Parliament Question: Rail infrastructure expansion projects in Punjab

O.I.H GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS RAJYA SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 375 ANSWERED ON 27.03.2026 RAIL INFRASTRUCTURE EXPANSION PROJECTS IN PUNJAB *375# DR. SANDEEP KUMAR PATHAK: Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state: (a) the current status of the doubling, new line and electrification projects approved by Railways in Punjab, the details thereof, project-wise; (b) the kilometres of railway track constructed, doubled or electrified in the State during the last three years, year-wise; (c) the funds allocated for these projects during the said period and the actual expenditure incurred, the details thereof; and (d) whether any special package or priority scheme has been proposed to strengthen railway connectivity in areas adjoining the India–Pakistan border, if so, the details thereof? ANSWER MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, INFORMATION & BROADCASTING AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW) (a) to (d): A Statement is laid on the Table of the House. ***** §STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (d) OF STARRED QUESTION NO.375 BY DR. SANDEEP KUMAR PATHAK ANSWERED IN RAJYA SABHA ON 27.03.2026 REGARDING RAIL INFRASTRUCTURE EXPANSION PROJECTS IN PUNJAB (a) to (d): Budget allocation for Infrastructure projects and safety works, falling fully/partly in the Punjab is as under: Period Outlay 2009-14 ₹225 crore/year 2025-26 ₹ 5,421 Cr. (More than 24 times) Projects Sanctioned: As on 01.04.2025, 09 projects (04 new line and 05 doubling) of total length 714 Km, costing Rs.21,926 crore, falling fully/partly in the Punjab are in different stages of planning/sanctioning/execution, out of which 115 Km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of Rs.8,079 crore has been incurred upto March’ 2025. The summary is as under:- Category No. of Total Length Length Expenditure upto March projects Commissioned 2025 (Rs.in Crore) New line 04 252 Km 64 Km 7,359 Doubling 05 462 Km 51 Km 720 /multitracking Total 09 714 Km 115 Km 8,079 Recently Completed Projects: Details of some of the recently completed projects falling fully/partly in the Punjab are as under: Cost S. No. Project (Rs. in Cr.) 1 Chakki Bank-Bharoli Doubling (3 Km) 15 2 Jakhal- Mansa Doubling (45 Km) 163 3 Mirthal-Bhangala Beas River Doubling (2.5 Km) 74 4 Ambala-Dhapper-Chandigarh Doubling (45 Km) 339 5 Mansa – Bhatinda Doubling (49 Km) 216 6 Amritsar - Chheharta Doubling (7 Km) 31 7 Jallandhar-Pathankot-Jammu Tawi Doubling (209 km) 850 Kathua-Madhopur Punjab - doubling including Bridge on Ravi (2.5 257 8 Km) 9 Rajpura-Bhatinda Doubling (173 Km) 2,459 Page 1 of 5Ongoing Projects: Some of the projects falling fully/partly in the Punjab which have been taken up are as under: SN. Project Cost (Rs. in Cr.) 1 Nangal Dam-Talwara - Mukerian New line (123 Km) 2,018 2 Bhanupalli-Bilaspur-Beri New Line(63 Km) 6,753 3 Qadian-Beas New Line(40 km) 842 4 Ferozpur-Patti New Line (26 Km) 300 5 Rama Mandi( Raman)-Maur Mandi(Maur) via Talwandi Sabo ( 29 154 km) New Line 6 Ludhiana-Kila Raipur doubling (19 Km) 238 7 Ludhiana-Mullanpur doubling (21 Km) 235 8 Rajpura-Mohali New Line (18 km) 443 9 Rajpura Bypass line (14 km) 412 Details of some major projects which are delayed due to land acquisition are as under: - SN Name of the project Total land Land Balance Land to be required acquired acquired (in Ha) (in Ha) (in Ha) 1 Firozpur-Patti new line 166 0 166 2 Alal-Himmatana Chord line 20 0 20 3 Qadian-Beas New Line 151 0 151 4 Rama Mandi( Raman)- Talwandi 85 0 85 Sabo New Line Details of Projects delayed on account of State Govt: Firozpur-Patti New line (26 km): Firozpur-Patti New line (26 km) situated fully in Punjab is an important project near the international border. This project was sanctioned in the year 2017-18 at a cost of Rs.300 crore. Land for this project was to be handed over free of cost by State Government of Punjab. However, land acquisition was not done by State Government. Total 166 Ha land is to be acquired in the districts of Firozpur and Tarn Taran. Considering importance of this project on strategic consideration, it has been decided to take up this new line project at Central Government cost including land acquisition. Now, Land acquisition is in advanced stage and Award has been declared. Page 2 of 5Rama Mandi-Sadda Singhwala New Line via Talwandi Sabo (43 km): To provide direct rail connectivity to Talwandi Sabo, the work of new rail line between Rama Mandi to Sadda Singhwala via Talwandi Sabo was sanctioned at an estimated cost of Rs. 231 Crore. Land for this project was to be handed over free of cost by State Government of Punjab. However, land acquisition was not started by State Government of Punjab even after passage of several years. Considering importance of this project for providing direct connectivity to Takht Shri Damdama Sahib at Talwandi Sabo, it has been decided to take up this new line project at Central Government cost including land acquisition. Qadian – Beas New line (40 km): Qadian-Beas (40 Km) New Rail Line Project was sanctioned in 2011-12. However, the project could not be taken forward due to law and order issues. The project was then kept in abeyance. However, considering importance of this project, it has been decided to take up the work again. Government of India is geared up to execute projects, however success depends upon the support of Government of Punjab. 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. All these factors affect the completion time and cost of the project/s Railway Electrification : Electrification of railway network on Indian Railways has been taken up in mission mode. So far, about 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 Kilometer Before 2014 (about 60 years) 21,801 2014-25 46,900 Page 3 of 5In, Punjab, entire existing BG network has been electrified. Further, all new line/multi-tracking projects are being sanctioned and constructed with electrification. Since 2022-23, 934Rkm electrification has been done in Punjab. ROB/RUBs: Sanctioning and execution of works of Road Over Bridges/ Road Under Bridges (ROBs/RUBs) is a continuous and ongoing process on Indian Railways. Such works are prioritized and taken up on the basis of its impact on safety and mobility in train operations and impact on road users. No. of ROBs/ RUBs constructed on Indian Railways during the period 2004-14 vis a vis 2014-26 (Upto Jan’26) is as under: Period ROBs/ RUBs constructed 2004-14 4,148 Nos. 2014-26 (Upto Jan’26) 14,024 Nos. (including 434 Nos. in the State of Punjab) As on 01.02.2026, 4802 no. ROBs/RUBs are sanctioned at cost of Rs. 114196 Cr on Indian Railways including 120 Nos. Road Over Bridge (ROB)/Road Under Bridge (RUB) at a cost of ₹ 1,848 crore in the State of Punjab which are at various stages of planning and execution. 18 Nos. ROBs/RUBs are delayed on account of the Govt. of Punjab. The details are as under: Reason ROBs/RUBs (in No.) Delay in Land Acquisition by State Govt. 10 NOC awaited from State Authority. 07 Shifting of utilities 01 Completion of any ROB/RUB work depends on various factors like, fixing of approach alignment, approval of General Arrangement Drawing (GAD), land acquisition, removal of encroachment, shifting of infringing utilities, statutory clearances from various authorities, law and order situation in the area of project / work sites, number of working months in a year for particular project / work sites due to climatic conditions etc. All these factors affect the completion time of the projects / works. Railways have taken following measures to expedite the progress of work: i. Joint survey with concerned State Govt./Road Owning Authority is done before finalizing the General Arrangement Drawing (GAD) to ensure smooth execution. Page 4 of 5ii. Periodic meetings of Railway & State Government officials are done to resolve various issues related to ROB/RUB works. iii. Standardization of superstructure drawings for various combinations of span, skewness and width of road on Railway portion has been done to avoid delays during the design approval. This has been issued in the form of compendium, which can be directly adopted for Road Over Bridge across Railway lines for expeditious planning. ***** Page 5 of 5