Parliament Question: Sanctioned/Completed Railway Projects in Bihar

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 588 TO BE ANSWERED ON 22.07.2026 SANCTIONED/COMPLETED RAILWAY PROJECTS IN BIHAR

588. DR. ALOK KUMAR SUMAN:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

(a) the details of railway infrastructure projects sanctioned and completed in Bihar during the last three years, project-wise;

(b) whether any new railway lines, doubling and electrification projects are under implementation in the State and their present status and if so, the details thereof;

(c) the details of funds allocated and utilized for railway safety and modernization in Bihar during the said period;

(d) whether the Government proposes to introduce new Vande Bharat or Amrit Bharat train services connecting Bihar with major metropolitan cities and if so, the details thereof; and

(e) the details of the steps taken to improve passenger amenities and freight infrastructure in the country? ANSWER MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, INFORMATION & BROADCASTING AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

(a) to (e): Railway Budget:

Budget allocation in the recent years has increased significantly. Budget allocation for infrastructure projects falling fully/partly in the Bihar is as

under:- Period Outlay 2009-14 ₹1,132 Cr./year 2026-27 ₹10,379 Cr. (More than 9 times) § Page 1 of 14Track construction:

The details of commissioning/laying of new track falling fully/partly in the

State of Bihar is as under:- Period New Track Average Commissioning of new tracks Commissioned 2009-14 318 Km 63.6 Km/year 2014-26 2,034 Km 169.5 Km/year (More than 2.5 times)

Projects sanctioned:

As on 01.04.2026, 59 projects (32 New Lines, 01 Gauge Conversions and 26 Doubling), covering a total length of 5,067 km, costing ₹96,651 crore, falling fully/partly in Bihar are sanctioned. The summary is as under:- Category No of Total Length Total Exp upto sanctioned Length Commissioned Mar'26 Projects (in Km) till Mar'26 (₹ in Cr) (in Km) New Lines 32 2,616 533 14,806 Gauge 1 69 52 544 Conversion Doubling/Multi- 26 2,382 465 14,509 tracking Total 59 5,067 1,050 29,860

Recently completed projects:

Details of some of the recently completed projects falling fully/partly in Bihar

are as under:- SN. Project Cost (In Crores of Rs) 1 Patna bridge (28 Km) 3,310 2 Munger rail cum road Bridge (15 Km) 3,040 3 Kosi Bridge (22 Km) 863 4 Daniawan-Biharsharif new line (38 Km) 354 5 Chandan-Banka new line (40 Km) 496 Page 2 of 146 Rampurhat-Mandarhill new line (130 Km) 908 7 Maharajganj-Masrakh new line (35 Km) 412 8 Rajgir-Tilaiya & Natesar-lslampur new line (67 Km) 726 9 Jaynagar-Narkatiaganj gauge conversion (260 Km) 967 10 Kaptanganj-Chhapra gauge conversion (234 Km) 819 11 Sakri-Nirmali, Saharasa-Forbesganj gauge 2,113 conversion (206 Km) 12 Mansi-Saharsa, Saharsa-Purnia, Banmakhi- 752 Bihariganj gauge conversion (169 Km) 13 Sahibganj-Pirpainti doubling (23 Km) 129 14 Maheshkunt-Thanabihpur doubling (32 Km) 115 15 Hajipur-Ramdayalu Nagar doubling (48 Km) 367 16 Pirpainti-Bhagalpur doubling (51 Km) 493 17 Kiul-Gaya doubling (124 Km) 2,462 18 Hajipur-Bachwara doubling (72 Km) 930 19 Araria-Galgalia (Thakurganj) new line (110 Km) 2,132 20 Samastipur-Darbhanga Doubling (38 Km) 874

Ongoing projects:

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 Sakri-Hasanpur new line (76 Km) 802 2 Fatuha-lslampur new line (167 Km) 3,158 3 Koderma-Tilaiya new line (65 Km) 2,287 4 Hajipur-Sagauli new line (151 Km) 2,820 5 Araria-Supaul new line (96 Km) 2,170 6 Kursela-Bihariganj new line (58 Km) 194 7 Pirpainti-Jassidih new line (97 Km) 2,700 8 Chhitauni-Tumkuhi Road new line (59 Km) 1,881 9 Jalalgarh-Kishanganj new line (51 Km) 407 10 Sitamarhi-Nirmali new line (189 Km) 2,833 11 Bihta-Aurangabad new line (120 Km) 3,606 12 Gaya-Chatra and Gaya-Natesar new line (135 Km) 4,543 13 Sultanganj-Katuria new line (77 Km) 291 Page 3 of 1414 Jaynagar-Bijalpura Gauge conversion (69 Km) 900 15 Dhanbad-Sonnagar 3rd line (291 Km) 7,906 16 Sagauli-Valmikinagar Doubling (110 Km) 1,456 17 Muzaffarpur-Sugauli Doubling (101 Km) 1,745 18 Barauni-Bachwara 3rd & 4th line (32 Km) 486 19 Narkatiaganj-Darbhanga, Sitamarhi-Muzaffarpur 4,080 doubling (256 Km) 20 Chhapra-Ballia Patch Doubling (65 Km) 1,046 21 Katihar-Kumedpur and Katihar-Mukuria Doubling 943 (65 Km) 22 Son Nagar-Andal Multitracking (749 Km) 12,334 23 Punarakh- Bhaktiyarpur New 4th line & balance 422 3rd line (28 Km) 24 Aluabari Road-Thakurganj Doubling (20 Km) 327 25 Bhagalpur-Jamalpur 3rd line (53 Km) 1,156 26 Bhagalpur-Dumka-Rampurhat doubling (177 Km) 3,169 27 Bakhtiyarpur-Rajgir-Tilaiya doubling (104 Km) 2,192 28 Bakthiyarpur-Fatuha 3rd and 4th line (24 Km) 931 29 Punarakh-Kiul 3rd and 4th line (50 Km) 2,668 30 Kiul-Jhajha 3rd Line (54 Km) 962 31 Mansi-Saharsa doubling (44 Km) 499

Electrification :

Electrification of railway network on Indian Railways has been taken up in mission mode. So far, about 99.6% of Broad Gauge (BG) network has been electrified. The electrification in remaining network has been taken up.

Electrification carried out during 2014-26 and before 2014 is as under:

Period Route Kilometer Before 2014 (about 60 21,801 years) 2014-26 48,072 In Bihar, entire existing BG network has been electrified. Further, all new line / multi-tracking projects are being sanctioned and constructed with electrification.

Page 4 of 14ROBs & RUBs:

Sanctioning of works of Road over Bridge (ROB)/Road under Bridge (RUB) in lieu of Level crossings (LCs) is a continuous and dynamic process of Indian Railway. Such works are prioritised and taken up on the basis of their impact on safety in train operations, mobility of trains & impact for road users and feasibility etc.

No. of ROBs/ RUBs constructed on Indian Railways during the period 2004-14 vis a vis 2014-26 (Upto May'2026) is as under:

Period ROBS/ RUBS constructed 2004-14 4,148 2014-26 (Upto May'26) 14,451 (580 in the State of Bihar) As on 01.06.2026, 4,993 Nos. ROBs/ RUBs works are sanctioned at a cost of approx. ₹1,17,492 Cr on Indian Railways including 328 Nos. ROBs/ RUBs works at a cost of approx. ₹12,250 Cr in the state of Bihar which are at various stages of planning and execution.

During 2023-26 (Upto May'26), 192 Nos. ROBs/ RUBs works were constructed in the state of Bihar and 201 Nos. ROBs/ RUBs works are sanctioned at a cost of approx. ₹7,032 Cr in the state of Bihar which are at various stages of planning and execution.

Completion & commissioning of ROB/RUB works depends on various factors like cooperation of State Governments in giving consent for closure of LC, 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, duration of working season in a year for the particular project / area due to climatic conditions etc. All these factors affect the completion time of the projects / works.

Further, 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. ii. Periodic meetings of Railway & State Government officials are done to resolve various issues related to ROB/RUB works.

Page 5 of 14iii. Standardization of superstructure and substructure drawings for various combinations of span, skewness and width of road on the Railway portion has been done to avoid delays during the design approval.

Station Redevelopment:

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.

The 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, 1,340 stations have been identified for development under this scheme, out of which 98 stations are located in Bihar. The names of stations identified for development under Amrit Bharat Station Scheme in Bihar are as

following:

State No. of Name of Stations Stations Bihar 98 Anugraha Narayan Road, Ara, Arariya Court, Bakhtiyarpur, Banka, Banmankhi, Bapudham Page 6 of 14Motihari, Barahiya, Barauni, Barh, Barsoi Jn, Begusarai, Bettiah, Bhabua Road, Bhagalpur, Bhagwanpur, Bihar Sharif, Bihiya, Bikramganj, Buxar, Chakia, Chausa, Chhapra, Dalsingh Sarai, Darbhanga, Dauram Madhepura, Dehri On Sone, Dholi, Dighwara, Dumraon, Durgauti, Ekma, Fatuha, Gaya, Ghorasahan, Guraru, Hajipur Jn, Jamalpur Jn, Jamui, Janakpur Road, Jaynagar, Jehanabad, Jhanjharpur, Kahalgaon, Karhagola Road, Katihar Jn, Khagaria Jn, Kishanganj, Kudra, Labha, Laheria Sarai, Lakhminia, Luckeesarai Jn, Madhubani, Maheshkhunt, Mairwa, Mansi Jn, Masrakh, Mokama, Motipur, Munger

(Monghyr), Muzaffarpur Jn, Nabinagar Road, Narkatiaganj Jn, Naugachia, Nawadah, Paharpur, Patliputra, Patna Jn, Piro, Pirpainti, Rafiganj, Raghunathpur., Rajendra Nagar Terminal (Patna), Rajgir, Ram Dayalu Nagar, Raxaul, Sabaur, Sagauli, Saharsa, Sahibpur Kamal, Sakri, Salauna, Salmari, Samastipur, Sasaram, Shahpur Patoree, Shivanarayanpur, Simri Bakhtiyarpur, Simultala, Sitamarhi, Siwan, Sonpur Jn., Sultanganj, Supaul, Taregna, Thakurganj, Thawe

Completed stations:

Development works at railway stations under Amrit Bharat Station Scheme in Bihar have been taken up at a good pace. Details of stations completed in

Bihar are as under:

State No. of Name of Stations Stations Bihar 08 Banmankhi, Dauram Madhepura, Kahalgaon, Page 7 of 14Pirpainti, Sabaur, Shivanarayanpur, Simultala, Thawe The activities for development at other stations have also been taken up at

good pace and progress of some of the stations is as given below:  Saharsa station: The works of new main entry station building, parking, improvement to circulating area, platform shelter, entrance gate and boundary wall have been completed. The work of 12 m wide foot over bridge has been taken up.

 Salauna station: The works of new main entry station building, platform shelter, improvement of circulating area, entrance gate and boundary wall have been completed. The work of 12 m wide foot over bridge has been taken up.

 Sonpur Junction station: The works of new atrium building, booking counter, improvement of station building, improvement of circulating area, parking and entrance porch have been completed. The work of 12 m wide foot over bridge has been taken up.

 Anugraha Narayan Road station: The works of extension of platform no. 1/2 & 3/4, improvement of platform surface of platform no. 1/2 & 3/4 and new toilet block have been completed. The works of improvement of station building, improvement of circulating area, entry/exit gate, water booths, platform shelter and 6 m wide foot over bridge have been taken up.

 Luckeesarai Junction station: The works of new main entry station building, extension of foot over bridge and improvement of circulating area have been completed. The work of lift for existing foot over bridge has been taken up.

Further, development/redevelopment/upgradation/modernisation of 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. Development / redevelopment/upgradation/modernisation of a station is carried out based on category of station/condition/traffic handled etc.

Development/Upgradation of railway stations is a complex in nature involving safety of passengers & trains and requires various statutory clearances such as tree cutting, heritage, fire clearance, airport clearance etc. These stations Page 8 of 14are in operation since long, so brownfield work challenges are being faced, such as shifting of utilities (involving water/sewage lines, optical fibre cables, gas pipelines, power/signal cables, etc.), infringements, operation of trains without hindering passenger movement, speed restrictions due to works carried out in close proximity of the tracks and near to high voltage power lines, etc. and these factors affect the progress of work and completion time.

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 station-wise or state-wise. Bihar is covered under the jurisdiction of four railway zones, namely, Eastern Railway, East Central Railway, North Eastern Railway and Northeast Frontier Railway.

For these zones, an allocation of ₹6,903 crore has been made for the last three financial years and the current financial year, out of which an expenditure (up to June, 2026) of ₹6,021 crore has been incurred so far.

Vande Bharat & Amrit Bharat Express Trains:

As the railway network straddles across State boundaries, trains are introduced, as per network requirement, across such boundaries. However, Indian Railways, on originating/terminating basis, have introduced 11 pairs of Vande Bharat Express and 14 pairs of Amrit Bharat Express services catering to the needs of various stations located in the State of Bihar. These

are listed below:

Vande Bharat Express:

SN Train No. and Name 1 22349/22350 Patna - Ranchi Vande Bharat Express 2 22347/22348 Howrah - Patna Vande Bharat Express 3 22233/22234 New Jalpaiguri - Patna Vande Bharat Express 4 22345/22346 Patna - Gomti Nagar Vande Bharat Express Page 9 of 145 22309/22310 Howrah - Jamalpur Vande Bharat Express 6 20893/20894 Tatanagar - Patna Vande Bharat Express 7 22303/22304 Howrah - Gaya Vande Bharat Express 8 21893/21894 Tatanagar - Patna Vande Bharat Express 9 21895/21896 Tatanagar - Patna Vande Bharat Express 10 26501/26502 Patliputra - Gorakhpur Vande Bharat Express 11 26301/26302 Jogbani - Danapur Vande Bharat Express

Amrit Bharat Express:

SN Train No. and Name 1 11015/11016 Lokmanya Tilak (T) - Saharsa Amrit Bharat Express 2 13697/13698 Gaya - Delhi Amrit Bharat Express 3 15293/15294 Muzaffarpur - Charlapalli Amrit Bharat Express 4 15557/15558 Darbhanga - Anand Vihar (T) Amrit Bharat Express 5 15561/15562 Darbhanga - Gomtinagar Amrit Bharat Express 6 15567/15568 BapudhamMotihari - Anand Vihar (T) Amrit Bharat Express 7 22361/22362 Rajendranagar (T) - New Delhi Amrit Bharat Express 8 15133/15134 Chhapra - Anand Vihar (T) Amrit Bharat Express 9 14047/14048 Sitamarhi - Delhi Amrit Bharat Express 10 14627/14628 Saharsa - Chheharta Amrit Bharat Express 11 19623/19624 Madar - Darbhanga Amrit Bharat Express 12 19725/19726 Khatipura- Darbhanga Amrit Bharat Express 13 11431/11432 Pune - Danapur Amrit Bharat Express 14 16601/16602 Erode- Jogbani Amrit Bharat Express Besides, on Indian Railways, introduction of train services is an on-going process, which depends on various factors including:

 Capacity of that section.

Page 10 of 14 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.

Kavach:

1. Kavach is an indigenously developed Automatic Train Protection (ATP) system. Kavach is a highly technology intensive system, which requires safety certification of highest order (SIL-4).

2. Kavach aids the Loco Pilot in running of trains within specified speed limits by automatic application of brakes in case Loco Pilot fails to do so and also helps the trains to run safely during inclement weather.

3. The first field trials on the passenger trains were started in February 2016.

Based on the experience gained and Independent Safety Assessment of the system by Independent Safety Assessor (ISA), three firms were approved in 2018-19, for supply of Kavach Ver 3.2.

4. Kavach was adopted as National ATP system in July, 2020.

5. Implementation of Kavach System involves following Key Activities: a. Installation of Station Kavach at each and every station, block section. b. Installation of RFID Tags throughout the track length.

c. Installation of telecom Towers throughout the section. d. Laying of Optical Fibre Cable along the track. e. Provision of Loco Kavach on each and every Locomotive running on Indian Railways.

6. Based on deployment of Kavach version 3.2 on 1,465 RKm on South Central Railway and experience gained, further improvements were Page 11 of 14made. Finally, Kavach specification version 4.0 was approved by RDSO on 16.07.2024.

7. Kavach version 4.0 covers all the major features required for the diverse railway network. This is a significant milestone in safety for Indian Railways. Within a short period, IR has developed, tested and started deploying Automatic Train Protection System.

8. Major improvement in Version 4.0 includes increased Location Accuracy, Improved Information of Signal Aspects in bigger yards, Station to Station Kavach interface on OFC and Direct Interface to existing Electronic Interlocking System. With these improvements, Kavach Ver.4.0. is planned for large scale deployment over Indian Railways.

9. After extensive and elaborate trials, Kavach Version 4.0 has been successfully commissioned on 2,490 Route Kilometres as on 13.07.26, covering the high density Delhi- Mumbai and Delhi-Howrah routes

including sections passing through Bihar as below:

SN Section Progress (Route Km)

(1) Delhi-Mumbai route: 1,344 Rkm i. Tilak Bridge - Junction cabin – Palwal – 1,248 Mathura –Nagda –Vadodra-Virar section (Except Mangalmhudi – Panchpipliya) ii. Vadodara – Ahmedabad section 96

(2) Delhi – Howrah route: 1,146 Rkm i. Chipyana - Tundla - Kanpur - Subedarganj 563

section ii. Kanpur – Lucknow section 71 Page 12 of 14iii. DDU(FOC)-Bhabua Road section (Passing 50 through Bihar) iv. Sasaram - Pheser section (Passing through 43 Bihar) v. Gaya -Sarmatarn- Nimiaghat section (Passing 159 through Bihar) vi. Chota Ambana - Bardhaman – Howrah section 260

10. In addition, track side Kavach implementation work is being taken up on 21,937 RKM covering all GQ,GD,HDN and identified sections of Indian Railways including sections passing through Bihar.

11. The total Progress of key items of Kavach on Indian Railway sections are

as under:- SN Item Progress i Laying of Optical Fibre Cable 11,253 Km ii Installation of Telecom Towers 1,668 Nos. iii Station Data Centre 958 station iv Installation of Track side 7,721 RKm equipment v Provision of Kavach in Loco 6,045 Nos.

12. In addition, work for installation of Kavach in 7,435 Locomotives and 1,200 EMU/MEMU has been taken up.

13. Specialized training programmes on Kavach are being conducted at centralized training institutes of Indian Railways to impart training to all concerned officials. By now more than 94,000technicians, operators and engineers have been trained on Kavach technology. This includes about 57,000Loco Pilots & Assistant Loco Pilots. Courses have been designed in collaboration with IRISET.

Page 13 of 1414. The funds utilized on Kavach works so far up to Jun’26 is ₹3874.9 cr. The allocation of funds during the year 2026-27 is ₹2066.24 crore. Requisite funds are made available as per the progress of works.

Gati Shakti Cargo Terminals (GCTs):

The details of GCTs commissioned and additional In-Principle Approvals

(IPAs) given in the State of Bihar, is as under:- GCTs Additional In-principle S.No. State Name commissioned so Approvals far (IPAs) given 1 Bihar 05 08 The Gati Shakti Cargo Terminals cater to a wide range of commodities including cement, steel, foodgrains, fertilizers, coal, fly ash, minerals, containers, automobiles, agricultural produce and other bulk as well as non- bulk commodities. The policy has benefited key sectors such as cement, steel, power, mining, agriculture, logistics and manufacturing by providing improved rail connectivity and modern cargo handling infrastructure. The development of GCTs has enhanced rail freight movement through faster and more efficient loading/unloading, reduced first-mile and last-mile logistics costs, improved wagon turnaround, and facilitated modal shift of freight from road to rail, thereby improving the overall efficiency and competitiveness of rail-based logistics.

The Gati Shakti Cargo Terminal (GCT) Policy has facilitated the development of modern multimodal cargo terminals closer to production and consumption centres, thereby improving rail connectivity for local industries, agricultural produce and other commodities. The policy has enabled creation of warehousing, silos, cold storage and other value-added logistics facilities.

This has enhanced the competitiveness of local industries and farmers while generating employment and promoting regional economic development. ***** Page 14 of 14