Question : SUBURBAN RAIL SERVICE

(a) whether the Railways propose to introduce Suburban Rail service to facilitate short distance travellers and if so, the details thereof including the technology being used to reduce travel time;

(b) whether the Railways have received proposals for introduction of Suburban Rail Service from various States including from Kerala for introduction of suburban services in Thiruvananthapuram-Chengannoor section and if so, the details thereof including the estimated cost of each of these projects along with the action taken thereon;

(c) the action taken by the Railways for installing automatic signaling and constituting a special purpose vehicle to run air conditioned MEMU rakes in Kerala; and

(d) whether the Railways propose to run more MEMU trains from Kollam and if so, the details thereof?

MINISTER OF RAILWAYS (SHRI SURESH PRABHAKAR PRABHU)

(a) to (d): A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (d) OF STARRED QUESTION NO. 176 BY SHRI N.K. PREMACHANDRAN TO BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 09.03.2015 REGARDING SUBURBAN RAIL SERVICE

(a) & (b): No, Madam. At present, there is no proposal to introduce new suburban rail service. However, proposals for introduction of suburban rail service which have been received from State Governments are as under:

(i) State Government of Kerala has proposed for Rapid Rail Transit system (RRTS) between Thiruvananthapuram Central-Chengannur (120 kms) costing about `3300 crore. State Government has been advised to confirm on the various options with regard to financing, project implementation, operation and maintenance, fare structure etc. as suggested in the report. Response of State Government has not been received so far.

(ii) State Government of Gujarat has proposed for developing regional rail system in Ahmedabad area (53 kms) costing about ` 2050 crore. State Government has been advised that Railways shall examine the technical feasibility duly considering the future expansion needs and it may not be possible for Railways to fund the project. Response of State Government has not been received so far.

(iii) State Government of Karnataka has proposed to provide commuter rail services in Bengaluru area (440 kms.) costing about ` 8000 crore. State Government of Karnataka has been requested to submit detailed project report considering constraints and bottlenecks including land acquisition etc. in taking up project. Response of State Government has not been received so far.

(c) & (d): As per policy, at present no section in Kerala qualifies for provision of Automatic Signalling. At present, there is no proposal to run more MEMU trains from Kollam as well as air-conditioned MEMU rakes on Southern Railway serving the state of Kerala. However, introduction of new trains including EMU/MEMU trains is an ongoing process subject to traffic justification, operational feasibility, availability of resources, etc.