Parliament Question: Renewal of Railway Tracks

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3087 TO BE ANSWERED ON 11.03.2026 RENEWAL OF RAILWAY TRACKS †3087. SMT. VIJAYLAKSHMI DEVI: SHRI CHANDRA PRAKASH CHOUDHARY: SHRI DILESHWAR KAMAIT: Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state: (a) the total number of track kilometers (route kilometers) identified for renewal across the entire rail network particularly in North-Eastern Railway Network; (b) the year-wise targets for track renewal and new track installation during the last seven years; (c) State-wise details of the actual route kilometers of track renewal and new track installation during this period especially in Jharkhand including pending work, zone-wise; (d) the current status of the Parasnath-Madhuban-Giridih new railway line project, the foundation stone of which was laid in 2019; (e) the status of renewal of rail network in the States including Bihar and Kolkata; and (f) whether the Government proposes to construct new railway lines in the States including Bihar and Kolkata and if so, the details thereof? ANSWER MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, INFORMATION & BROADCASTING AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW) (a) to (f) Upgradation and renewal of tracks is a continuous and ongoing process. The track renewal is carried out as per the laid down criteria based on age, traffic carried, condition etc. §Track Renewal Works are planned and executed duly prioritizing the condition of track and various other factors so as to ensure that track is safe for running of trains at permitted speed. The details of track renewal carried out across the entire railway network during 2014-26 (up to Feb’26) are as under: Track renewed ~ 54600 Km The above track renewal includes railway tracks situated in North- Eastern region, Jharkhand, Bihar and Kolkata. Further, following measures are being taken to upgrade the railway tracks: i. Modern track structure consisting of 60 kg, 90 Ultimate Tensile Strength (UTS) rails, Wider and heavier Pre-stressed Concrete Sleepers (PSC) with elastic fastening, fan-shaped layout turnout on PSC sleepers and H-beam Sleepers on girder bridges are being used while carrying out primary track renewals. ii. The Thick Web Switches and Weldable CMS Crossings are being used in turnout renewal works. iii. Supply of 260 meter long rail panels have been increased to avoid welding of joints, thereby improving safety. iv. Thick Web Switch Expansion Joints are being used in place of earlier Conventional/Improved SEJs. v. Adoption of better welding technology for rails i.e. Flash Butt Welding. vi. Adoption of mechanized system for track maintenance using high output plain tampers and points & crossing tampers for improved maintainability & reliability of track. vii. Deployment of state-of-the-art modern machines including Rail Grinding Machines to further improve asset reliability. §viii. Mechanisation of track laying activities through use of track machines like PQRS, TRT, T-28 etc. ix. Use of advanced Phased Array technology of testing of rail and welds. x. Deployment of Integrated Track Monitoring Systems (ITMS) and Oscillation Monitoring System (OMS) for comprehensive health assessment to ascertain optimal maintenance requirements. xi. Adoption of portable Track Measuring Trolley for continuous recording of track parameters in yards. xii. Using web enabled Track Management System (TMS) for integration and data analytics of the track inspection records received through various sources to enable precise maintenance inputs. Parasnath–Giridih–Madhuban New Line: Parasnath–Giridih–Madhuban New Line Project was sanctioned in 2018–19 on 50:50 cost – sharing basis with the Government of Jharkhand, at an estimated cost of ₹903 Cr. Accordingly, Railways requested the State Government to deposit its share of the cost. However, the Government of Jharkhand is yet to deposit its share. As a result, the project has not progressed. Jharkhand: Budget allocation in the recent years has increased significantly. Budget allocation for infrastructure projects falling fully/partly in the State of Jharkhand is as under:- Period Outlay 2009-14 ₹457 Cr./Yr 2025-26 ₹7306 Cr. (approx. 16 times) §As on 01.04.2025, 26 projects (9 New Lines and 17 Doubling), of total length of 2363 Km, costing ₹47,729 crore falling fully/partly in the State of Jharkhand including those which are in planning/approval/construction stage, out of which, 598 km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of ₹15,845 crore has been incurred upto March, 2025. The summary is as under:- Category No. of Total Length Total Exp. projects Length Commissioned till Upto March, (in Km) March, 2025 (in 2025 Km) (Rs. in Cr.) New Lines 9 749 156 4239 Doubling/Mu- 17 1614 442 11606 lti tracking Total 26 2363 598 15845 The details of commissioning/ laying of new track falling fully/partly in the State of Jharkhand is as under:- Period New Track Average Commissioning Commissioned of new tracks 2009-14 287 Km 57.4 Km 2014-25 1316 Km 119.64 Km (More than 2 times) During last three years (i.e. 2022-2023, 2023-24, 2024-2025 and current Financial Year i.e. 2025-26), total 85 Nos. of Surveys (18 New Line, 67 §Doubling) falling fully/partly in the State of Jharkhand having a total length of 3303 Km have been sanctioned. West Bengal: Budget allocation in the recent years has increased significantly. Budget allocation for infrastructure projects and safety works, falling fully/partly in the State of West Bengal is as under:- Period Outlay 2009-14 Rs.4,380 Cr./year 2025-26 Rs. 13,955 Cr. (More than 3 times) As on 01.04.2025, 42 projects (12 New Lines, 04 Gauge Conversions and 26 Doubling), of total length of 4402 Km, costing ₹67,991 crore falling fully/partly in the State of West Bengal are sanctioned, out of which, 1702 km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of ₹23,410 crore has been incurred up to March, 2025. The summary is as under: Category No. of Total Length Total Exp. upto projects Length Commissioned March, 2025 (in Km) till March, 2025 (Rs. in Cr.) (in Km) New Lines 12 1,032 337 11,368 Gauge 4 1,201 854 3,673 Conversion Doubling/Mu 26 2,169 511 8,370 lti-tracking Total 42 4,402 1,702 23,410 §Details of some of the recently completed projects falling fully/partly in the State of West Bengal are as under: Cost S. No. Project (Rs. in Cr.) 1 Rampurhat-Mandarhill new line Rampurhat- 1,500 Murarai 3rd line (159 Km) 2 Azimganj-Murshidabad new line (7 Km) 164 3 Bardhaman-Katwa Gauge Conversion (52 Km) 696 4 Ahmedpur-KatwaGauge Conversion (52 Km) 440 5 Panskura Kharagpur Doubling (45 Km) 408 6 Lalgola – Jiaganj Doubling (23 Km) 124 7 Krishnanagar-Bethuadahari Doubling (28 Km) 152 8 Nabadwipdham-Patuli Doubling (22 Km) 170 9 Bethuadhahari-Plassey Doubling (23 km) 132 10 Ambikakalna-Nabadwipdham Doubling (23 km) 145 11 Nalhati-Sagardighi Doubling (26 km) 193 12 Tamluk Jn.- BasulyaSutahata Doubling (24 km) 245 13 Plassey- Jiaganj Doubling (54 km) 234 14 Azimganj-Manigram Doubling (21 km) 150 15 New Coochbehar-Gumanihat Doubling (29 km) 330 16 New Coochbehar-Samuktala Road Doubling (29 445 km) 17 Sainthia-Tarapith 3rd line (22 Km) 186 §Cost S. No. Project (Rs. in Cr.) 18 Ambari Falakata-New Maynaguri Doubling (37 843 km) 19 Bandel-Boinchi - 3rd line (31 km) 546 20 Boinchi-Shaktigarh 3rd line (26 km) 424 21 Bazar Sau-Azimganj Jn. Doubling (42 km) 343 22 Sagardighi- Malda Town Doubling (25 Km) 248 23 Kharagpur-Narayangarh 3rd line (24 km) 270 24 Monigram-Nimtita Doubling (24 Km) 713 25 Purulia-Kotshila Doubling (36 Km) 393 Some of the projects falling fully/partly in the State of West Bengal which have been taken up are as under: SN. Project Cost (Rs. in Cr.) 1 Tarakeshwar-Bishnupur New Line (83 Km) 1,542 2 Sivok-Rangpo New Line (44 Km) 11,973 3 Balurghat-Hilli New Line (30 Km) 1,209 4 Kaliyaganj-Buniadpur New Line (33 Km) 1,147 5 Katihar-Kumedpur and Katihar-Mukuria Doubling 943 (65 Km) 6 Kharagpur-Adityapur 3rd line (132 Km) 3,250 7 Narayangarh-Bhadrak 3rd line (153 Km) 2,136 8 Chandil-Anara-Damodar 3rdLine(121 Km) 1,932 §9 Kalipahari-Bakhtarnagar 5th Line (18Km) 350 10 Dankuni-Baltikuri 3rd & 4th line (18 Km) 429 11 Murarai-Barharwa 3rd Line (49 Km) 935 12 Ranaghat-Krishnanagar City 3rd Line (26 Km) 446 13 Aluabari Road-New Jalpaiguri 3rd & 4th Line (57 1,630 Km) During last three years (i.e. 2022-2023, 2023-24, 2024-25 and current Financial Year i.e. 2025-26), total 97 Nos. of Surveys (10 New Line, 87 Doubling) falling fully/partly in the State of West Bengal having a total length of 4,004 Km have been sanctioned. Kolkata Metro: Metro project in Kolkata started in 1972. The details of the Metro commissioned since then are as under: Period Metro Commissioned 1972 to 2014 ( 42 years) 28 km 2014 to 2025 ( 11 years) 45 km Presently, 4 metro corridors of total 52 km are under construction in and around Kolkata out of which 20 Km is held up due to land acquisition and utility shifting issues pertaining to State Government. The status of these corridors is as given below: (i) Joka – Esplanade (14 km):- Joka - Majerhat (7.74 km) has been commissioned and balance work from Majerhat to Esplanade (6.62 km) has been taken up. However, progress of the work is affected due to the §following issues: S.No. Location Issues 1. Khidderpur Metro 1. 837 square meter permanent and 1702 Station sq.m. temporary land of Kolkata Armed Police (KAP) was required for utility shifting and road traffic diversion for which proposal was sent to State Government on 24.08.2020. 2. Multiple meetings with officials of Government of West Bengal (GoWB) were held. 3. State Government finally accorded approval on 09.07.2025 after almost 5 years. 2. Dr. B.C. Roy 1. For construction of Esplanade Metro Market Station, temporary shifting of unauthorised 528 Shops at B.C. Roy Market on Defence land was required. The proposal for NOC of temporary shifting of market was submitted in February, 2022. 2. Shops for temporary shifting were also constructed. 3. The State Government has been requested to facilitate shifting. Regular coordination with PWD is being done also, a meeting was held with Hon’ble Mayor of Kolkata on 30.07.2025. 4. Issue is pending for more than 3.5 years. §(ii) New Garia - Dum Dum Airport (32 km): New Garia – Belaghata (9.8 km) has been commissioned and balance work from Belaghata to Dum Dum Airport (22.2 km) has been taken up. However, progress of the work is affected due to the following issues: S.No. Location Issues 1. Chingrighata Crossing 1. Temporary traffic diversion at (Between Beleghata – Chingrighata crossing for launching Gour Kishore Ghosh of viaduct segments is required for 3 station) + 3 nights (8 hours each) on each side of road alternately. The proposal was submitted to Government of West Bengal (GoWB) in February, 2025. 2. The diversion road as desired by Kolkata traffic police has already been constructed in February, 2025. 3. Multiple meetings were held with various State Government and Kolkata police officials for NOC. 4. The NOC is still awaited even after about 10 months. (iii) Noapara – Barasat (18 km): Noapara- Jai Hind Airport (6.77 km) has been commissioned and work from Jai Hind Airport to Michael Nagar is in progress. However, work from New Barrackpore to Barasat (7.5 Km) is held up due to land acquisition and encroachment issues by State authorities. S.No. Location Issues 1. New 1. Land acquisition (23000 sq. m) and Barrackpore removal of heavy encroachments (1277 §to Barasat hutments, 764 shops) are involved in this section. 2. The matter is not yet resolved by GoWB. (iv) Baranagar- Barrackpore - Dakshineshwar (14.5 km):Baranagar- Dakshineshwar(2 km) has been commissioned and balance work from Baranagar to Barrackpore (12.5 Km) is held up due to pending utility shifting in the alignment by state government authorities. S.No. Location Issues 1. Baranagar 1. The original alignment along the B.T to road was agreed in 2011 as per MoU between Barrackpore Metro Railway, RVNL and Kolkata Municipal Corporation. 2. As per MoU, existing pipeline was to be replaced by new 64 inch pipeline by the State Government. 3. Shifting of 64 inch pipeline was completed in 2012. 4. Now, the State Government is insisting for construction of a new 90 inch pipeline costing about ₹1400 crore. 5. The demand is not covered under the cost of the project and MoU provisions. 6. NOC is still awaited from GoWB. §Bihar: Budget allocation for Infrastructure projects and safety works, falling fully/partly in the State of Bihar is as under: Period Outlay ₹1,132 Cr./year 2009-14 ₹10,066 Cr. (Nearly 9 times) 2025-26 The details of commissioning/laying of new track falling fully/partly in the State of Bihar during 2009-14 and 2014-25 is as under :- New Track Average Commissioning of new Period Commissioned tracks 318 Km 63.6 Km 2009-14 1,899 Km 172.6 (More than 2.5 times) 2014-25 As on 01.04.2025, 52 projects (31 New Lines, 01 Gauge Conversions and 20 Doubling), of a total length of 4,663 km, costing ₹86,107 crore, falling fully/partly in Bihar, are sanctioned, out of which 1,250 km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of ₹29,353 crore has been incurred upto March’ 2025. The summary is as under:- Total Length Total Exp No of Length Commissioned upto Category sanctioned NL/GC/DL till Mar'25 Mar'25 Projects (in Km) (in Km) (₹ in Cr) New Lines 31 2,691 516 16,814 Gauge 1 69 52 544 Conversion §Doubling/Multi- 20 1,904 446 11,995 tracking Total 52 4,663 1,014 29,353 Details of some of the recently completed projects falling fully/partly in Bihar are as under:- SN. Project Cost (In Crores of Rs) 1 Munger Bridge (19 km) 2,774 2 Kosi Bridge (22 Km) 516 3 Patna Bridge (40 Km) 3,555 4 Hajipur-Bachwara Doubling (72 km) 930 5 Kiul-Gaya Doubling (123 km) 1,200 6 KarotaPatner-Mankatha - Surface triangle (8 129 km) 7 Rampurhat-Mandarhill New Line and 1,500 Rampurhat-Murarai- 3rd line (160 km) 8 Jaynagar-Darbhanga-Narkatiaganj and 1,193 Narkatiaganj-Bhikhna Tori Gauge Conversion (295 Km) 9 Sakri-Laukaha Bazar-Nirmali & Saharsa- 2,113 Forbesganj Gauge Conversion (206 Km) 10 Bakhtiyarpur Flyover (4 Km) 402 §11 Katareah-Kursela Patch Doubling incl. bridge on 222 river Kosi (7 km) 12 Araria-Galgalia New Line (111 Km) 4, 415 Some of the projects falling fully/partly in the State of Bihar which have been taken up are as under: SN. Project Cost (Rs. in Cr.) 1 Sitamarhi-Sheohar New Line (28 Km) 567 2 Sakri-Hasanpur New Line (76 Km) 735 3 Khagaria-Kusheshwarsthan New Line (42 Km) 1,511 4 Neora-Daniawan–Biharsharif - Barbigha- 2,200 Shekhpura New Line (166 Km) 5 Koderma-Tilaiya New Line (65 Km) 1,626 6 Hajipur-Sagauli New Line (151 Km) 2,087 7 Araria-Supaul New Line (96 Km) 1,605 8 Vikramshila-Katareah New Line with Bridge over 2,090 River Ganga(26 Km) 9 Pirpainti-Jasidih New Line (97 Km) excluding 2,140 Hansdiha-Godda New Line (30 Km) 10 Sonnagar – Patratu multitracking (291 Km) 5,148 11 Samastipur – Darbhanga Doubling (38 Km) 624 12 Rampur Dumra - Tal-Rajendra Pul-Additional 1,677 bridge and doubling (14 Km) §13 Sagauli-Valmiknagar Doubling (110 Km) 1,280 14 Muzaffarpur-Sagauli Doubling (101 Km) 1,465 15 Barauni- Bachwara 3rd & 4th line (32 Km) 124 16 Son Nagar – Andal Multi tracking (749 Km) 12,334 17 Bakhtiyarpur-Rajgir-Tilaiya doubling (104 Km) 2,192 18 Bakthiyarpur-Fatuha 3rd and 4th line (24 Km) 931 During last three years (i.e. 2022-2023, 2023-24, 2024-25 and current financial year 2025-26), total 92 Nos. of Surveys (16 New Line, 76 Doubling) falling fully/partly in the State of Bihar having a total length of 4,530 Km have been sanctioned. Zonal Railway wise details of Railway projects are made available in public domain on Indian Railway’s website. Sanction of any railway project depend upon many parameters/factors which include the following:  Anticipated traffic projections and Remunerativeness of the proposed route  First and last mile connectivity provided by the project  Connection of missing links and providing additional route  Augmentation of congested/saturated lines  Demands raised by State Governments/Central Ministries/Public representatives,  Railway’s own operational requirements  Socio-economic considerations  Overall availability of funds §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. ***** §