Parliament Question: Projects under Rashtriya Rail Sanraksha Kosh

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1690 TO BE ANSWERED ON 30.07.2025 PROJECTS UNDER RASHTRIYA RAIL SANRAKSHA KOSH 1690. MS IQRA CHOUDHARY: SHRI PUSHPENDRA SAROJ: Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state: (a) the details of the status of all the railway projects related to new railway lines, gauge conversions, doubling and electrification of existing railway lines for the Northern, North Central & North Eastern Railway Zones; (b) the details of the status of all the projects under Rashtriya Rail Sanraksha Kosh (RRSK) in the above mentioned three zones; (c) the details of the number of stations in Uttar Pradesh that have been provided Electronic Interlocking System, district-wise; (d) the details of funds allocated, sanctioned and spent for the projects, year-wise; and (e) whether any delays and cost-overruns have been witnessed in the above projects, if so, the details thereof along with the estimated increase in costs and timeline for completion? ANSWER MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, INFORMATION & BROADCASTING AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW) (a) to (e): Railway projects are sanctioned on the basis of remunerativeness, traffic projections, last mile connectivity, missing links and alternate routes, augmentation of congested/saturated lines, demands raised by State Governments, ..P/2-:2:- Central Ministries, Members of Parliament, other public representatives, Railway’s own operational requirement, socio- economic considerations etc. depending upon throwforward of ongoing projects and overall availability of funds. Zonal Railway wise details of projects are made available in public domain on Indian Railways website. Entire Broad Gauge Railway lines of Northern Railway, North Central Railway and North Eastern Railway have been electrified. Details of sanctioned Railway infrastructure projects (New Line, Gauge Conversion and Doubling) being executed in North Eastern Railway, North Central Railway and Northern Railway are given below: North Eastern Railway North Eastern Railway zone span across the States of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Uttarakhand. As on 01.04.2025, across North Eastern Railway, 17 Railway infrastructure projects (08 New Line, 01 Gauge Conversion and 08 Doubling) of total length 1252 Km, costing approx. 20,466 crore are sanctioned, out of which, 354 Km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of approx. 10,485 lakh crore has been incurred upto March, 2025. The summary is as under:- ..P/3-:3:- Total Length Total Exp No of Length Commissioned Category upto Mar'25 Projects NL/GC/DL till Mar'25 ( in crore) (km) (Km) New Lines 8 656 48 4042 Gauge 1 56 0 260 Conversion Doubling / 8 541 306 6184 Multitracking Total 17 1252 354 10485 North Central Railway North Central Railway zone span across the States of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Haryana. As on 01.04.2025, across North Central Railway, 18 Railway infrastructure projects (03 Gauge Conversion and 15 Doubling) of total length 1874 Km, costing approx. 25,829 crore are sanctioned, out of which, 565 Km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of approx. 14,057 lakh crore has been incurred upto March, 2025. The summary is as under:- Total Length Total Exp No of Length Commissioned Category upto Mar'25 Projects NL/GC/DL till Mar'25 ( in crore) (km) (Km) Gauge 3 440 97 2903 Conversion Doubling / 15 1433 468 11155 Multitracking Total 18 1874 565 14057 ..P4-:4:- Northern Railway Northern Railway zone span across the States of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Chandigarh, Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh. As on 01.04.2025, across Northern Railway, 29 Railway infrastructure projects (08 New Line and 21 Doubling) of total length 1169 Km, costing approx. 69,731 crore are sanctioned, out of which, 344 Km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of approx. 31,625 lakh crore has been incurred upto March, 2025. The summary is as under:- Total Length Total Exp No of Length Commissioned Category upto Mar'25 Projects NL/GC/DL till Mar'25 ( in crore) (km) (Km) New Lines 8 499 80 28288 Doubling / 21 670 264 3337 Multitracking Total 29 1169 344 31625 Safety is accorded the highest priority on Indian Railways. As a consequence of various safety measures taken over the years, there has been a steep decline in the number of accidents. Consequential Train Accidents have reduced from 135 in 2014-15 to 31 in 2024-25 as shown in the graph below. It may be noted that the Consequential Train Accidents during the period 2004-14 was 1711 (average 171 per annum), which has declined to 31 in 2024-25 and further to 3 in 2025-26 (upto June). ..P/5-:5:- Another important index showing improved safety in train operations is Accidents Per Million Train Kilometer (APMTKM) which has reduced from 0.11 in 2014-15 to 0.03 in 2024-25, indicating an improvement of approx. 73% during the said period. 234 165 135 55 48 40 35 31 22 3 2005- 2009- 2014- 2019- 2020- 2021- 2022- 2023- 2024- 2025-26 06 10 15 20 21 22 23 24 25 (up to Covid Covid Jun'25) year year The various safety measures taken to enhance safety in train operations are as under:- 1. On Indian Railways, the expenditure on Safety related activities has increased over the years as under:- Expenditure on Safety related activities ( in Cr.) 2013-14 2022-23 2023-24 RE 2024-25 BE 2025-26 (Act.) (Act.) (Act.) Maintenance of Permanent Way 9,172 18,115 20,322 21,800 23,316 & Works Maintenance of Motive Power 14,796 27,086 30,864 31,540 30,666 and Rolling Stock ..P/6 stnediccA niarT laitneuqesnoC fo .oN-:6:- Maintenance of 5,406 9,828 10,772 12,112 12,880 Machines Road Safety LCs and ROBs/ 1,986 5,347 6,662 8,184 7,706 RUBs Track 4,985 16,326 17,850 22,669 22,800 Renewals Bridge Works 390 1,050 1,907 2,130 2,169 Signal & 905 2,456 3,751 6,006 6,800 Telecom Works Workshops Incl. PUs and Misc. 1,823 7,119 9,523 9,581 10,134 expenditure on Safety Total 39,463 87,327 1,01,651 1,14,022 1,16,470 2. Electrical/Electronic Interlocking Systems with centralized operation of points and signals have been provided at 6,635 stations up to 30.06.2025 to reduce accident due to human failure. 3. Interlocking of Level Crossing (LC) Gates has been provided at 11,096 level Crossing Gates up to 30.06.2025 for enhancing safety at LC gates. 4. Complete Track Circuiting of stations to enhance safety by verification of track occupancy by electrical means has been provided at 6,640 stations up to 30.06.2025. 5. Kavach is a highly technology intensive system, which requires safety certification of highest order. Kavach was adopted as a National ATP system in July 2020. Kavach is provided ..P/7-:7:- progressively in phased manner. Kavach has already been deployed on 1548 RKm on South Central Railway and North Central Railway. Presently, the work is in progress on Delhi- Mumbai and Delhi-Howrah corridors (approximately 3000 RKm). Track side works on these routes have been completed on about 2200 RKm as on 30.06.2025. Regular trials are being done on these sections. 6. Detailed instructions on issues related with safety of Signalling, e.g. mandatory correspondence check, alteration work protocol, preparation of completion drawing, etc. have been issued. 7. System of disconnection and reconnection for S&T equipment as per protocol has been re-emphasized. 8. All locomotives are equipped with Vigilance Control Devices (VCD) to improve alertness of Loco Pilots. 9. Retro-reflective sigma boards are provided on the mast which is located two OHE masts prior to the signals in electrified territories to alert the crew about the signal ahead when visibility is low due to foggy weather. 10. A GPS based Fog Safety Device (FSD) is provided to loco pilots in fog affected areas which enables loco pilots to know the distance of the approaching landmarks like signals, level crossing gates, etc. ..P/8-:8:- 11. Modern track structure consisting of 60kg, 90 Ultimate Tensile Strength (UTS) rails, Prestressed Concrete Sleeper (PSC) Normal/Wide base sleepers with elastic fastening, fan shaped layout turnout on PSC sleepers, Steel Channel/H-beam Sleepers on girder bridges is used while carrying out primary track renewals. 12. Mechanisation of track laying activity through use of track machines like PQRS, TRT, T-28 etc. to reduce human errors. 13. Maximizing supply of 130m/260m long rail panels for increasing progress of rail renewal and avoiding welding of joints, thereby improving safety. 14. Ultrasonic Flaw Detection (USFD) testing of rails to detect flaws and timely removal of defective rails. 15. Laying of longer rails, minimizing the use of Alumino Thermic Welding and adoption of better welding technology for rails i.e., Flash Butt Welding. 16. Monitoring of track geometry by OMS (Oscillation Monitoring System) and TRC (Track Recording Cars). 17. Patrolling of railway tracks to look out for weld/rail fractures. 18. The use of Thick Web Switches and Weldable CMS Crossing in turnout renewal works. ..P/9-:9:- 19. Inspections at regular intervals are carried out to monitor and educate staff for observance of safe practices. 20. Web based online monitoring system of track assets viz. Track database and decision support system has been adopted to decide rationalized maintenance requirement and optimize inputs. 21. Detailed instructions on issues related with safety of Track, e.g. integrated block, corridor block, worksite safety, monsoon precautions, etc. have been issued. 22. Preventive maintenance of railway assets (Coaches & Wagons) is undertaken to ensure safe train operations. 23. Replacement of conventional ICF design coaches with LHB design coaches is being done. 24. All unmanned level crossings (UMLCs) on Broad Gauge (BG) route have been eliminated by January 2019. 25. Safety of Railway Bridges is ensured through regular inspection of Bridges. The requirement of repair/rehabilitation of Bridges is taken up based upon the conditions assessed during these inspections. 26. Indian Railways has displayed Statutory “Fire Notices” for widespread passenger information in all coaches. Fire posters ..P/10-:10:- are provided in every coach so as to educate and alert passengers regarding various Do’s and Don’ts to prevent fire. These include messages regarding not carrying any inflammable material, explosives, prohibition of smoking inside the coaches, penalties etc. 27. Production Units are providing Fire detection and suppression system in newly manufactured Power Cars and Pantry Cars, Fire and Smoke detection system in newly manufactured coaches. Progressive fitment of the same in existing coaches is also underway by Zonal Railways in a phased manner. 28. Regular counseling and training of staff is undertaken. 29. Concept of Rolling Block introduced in Indian Railways (Open Lines) General Rules vide Gazette notification dated 30.11.2023, wherein work of integrated maintenance/ repair/replacement of assets is planned up to 52 weeks in advance on rolling basis and executed as per plan. The details of the Safety related works related to better maintenance practices, Technological improvements, better infrastructure and rolling stock etc. undertaken by Railways are tabulated below:- ..P/11-:11:- 2004-05 to 2014-15 to 2014-25 Vs. SN Item 2013-14 2024-25 2004-14 Technological improvements Use of high-quality More than 2 1. 57,450 Km 1.43 Lakh Km rails (60 Kg) (Km) times Longer Rail Panels Nearly 8 2. 9,917 Km 77,522 Km (260m) (Km) times Electronic More than 4 3. Interlocking 837 Stations 3,691 Stations times (Stations) Fog Pass Safety As on 31.03.14: As on 31.03.25: 4. 288 times Devices (Nos.) 90 Nos. 25,939 Thick Web 5. Nil 28,301 Nos. Switches (Nos.) Better maintenance practices Primary Rail 1. Renewal (Track 32,260 Km 49,941 Km 1.5 times Km) USFD (Ultra Sonic Flaw detection) More than 2 2. 79.43 Lakh 2 Crore Testing of Welds times (Nos.) In 2013-14: In 2024-25: 90 % 3. Weld failures (Nos.) 3699 Nos. 370 Nos. reduction More than Rail fractures In 2013-14: In 2024-25: 4. 88% (Nos.) 2548 Nos. 289 Nos. reduction Better infrastructure and Rolling stock New Track KM More than 2 1. 14,985 Nos. 34,428 Km added (Track km) times Flyovers (RoBs)/ More than 3 2. Underpasses 4,148 Nos. 13,808 Nos. times (RUBs) (Nos.) As on 31.03.24: Unmanned Level As on 31.03.14: Nil 3. crossings Removed 8948 (All eliminated (nos.) on BG by 31.01.19) Manufacture of More than 4. LHB Coaches 2,337 Nos. 42,677 18 times (Nos.) ..P/12-:12:- 535 stations in Uttar Pradesh have been provided with Electronic Interlocking System. Uttar Pradesh Railway infrastructure projects falling fully/partly in the State of Uttar Pradesh are covered under Northern Railway, North Central Railway, North Eastern Railway, East Central Railway and West Central Railway zones of Indian Railways. Zonal Railway wise details of Railway projects are made available in public domain on Indian Railway’s website. As on 01.04.2025, 49 Railway projects (10 New Line, 02 Gauge Conversion and 37 Doubling), of total length of 3,808 Km costing ₹62,360 crore falling fully/partly in the State of Uttar Pradesh are sanctioned, out of which 1,323 Km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of ₹30,611 crore has been incurred upto March 2025. The status of work is summarized as under:- Total Length Expenditure upto No. of Plan Head Length Commissioned March 2025 projects (in Km) (in Km) (₹in Cr) New Lines 10 1227 340 10517 Gauge 2 67 0 281 Conversion Doubling / 37 2513 983 19813 Multitracking Total 49 3808 1323 30611 ..P/13-:13:- Budget allocation for Infrastructure projects and safety works, falling fully/ partly in Uttar Pradesh is as under: Period Outlay 2009-14 1,109 crore/year 2025-26 19,858 Crore (nearly 18 times) The details of commissioning / laying of new track falling fully/partly in the State of Uttar Pradesh during 2009-14 and 2014-25 is as under :- New Track Average Commissioning of new Period Commissioned tracks 2009-14 996 Km 199.2 Km/year 479.3 km per year (More than 2 2014-25 5272 Km times) Details of some of the recently completed projects falling fully/partly in Uttar Pradesh are as under: Estimated S.No. Project Cost (₹ in Crores) 1 Agra-Etawah New Line(110 km) 427 Guna-Gwalior-Bhind-Etawah New Line (348 2 683 km) Lalitpur Khajuraho/Tikamgarh(Mawai)- 3 800 Khajuraho sectionNew Line (165 km) 4 Etawah-Mainpuri New Line (58 km) 313 5 Ghazipur city-Tarighat New Line (17 km) 1766 Gonda-Gorakhpur Loop Gauge 6 863 Conversion(260 km) ..P/14-:14:- Kanpur-Kasganj-Mathura &Kasgan-Bareilly 7 1790 Gauge Conversion (545 km) Kaptanganj-Thawe-Chhapra Gauge 8 819 Conversion (234 km) Bareilly-Pilibhit-Tanakpur Gauge Conversion 9 313 (102 km) 10 Gonda-Bahraich Gauge Conversion (60 km) 318 Pilibhit-Shahjahanpur Gauge Conversion (83 11 589 km) 12 Indara-Dohrighat Gauge Conversion (34 km) 213 13 Lucknow-Pilibhit Gauge Conversion (263 km) 1634 14 Utretia-Zafrabad – Doubling(148 km) 890 15 Bhadoi-Janghai Doubling(31 km) 168 16 Banupur-Panki Doubling (11 km) 55 17 Lahota-Bhadoi Doubling (39 km) 184 18 Aurnihar-Manduadih Doubling (39 km) 200 19 Meerut-Muzaffarnagar Doubling (55 km) 430 20 Ghazipur-Aunrihar Doubling (40 km) 371 21 Phaphamau-PrayagrajDoubling (14 km) 212 22 Muzaffarnagar – Tapri Doubling (52 km) 525 23 Mathura-Palwal Doubling (80 km) 669 24 Utretia-Raibareilly Doubling (66 km) 662 25 Raibareilly-Amethi Doubling (60 km) 668 26 Alamnagar-Utretia Doubling (20 km) 358 27 Bhimsen—Jhansi Doubling (206 km) 2620 97 28 Bhaupur-Panki Doubling (11 km) 29 Ballia-Gazipur city Doubling (65 km) 650 30 Aunrihar-Jaunpur Doubling (60 km) 405 31 Malhaur-Daliganj Doubling (13 km) 183 32 Ruma Chakeri- Chandari Doubling (13 km) 177 33 ChipiyanaBuzurg - Dadri Doubling (12 km) 129 34 Barabanki-Akbarpur Doubling (161 km) 1700 ..P/15-:15:- Rosa-Sitapur Cantt-Burhwal Doubling (181 35 2094 km) Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor (1756 36 51219 km) 37 Jaunpur- Akbarpur (Tanda) Doubling (77 km) 676 38 Dailwara-BiraiDoubling (7.55 km) 77 39 Ramna-Singrauli Doubling (160 km) 2436 40 Janghai- PhaphamauDoubling (47 km) 414 Varanasi-Madhosingh-PrayagrajDoubling 41 2018 (120 km) 42 Karaila Road- Shaktinagar Doubling (32 km) 763 43 Deoband -Roorkee New Line ( 29 km) 1289 Some of the projects falling fully/partly in Uttar Pradesh which have been taken up are as under: Estimated S.No. Project Cost (₹ in Crores) 1 Chhitauni-Tumkuhi Road New Line( 59 km) 1731 2 Anandnagar-Ghugli New Line ( 53 km) 958 3 Sahjanwa-Dohrighat New Line ( 81 km) 1320 4 Bahraich- Khalilabad New Line ( 240 km) 4940 5 Etah-Kasganj New Line ( 29 km) 389 6 Unchhar-Amethi New Line ( 66 km) 1229 Lalitpur-Satna, Rewa-Singrauli & Mahoba- 7 8914 Khajuraho New Line ( 541 km) Bahraich-Nanpara-Nepal Ganj Gauge 8 342 Conversion( 56 km) Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay -Prayagraj 3rd 9 2649 Line( 150 km) 10 Jhansi-Bina 3rd Line( 153 km) 2002 11 Mathura-Jhansi 3rd Line ( 274 km) 5924 Jhansi-Khairar-Manikpur & Khirar-Bhimsen 12 Doubling 4330 ( 431 km) ..P/16-:16:- 13 Aligarh Flyover ( 22 km) 1179 14 Agra Fort -Bandikui Doubling ( 150 km) 988 15 Aligarh - Daud Khan 3rd Line ( 18 km) 452 16 Billi- Chunar Doubling( 102 km) 1424 17 Chhapra-Ballia Patch Doubling (65 km) 1046 Domingarh-Gorakhpur-Gorakhpur Cantt.- 18 508 Kusumhi – 3rd Line (21 km) 19 Burhwal Gonda 3rd Line( 62 km) 1118 Phephna-Indara, Mau-Shahganj Doubling ( 20 1778 150 km) 21 Bhatni-Aurnihar Doubling (117 Km) 2529 22 Gorakhpur- Valmikinagar Doubling ( 96 km) 1120 23 Utretia-Zafrabad Doubling( 263 km) 1582 Janghai-Pratapgarh- Amethi Doubling ( 87 24 1197 km) 25 Barabanki-Malhaur 3rd and 4th Line (33 km) 407 26 Phaphamau-Unchahahar Doubling (72 km) 971 27 Barabanki-Burhwal 3rd Line (27 Km) 426 Prayagraj (Iradatganj)-Manikpur 3rd Line (84 28 1508 km) Completion of Railway project/s depends on various factors like quick land acquisition by State Government, forest clearance by officials of forest department, shifting of infringing utilities, statutory clearances from various authorities, geological and topographical conditions of area, law and order situation in the area of project/s 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. ..P/17-:17:- 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. *******