Parliament Question: Third Railway Line Project in Kerala

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 618 TO BE ANSWERED ON 22.07.2026 THIRD RAILWAY LINE PROJECT IN KERALA 618. SHRI M K RAGHAVAN: Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state: (a) whether the Railways has completed the feasibility study and Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the third railway line projects in Kerala and if so, the details thereof; (b) whether the Government has set timeline for completion of the third railway line projects in Kerala particularly in North Kerala and if so, the expected date of completion; and (c) whether the Railways has planned to implement automatic signalling system in the Shoranur–Mangalore section of Southern Railway and if so, the details thereof? ANSWER MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, INFORMATION & BROADCASTING AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW) (a) to (c): To strengthen the railway network in Keralam, the following surveys have been sanctioned for preparation of Detailed Project Report (DPR): S.N Project Status 1 Shoranur - Coimbatore 3rd & 4th Line Field Survey completed. (99 Km) DPR preparation taken up. 2 Shoranur - Ernakulam 3rd & 4th Line Field Survey completed. (107 Km) DPR preparation taken up. § Page 1 of 53 Mangaluru - Shoranur 3rd Line F i e l d S urvey completed. (307 Km) DPR preparation taken up. 4 Ernakulam - Kayankulam 3rd Line T r a f f i c survey completed. (via Kottayam) (115 Km) Field survey taken up. 5 Thiruvananthapuram - Nagercoil 3rd Survey sanctioned for Line (71 Km) preparation of DPR 6 Kayankulam - Thiruvananthapuram 3rd Field Survey completed. Line (105 Km) DPR preparation taken up. Capacity enhancement works such as Automatic Signalling or multitracking works are taken up based on several factors such as topography of the area, operational requirements, anticipated traffic etc. Therefore to increase capacity of Shoranur–Mangaluru which is already a double line section, Final Location Survey for 3rd and 4th line Mangaluru- Shoranur, North Keralam, has been sanctioned for preparation of Detailed Project Report (DPR) as detailed above. Field survey work has been taken up. After firming up of Detailed Project Report (DPR), sanctioning of project requires consultation with various stake-holders including State Governments and necessary approvals viz. appraisal of NITI Aayog, Ministry of Finance etc. Keralam:- Railway Budget:- Budget allocation in the recent years has increased significantly. Budget allocation for infrastructure projects and safety works, falling fully/partly in the State of Keralam is as under:- Period Outlay 2009-14 ₹ 372 crore/year 2026-27 ₹3,795 crore (more than 10 times) Page 2 of 5Projects Sanctioned:- As on 01.04.2026, 09 projects (03 new line and 06 doubling) of 302 km length, costing ₹11,650 crore falling fully/partly in Keralam are sanctioned. The summary is as under:- Category No. of Total Length Total Expenditure projects Length Commissioned upto March, 2026 (in Km) upto March, 2026 (₹ in Cr.) (in Km) New line 03 148 0 317 Doubling 06 154 40 3,550 /multitracking Total 09 302 40 3,867 Recently Completed Projects:- Details of some of the recently completed projects falling fully/partly in the State of Keralam are as under: S. Project Cost No. (₹ in Crores) 1 Dindigul - Palghat & Pollachi - Coimbatore gauge 1,360 conversion (217 km) 2 Quilon- Tiruchendur gauge conversion (357 km) 1,122 3 Mulanturutti-Kuruppantara doubling (24 km) 303 4 Chenganur-Chingavanam doubling (27 km) 436 5 Ambalapuzha-Haripad doubling (18 km) 346 6 Kurruppanthara-Chingavanam doubling (27 km) 749 Ongoing Projects:- Some of the projects falling fully/partly in the State of Keralam which have been taken up are as under: Page 3 of 5S.No. Project Cost (₹ in Crores) 1 Tirunnavaya –Guruvayur new line (35 km) 144 2 Angamali-Sabarimala new line (111 km) 3,801 3 Ernakulam-Kumbalam doubling (8 km) 808 4 Kumbalam - Thuravur doubling (16 km) 1,172 5 Trivandrum- Kanyakumari doubling (87 km) 4,494 6 Alappuzha-Ambalapuzha doubling (13 km) 324 7 Turavur - Mararikulam doubling (21 km) 451 8 Mararikulam-Alappuzha doubling (11 km) 221 Execution of important infrastructure projects falling fully/partly in the State of Keralam are held up due to delay in land acquisition. Status of land acquisition in the State of Keralam is as under: Total Land required for Projects in Keralam 618 ha Land Acquired 78 ha (13%) Balance Land to be acquired 540 ha (87%) Railway had deposited ₹1,976 crore for land acquisition to Government of Keralam. Support of the Government of Keralam is needed to expedite the land acquisition. For instance, details of some major projects which are delayed due to land acquisition are as under:- SN Name of the project Total Land Balance land acquired Land to be required (in Ha) acquired (in Ha) (in Ha) 1. Angamali - Sabarimala new line 3 0 4 25 279 (111 km) 2. Ernakulam – Kumbalam Patch doubling 4 3 1 (8 km) 3. Kumbalam–Turavur Patch doubling(16 10 9 1 km) 4. Shoranur-Vallathol doubling (10 Km) 5 0 5 Page 4 of 5Government of India is geared up to execute projects, however success depends upon the support of Government of Keralam. Sanction of any railway project depends 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. ***** Page 5 of 5