In the Lok Sabha, MP Brijmohan Agrawal highlighted Chhattisgarh people 'plight of cancellation of more than 200 trains in last three years and sufferings of its population including 32% tribal population and 12% Scheduled Castes. The frequent cancellation of trains caused major inconvenience to passengers. He questioned the level of revenue generated from the railway zone in Chhattisgarh and sought information on the plans and actions taken to lay new tracks and improve connectivity in the region and investment made by railway in carrying out development in the state.
The Rail Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw acknowledged that Chhattisgarh is a tribal-majority and important state, railway development funding was historically inadequate and assured of proper development of railway projects in the state with adequate funding.
The Rail Minister reported that three years ago, Chhattisgarh had 56 Mail Express and 121 passenger trains. Today, there are 58 Mail Express and 128 passenger trains. The state is seeing an investment of approximately ₹37,000 crore for railway development, with 8 new railway line projects totaling 1,358 kilometers and 17 doubling projects covering 1,373 kilometers, involving an investment of ₹16,604 crore. Third and fourth lines are also being laid in various places. The Kolkata-Mumbai corridor trains pass through Chhattisgarh, making capacity expansion crucial.
Previously, Chhattisgarh received an investment of only ₹311 crore for railways 10 years ago. This has now increased 22-fold. Vaishnaw assured that increasing capacity by laying new railway lines will address future problems.
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The Minister acknowledged the difficulty faced by Chhattisgarh people and assured that capacity constraints related issues will be resolved with the ongoing work. He also mentioned that new methods are being employed to minimize disruptions, aiming to reduce the time for non-interlocking work from 4 days to 3 days.
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The Rail Minister stated that ₹6,922 crore is being allocated for railway development in Chhattisgarh, resulting in a significant increase in the pace of work—from 6.5 kilometers per year previously to 100 kilometers per year, a fifteen-fold increase.
He concluded that while connecting new tracks to the existing network can lead to cancellations, ongoing capacity expansion will resolve future problems.
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