Ministry of Railways has launched ‘ABSS’ for development of Railway stations on a continuous basis with a long-term approach

Ministry of Railways has launched ‘Amrit Bharat Station Scheme’ (#ABSS) for development of Railway stations on Indian Railways. This scheme envisages development of stations on a continuous basis with a long-term approach.

It involves preparation of Master Plans and their implementation in phases to improve the amenities at the stations like improvement of station access, circulating areas, waiting halls, toilets, lift/escalators as necessary, platform surfacing and cover over platform, cleanliness, free Wi-Fi, kiosks for local products through schemes like ‘One Station One Product’, better passenger information systems, Executive Lounges, nominated spaces for business meetings, landscaping, etc. keeping in view the necessity at each station.

The scheme also envisages improvement of building, integrating the station with both sides of the city, multimodal integration, amenities for Divyangjans, sustainable and environment friendly solutions, provision of ballastless tracks, etc. as per necessity, phasing and feasibility and creation of city centre at the station in the long term.

So far, 1337 stations have been identified under this scheme on Indian Railways which include 157 stations falling in Aspirational Districts. The names of stations identified for development under Amrit Bharat Station Scheme which are located in the Aspirational Districts are as following:

No. of Stations in Aspirational Districts-Name of the Stations in Aspirational Districts-157

Abu Road, Anugraha Narayan Road, Araku, Arariaya Court, Bahraich, Balangir, Balrampur, Balsiring, Banka, Banmankhi, Bano, Baragamda Jn, Baran, Barauni, Bargawan, Barhni, Barkakana, Barsoi Jn, Basukinath, Begusarai, Bhadrachalam Road, Bhanupratappur, Bhawanipatna, Biyavra Rajgarh, Bokaro Steel City, Chaibasa, Chakradharpur, Chandauli Majhwar, Chandrapura, Chhabra Gugor, Chitrakut Dham Karwi, Chopan, Cuddapah, Dahod, Daltonganj, Damanjodi, Damoh, Dangoposi, Dhenkanal, Dholi, Dholpur,  Dhubri, Dumka, Fatehpur, Firozpur Cantt, Gangaghat, Ganjbasoda, Garhwa Road, Garhwa Town, Gauripur, Gaya, Ghatsila, Giridih, Godda, Govindpur Road, Guna, Gunupur, Guraru, Haidar Nagar, Haridwar Jn.

Harishanker Road, Harpalpur, Hatia, Hazaribagh Road, Hindaun City, Jagdalpur, Jaisalmer, Jamui, Janakpur Road, Japla, Jeypore, Kantabanji.

Karhagola Road, Kashipur Jn, Katihar Jn, Kesinga, Khagaria Jn, Khajuraho Jn, Khandwa, Khariar Road, Kichha, Koraput Jn, Korba, Labha, Lakhminia, Latehar, Limkheda, Lohardaga, Mahasamund, Maheshkhunt, Majbat, Manikpur Jn, Manoharpur, Mansi Jn, MCS Chhatarpur, Meramandali, Moga, Motipur, Muhammad Ganj, Muniguda, Muri Jn, Muzaffarpur Jn, Nabinagar Road, Nagar Untari, Namkom, Nandurbar, Nawadah, Orga, Osmanabad, Paharpur, Pakur, Paramakkudi, Parasnath, Parlakhemundi, Parvatipuram, Pathshala, Pindwara, Piska, Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhyay Jn, Rafiganj, Raichur Jn, Rajapalayam, Rajmahal, Ram Dayalu Nagar, Ramanathapuram, Ramdevra, Rameswaram, Ramgarh Cantt, Ranchi Jn, Rayagada, Renukoot, Roorkee, Ruthiyai, Sahibganj, Sahibpur Kamal, Salauna, Salmari, Shri Mahaveerji, Siddharth Nagar, Silli, Simultala, Singrauli, Sitamarhi, Sonbhadra, Srivilliputtur, Tangla, Tatanagar, Tatisilwai, Titlagarh Jn, Tulsipur, Udalguri, Vidisha, Virudhunagar, Vyasnagar, Wadsa, Washim, Yadgir.

Further, upgradation/development/redevelopment of stations on Indian Railways is a continuous and on-going process and works in this regard are undertaken as per requirement, subject to inter-se priority and availability of funds. However, priority for upgradation/development/redevelopment of stations is accorded to higher category of station over lower category of station while sanctioning and executing the works.

Railway projects are surveyed/ sanctioned/executed Zonal Railway wise and not State-wise as the Railways’ projects may span across state boundaries. Railway projects are sanctioned on the basis of remunerativeness, traffic projections, last mile connectivity, missing links and alternate routes, augmentation of congested/saturated lines, demands raised by State Governments, Central Ministries, Members of Parliament, other public representatives, Railway’s own operational requirement, socio-economic considerations etc. depending upon throwforward of ongoing projects and overall availability of funds.

As on 01.04.2024, across #IndianRailways, 488 Railway Infrastructure projects (187 New Line, 40 Gauge Conversion and 261 Doubling) of total length 44,488 Km, costing approximately Rs 7.44 Lakh Crores are in planning/approval/construction stage, out of which, 12,045 Km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of approximately Rs 2.92 Lakh Crores has been incurred upto March, 2024. The summary is as under:-

Zone-wise/year-wise details of all Railway Projects including cost, expenditure and outlay are made available in public domain on Indian Railways website.

The details of commissioning / laying of new track across Indian Railways is given below:-

In addition, 894 No. Surveys (287 New line, 14 Gauge Conversion and 593 Doubling) of total length 60,673 km have been sanctioned across Indian Railways including Aspirational Districts in the last three years FY 2021-22 to 2023-24 and current year FY 2024-25.

Uttar Pradesh

Railway Infrastructure projects falling fully/partly in the State of Uttar Pradesh are covered under Northern Railway, North Central Railway, North Eastern Railway, East Central Railway and West Central Railway zones of Indian Railways.

As on 01.04.2024, in Uttar Pradesh including Shravasti District, 68 Railway projects (16 New Line, 03 Gauge Conversion and 49 Doubling), of total length of 5,874 km costing Rs 92,001 Crores falling fully/partly in the State, are at various stages of planning and implementation, out of which 1,313 km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of Rs 28,366 Crores has been incurred upto March, 2024. The status of work is summarized as:-

In the New Line Project Bahraich-Khalilabad via Bhinga, Shravasti, Balrampur, Utraula, Mehdawal, Bansi (240 km) work has been taken up.

Since, 2014 there has been substantial increase in Budget allocation and commensurate commissioning of projects. Annual Budget allocation for Infrastructure and safety works, falling fully/partly in the State of Uttar Pradesh is as under:

Commissioning of sections (New Line, Gauge Conversion and Doubling) falling fully/partly in the State of Uttar Pradesh during 2009-14 and 2014-2024 is as under:

During 2023-24, 1,752 Km (1328 km New line, 25 km Gauge conversion and 399 km Doubling) sections, falling fully/partly in the state of Uttar Pradesh have been commissioned.