(a) whether trains are still being run on Metre Gauge in the country and if so, the details thereof;
(b) the details of the rail projects in respect of gauge conversion;
(c) whether the work of gauge conversion project passing through other districts including Sikar district has been completed;
(d) if not, the tracks on which problems are being faced; and
(e) the steps taken by the railway to solve the said problems?
MINISTER OF RAILWAYS AND COMMERCE & INDUSTRY
(SHRI PIYUSH GOYAL)
(a) Yes, Sir. At present, 30 pairs of trains are operating on the various Meter Gauge sections over Indian Railways.
(b) Presently, Indian Railways have taken up 55 Gauge Conversion Projects of 7,275 km length and costing `56,135 crore, which are in different stages of execution/planning/sanction, out of which, commissioning of 3,573 km length has been achieved and expenditure of `19,640 crore has been incurred up to March, 2019.
(c) to (e) The Gauge Conversion work of Jaipur-Ringus-Churu and Sikar-Loharu have been commissioned and opened for passenger services on 21.10.2019.
The completion of any Railway project depends on various factors like quick land acquisition by State Government, forest clearance by officials of forest department, shifting of infringing utilities (both underground and over ground), 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 due to climatic conditions, encountering unforeseen conditions like earthquake, flooding, excessive rains, strikes of labour, orders of Hon’ble Courts, situation and conditions of working agencies/contractors etc. All these factors vary from project to project and site to site and affect the completion time and cost of the project, which is finally worked out at the completion stage. Hence, confirmed time line for completion of projects cannot be given at this stage.
In the overall interest of the nation and to ensure that projects are completed in time without cost overrun, intensive monitoring is done in Railways at various levels (field level, divisional level, zonal level and Board level) and regular meetings are held with the officials of State Government and concerned authorities to resolve the pending issues obstructing the progress of projects.
To ensure that projects are completed even before time, Railway has adopted the concept of incentives to the contractor in the form of bonus clause in contracts which will further enhance the pace of execution of projects.
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