Parliament Question: Rail Facilities in Banda-Chitrakoot Region

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1834 TO BE ANSWERED ON 10.12.2025 RAIL FACILITIES IN BANDA-CHITRAKOOT REGION †1834. SMT. KRISHNA DEVI SHIVSHANKAR PATEL: Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state: (a) whether the Government proposes to connect Banda-Chitrakoot section directly to Delhi and Prayagraj by introducing Vande Bharat, Unknown/Intercity ог any new superfast trains and if so, the present status of the proposal thereof; (b) the present progress made on the doubling of the Jhansi-Banda- Chitrakoot route including the Banda-Karwi-Manikpur section and the estimated timeframe for completion of said work; (c) whether the Government proposes to develop Manikpur Junction as a major interchange station enhancing facilities such as platform expansion, electrification upgradation and stoppage to additional trains and if so, the details thereof; and (d) whether the Union Government is working on a special "Bundelkhand Rail Connectivity Package" to connect the rail network of the Bundelkhand region with major rail-lines in Purvanchal and North India and if so, the details thereof? ANSWER MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, INFORMATION & BROADCASTING AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW) (a) to (d) Presently, Banda/Chitrakoot stations are connected to Delhi and Praygraj by 02 pairs and 10 pairs of train services respectively. This ……contd/2/2/ includes 26505/06 Banaras-Khajuraho Vande Bharat Express catering to the needs of Banda-Chitrakoot-Prayagraj sector. Manikpur station is presently served by 45 pairs of trains providing connectivity inter alia to Delhi, Lucknow, Prayagraj, Varanasi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Kanniyakumari, Chennai etc. Besides, introduction of new train services/stoppage of trains, which is an on-going process, depends on various factors which include- • 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. Doubling and electrification: Jhansi-Banda-Chitrakoot-Manikpur rail line is electrified. Doubling of this rail line alongwith electrification has been sanctioned. The details are as under: The work on Jhansi-Khairar-Manikpur and Khairar-Bhimsen (431 km) doubling project has been taken up at a cost of Rs. 4,330 crore. The project has been notified as “Special Railway Project” for acquisition of land through State Government in Nov, 2022. Approx 67 Ha of land has been acquired out of a total 97 Ha. An expenditure of Rs. 1,830 crore has been incurred up to March 2025 and an outlay of Rs. 1,416 crore has been provided for for the project the financial year 2025-26. So, far 81 Km length has been commissioned. In last three years 2022-23, 2023-24, 2024-25 and current financial year 2025-26, 119 surveys (33 New Line, 84 Doubling and 02 Gauge Conversion) covering a total length of 6,414 Km have been sanctioned falling fully/partly in the State of Uttar Pradesh including Bundelkhand region. ……contd/3/3/ In last three years i.e. 2022-23, 2023-24, 2024-25 and current financial year 2025-26, 61 surveys (18 New Line & 43 Doubling) covering a total length of 5,901 Km have been sanctioned falling fully/partly in the State of Madhya Pradesh including Bundelkhand region. Some of the major survey are: SL Projects Sanctioned 1 Bypass RUR Virangna-Lakshmibai- Jhansi-Mustara DPR prepared (07 KM) 2 Manikpur-Katni-Jabalpur-Itarsi-3rd line (518 KM) DPR prepared 3 Dholpur-Jhansi-Bina 4th line (333KM) DPR prepared Completion of Railway project/s depends on various factors which include the following: ● Land acquisition ● 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 Amrit Bharat Station Scheme: 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. The master planning includes: ● Improvement of access to station and circulating areas ● Integration of station with both sides of city ……contd/4/4/ ● 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. 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, 1337 stations have been identified for development under Amrit Bharat Station Scheme, out of which 157 stations including Manikpur Junction station, are located in the state of Uttar Pradesh. The name of stations identified for development under Amrit Bharat Station Scheme in the state of Uttar Pradesh are as following: ……contd/5/5/ State No. of Name of Stations Stations Uttar 157 Achnera, Agra Cantt., Agra Fort, Aishbagh Jn, Akbarpur Jn, Pradesh Aligarh, Amethi, Amroha, Anand Nagar Jn., Aonla, Ayodhya Dham Junction, Azamgarh, Babatpur, Bachhrawan, Badaun, Badshahnagar, Badshahpur, Baheri, Bahraich, Balamau Jn., Ballia, Balrampur, Banaras, Banda, Barabanki Jn, Bareilly, Bareilly City, Barhni, Basti, Belthara Road, Bhadohi, Bharatkund, Bhatni, Bhuteshwar, Bijnor, Bulandsahar, Chandauli Majhwar, Chandausi, Chilbila, Chitrakut Dham Karwi, Chopan, Chunar Jn., Daliganj, Darshannagar, Deoria Sadar, Dhampur, Dildarnagar, Etawah Jn., Farrukhabad, Fatehabad, Fatehpur, Fatehpur Sikri, Firozabad, Gajraula, Garhmuktesar, Gauriganj, Ghatampur, Ghaziabad, Ghazipur City, Gola Gokarnath, Gomtinagar, Gonda, Gorakhpur, Govardhan, Govindpuri, Gursahaiganj, Haidergarh, Hapur, Hardoi, Hathras City, Idgah Agra Jn, Izzatnagar, Janghai Jn, Jaunpur City, Jaunpur Jn, Kannauj, Kanpur Anwarganj, Kanpur Bridge Left Bank, Kanpur Central, Kaptanganj Jn, Kasganj Jn, Kashi, Khalilabad, Khorason road, Khurja Jn., Kosi Kalan, Kunda Harnamganj, Lakhimpur, Lalganj, Lalitpur Jn, Lambhua, Lohta, Lucknow (Charbagh) NR, Lucknow city, Lucknow Jn. (NER), Maa Belha Devi Pratapgarh Junction, Maghar, Maharaja Bijli Pasi, Mahoba Jn, Mailani Jn, Mainpuri Jn, Malhaur, Manak Nagar, Manikpur Jn, Mariahu, Mathura Jn, Mau Jn, Meerut City Jn, Mirzapur, Modinagar, Mohanlalganj, Moradabad Jn, Muzaffarnagar, Nagina, Najibabad Jn, Orai, Panki Dham, Phaphamau Jn, Phulpur, Pilibhit Jn, Pokhrayan, Prayag Jn, Prayagraj Jn, Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhyay Jn , Rae Bareli Jn, Raja Ki Mandi, Ramghat Halt, Rampur Jn, Renukoot, Saharanpur Jn., Salempur, Seohara, Shahganj Jn, Shahjahanpur, Shamli, Shikohabad Jn., Shivpur, Siddharth nagar, Sitapur Jn., Sonbhadra, Sri Krishna Nagar, Sultanpur Jn, Suraimanpur, Swaminarayan Chappia, Takia, Tulsipur, Tundla Jn., Ujhani, Unchahar, Unnao Jn, Utraitia Jn, Varanasi Cantt., Varanasi City, Vindhyachal, Virangana Lakshmibai Jhansi, Vyasnagar, Zafarabad ……contd/6/6/ Development works at railway stations under Amrit Bharat Station Scheme in the state of Uttar Pradesh have been taken up at a good pace. Till now, works of 22 stations (Ayodhya Dham, Balrampur, Bareilly City, Bijnor, Fatehabad, Fatehpur, Gola Gokarnath, Gomtinagar, Govardhan, Govindpuri, Hathras City, Idgah Agra Jn, Izzatnagar, Mailani, Panki Dham, Pokhrayan, Ramghat Halt, Saharanpur Jn., Siddharth Nagar, Suraimanpur, Swaminarayan Chappia, Ujhani) in the state of Uttar Pradesh have been completed under this scheme. The works at other stations have also been taken up at good pace and progress of some of above stations is as given below: Manikpur Junction station: The work of construction of new G+1 service building including new waiting room and Government Railway Police (GRP) office, approach road, parking and Public Address Systems have been completed. The work of improvement of station building, construction of second entry building, circulating area, Divyangjan facilities, lighting, sewage treatment plant and 12 m Foot Over Bridge have been taken up. Banda station: The works of platform surfacing, drain in circulating area and boundary wall in parking area have been completed. The work of entrance gate have been taken up. Chitrakut Dham Karwi station: The works of improvement of station building, toilet, platform surfacing, main entrance gate, circulating area and landscaping have been completed. Further development / redevelopment / upgradation / modernisation of stations including provision of passenger amenities at stations on Indian Railways 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. The priority for development / redevelopment / upgradation / modernisation of stations is accorded to higher category of ……contd/7/7/ station over lower category of station while sanctioning and executing the works. Development / upgradation / modernisation of stations including under 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. The state of Uttar Pradesh is covered under the jurisdiction of five railway zones, namely East Central Railway, North Central Railway, Northern Railway, North Eastern Railway and West Central Railway. For these zones, an allocation of ₹ 4,358 crore has been made for the financial year 2025-26, out of which an expenditure (up to October, 2025) of ₹ 2,288 crore has been incurred so far. Development / Upgradation of railway 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. Therefore, no time frame can be indicated at this stage. *****