Expansion of Rail Network

Railways is giving a big thrust to infrastructure creation and capacity augmentation. Railway Projects are taken up on the basis of remunerative, last mile connectivity, missing links and alternate routes, augmentation of congested/saturated lines, socio-economic considerations etc. depending upon throw forward of ongoing projects, overall availability of funds and competing demands and sanctioning of projects is a continuous process.

Railway Projects are sanctioned Zone-wise and not State-wise, as, Indian Railway’s network is straddled across various State boundaries. Further, details of ongoing Railway Projects in the country including Southern Railway is appended and with progressive commissioning of sections, existing rail network would also expand accordingly.

The project-wise detail including cost, expenditure and outlay are available in public domain on Indian Railways’ website i.e. www.indianrailways.gov.in >Ministry of Railways >Railway Board >About Indian Railways >Railway Board Directorates >Finance (Budget) >Pink Book (year) >Railway-wise Works Machinery & Rolling Stock Programme.

BUDGET ALLOCATION ON INDIAN RAILWAYS

Average Annual Budget allotment for New Line, Gauge Conversion and Doubling Projects on Indian Railways, during 2014-19 has increased to Rs 26,026 crore (US$ 3.72 billion), from Rs 11,527 crore (US$ 1.65 billion) (during 2009-14), which is 126 per cent more as compared to average allotment during 2009-14.

Total Budget Estimate (BE) Outlay for New Line, Gauge Conversion and Doubling Projects on Indian Railways in 2019-20 was Rs 30,198 crore (US$ 4.32 billion), which has further been increased to Rs 38,803 crore (US$ 5.55 billion) in Revised Budget Outlay. This is 237 per cent more as compared to average annual budget allotment during 2009-14. (Rs 11,527 crore [US$ 1.65 billion])

COMMISSIONING OF NEW LINE, GAUGE CONVERSION AND DOUBLING

During 2009-14, 7599 km length (New Line, Gauge Conversion and Doubling) has been commissioned on Indian Railways. Further, during 2014-19, 13,124 km length (New Line, Gauge Conversion and Doubling) has been commissioned on Indian Railways, which is 73 per cent more than commissioning during 2009-14. Details of New Lines, Doubling and Gauge Conversion in the Country is as under: -

 

ONGOING NEW LINE, GAUGE CONVERSION AND DOUBLING PROJECTS:

Plan Head	No of Projects	Total Length (in km)	Length Commissioned till Mar'19(in Km)	Anticipated Cost (` in crore)	Total Exp upto Mar'19 (` in crore)	Budget Estimate Outlay for 2019-20 (` in crore)
New lines	188	21,295	2,622	3,87,154	85,536	14,848
Gauge Conversion	55	7,275	3,573	56,135	19,640	3,465
Doubling	255	20,500	2,784	2,31,978	48,342	18,301
TOTAL	498	49,069	8,979	6,75,267	1,53,518	36,614

This press release is based on information given by the Minister of Railways and Commerce & Industry, Shri Piyush Goyal in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today. 

 

Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.