(a) the names of the districts and Tehsil headquarters in Rajasthan where there is no railway facility at present;
(b) whether any action plan is proposed to connect all the district headquarters of Rajasthan with superfast train services;
(c) if so, the details thereof; and
(d) whether any action plan has been chalked out by the Government to connect Jalore city and Sirohi district headquarters with superfast train services and if so, the details thereof?
MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, COMMUNICATIONS AND
ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
(SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)
(a) to (d): A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.
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STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (d) OF UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2357 BY SHRI DEVJI M. PATEL TO BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 16.03.2022 REGARDING SUPERFAST TRAIN IN RAJASTHAN
(a): Railway projects are not sanctioned State-wise,/ district-wise/ tehsil-wise, but sanctioned Zone-wise as Indian Railways’ network may span across various State boundaries.
Further, Railway projects are taken up on the basis of remunerativeness, last mile connectivity, missing links and alternate routes, augmentation of congested/saturated lines, socio-economic considerations etc. depending upon throwforward of ongoing projects, overall availability of funds and competing demands.
As on 01.04.2021, 6019 Route Kilometre length of Railway network is available in the State of Rajasthan.
Further, as on 01.04.2021, 11 new line projects of total length 1228 Km falling fully/partly in the State of Rajasthan have been taken up to improve connectivity, out of which 107 Km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of `2,260 crore has been incurred upto March, 2021. District and Tehsil Headquarters falling enroute get connected on completion of these projects.
Rajasthan is covered by Northern Railway, Western Railway, North Western Railway, West Central Railway and North Central Railway Zones of Indian Railways. The details of allotment of funds and expenditure project-wise and Zonal Railway wise are made 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.
Since 2014, there is substantial increase in budget outlay for infrastructure projects and safety works. Average annual Budget allocation for Infrastructure and safety works, falling fully/partly in State of Rajasthan, during 2014-19 has been enhanced to ` 2,951 crore per year from ` 682 crore per year during 2009-14, which is 333% more than average annual budget outlay of 2009-14. For financial year 2019-20 budget allocation of 4,686 crore (587% more than average annual allocation of 2009-14) and Budget outlay of ` 4,582 crore for financial year 2020-21 (572% more than average annual budget allocation of 2009-14) has been provided for these works. For financial year 2021-22, highest ever budget outlay of ` 6,006 crore has been provided for these works, which is 781% more than average annual budget outlay of 2009-14.
(b) & (c): Indian Railways do not operate train services on District-wise or State-wise basis as Railway network straddles across State boundaries. However, introduction of new train is an ongoing process in Indian Railways subject to operational feasibility, traffic demand, availability of resources etc.
(d): Survey for construction of new line from Jalore to Udaipur via Sirohi Road (267Km) was completed in the year 2017-18. As per the survey report, the project could not be taken forward being financially unviable.
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