinal, lavatories, seating arrangement, etc. are available. Further, development / redevelopment / upgradation / modernisation of stations on Indian Railways including provision of passenger amenities like platform upgradation, Foot Over Bridge, waiting hall, parking, etc. 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. Passenger footfall for FY 2023-24 to FY 2025-26 for section Nangal – Una Himachal – Daulatpur Chowk – Kartoli is as under: FY Passenger Footfall 2023-24 25.77 Lakh 2024-25 30.56 Lakh 2025-26 31.87 Lakh Indian Railways (IR) constantly endeavours to improve connectivity and facilitate travelling passengers and to this end the following have been undertaken during 2025-26 and 2026-27 (upto July, 2026) which inter alia caters to the needs of passengers of Amb Andaura: Page 5 of 71. Introduction of 14501/14502 Ambala Cantt.-Kartoli Express w.e.f 19.07.2026 with stoppage at Daulatpur Chowk, Amb Andaura and Una Himachal. 2. Extension of 12325/12326 Kolkata-Nangal Dam Express upto Amb Andaura w.e.f 06.06.2026. 3. Extension of 64511/64512 Saharanpur-Una Himachal Passenger upto Amb Andaura w.e.f 19.07.2025. Accordingly, at present, Amb Andaura station is served by 20 train services (listed below) providing connectivity inter alia to destinations like Delhi, Kolkata, Gandhinagar, Haridwar etc. S N Train No. and Name 1 22447 New Delhi-Amb Andaura Vande Bharat Express 2 22448 Amb Andaura-New Delhi Vande Bharat Express 12057 New Delhi-Daulatpur Chowk Jan Shatabdi 3 Express 12058 Daulatpur Chowk-New Delhi Jan Shatabdi 4 Express 5 12325 Kolkata-Amb Andaura Express 6 12326 Amb Andaura-Kolkata Express 7 14053 Delhi-Kartoli Punjab Express 8 14054 Kartoli Punjab-Delhi Express 9 14501 Ambala Cantt-Kartoli Punjab Express 10 14502 Kartoli Punjab-Ambala Cantt Express 11 19411 Gandhinagar Capital-Daulatpur Chowk Express 12 19412 Daulatpur Chowk-Gandhinagar Capital Express 13 22709 Hazur Sahib Nanded-Amb Andaura Express Page 6 of 714 22710 Amb Andaura-Hazur Sahib Nanded Express 15 64511 Haridwar-Amb Andaura MEMU 16 64512 Amb Andaura-Haridwar MEMU 17 64563 Raipur Hariyana -Amb Andaura MEMU 18 64564 Amb Andaura-Raipur Hariyana MEMU 19 74991 Ambala Cantt-Daulatpur Chowk DEMU 20 74992 Daulatpur Chowk-Ambala Cantt DEMU Besides, introduction of new train services/extension of services, is an on- going process, which depends on various factors including- ● Capacity of that section ● Availability of path ● Availability of required rolling stock ● Availability of matching infrastructure for rolling stock ● Maintenance requirement of railway tracks and other assets. ● Occupancy and the traffic requirement of the section. ***** Page 7 of 7