Railways to introduce 200 new lines

New Delhi, Aug 02: In a shocking development, The Indian Railways will introduce several new railway lines which are now in different stages of execution.

The information about the number of railway lines in each state was given by Minister of State of Railways, Rajen Gohain, in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha on Thursday.

The completion of Railway projects requires clearances from various departments of State Government and Central Ministries like an acquisition of land, statutory clearances like forestry and wildlife, shifting of utilities etc. The decision for taking new lines is made in Railway Budget only which is a yearly exercise.

Here is the list of state-wise details of ongoing New Line projects:
Assam & North Eastern Region: 15
Andhra Pradesh: 18
Bihar: 34
Chhattisgarh: 8
Delhi: 1
Gujarat: 4
Haryana: 7
Himachal Pradesh: 4
Jammu & Kashmir: 1
Jharkhand: 14
Karnataka: 16
Kerala: 2
Madhya Pradesh: 8
Maharashtra: 12
Odisha: 10
Punjab: 6
Rajasthan: 10
Telangana: 9
Tamil Nadu: 8
Uttar Pradesh: 15
Uttarakhand: 3
West Bengal: 18

On Wednesday, the government said that the Railways has set up 21 green corridors in 2017-18 under the Swachh Bharat Mission. As a part of Swachh Bharat Mission, Indian Railways is proliferating bio-toilets on its coaching stock so that no human waste is discharged from coaches on to the track.

In order to demonstrate the advantage of fitment of bio-toilets, six green corridors were made functional in 2016-17 and 21 in 2017-2018, Gohain said.

The Minister added that on green corridors, the introduction of bio-toilets in coaches has been done to avoid direct discharge of human excreta on railway tracks or station premises.

This benefits the common man as foul smell, unhygienic surrounding, as well as shabby look, are avoided, he said. In the bio-toilets, the human excreta is collected in an eco-friendly bio-tank fitted under each toilet. The bio-tank decomposes the fecal matter and converts it into water and gases.