Track: Railway tracks are replaced through track renewal works which is an ongoing process. Track renewal works are undertaken as and when a stretch of track becomes due for renewal on the basis of criteria laid down in Indian Railway Permanent Way Manual on age/condition basis viz. traffic carried in terms of gross million tonnes, incidence of rail fracture/failure, wear of rails, corrosion of rails, maintainability of track as per standards etc. On Meter Gauge (MG) and Narrow Gauge (NG) tracks, which are sanctioned for Gauge conversion, the track renewal works, if required, are undertaken after due consideration of progress of execution of gauge conversion.

Details of track renewals are maintained Zone-wise and not State-wise. The State of Bihar falls in Eastern Railway, East Central Railway, North Eastern Railway and Northeast Frontier Railway. During the last five years (2015-16 to 2019-20), total 17985 km track has been renewed on Indian Railways, out of which 3260 km was carried out in the above four (04) Zonal Railways covering State of Bihar. A target for track renewal of 3200 km has been kept for the year 2020-21 for Indian Railways, out of which 493 km track is targeted for renewal in the above four Zonal Railways covering the State of Bihar.

Track renewal works are sanctioned every year on the basis of traffic carried, condition etc and their execution is prioritized according to condition of track and overall availability of funds. Normally, track renewal works are completed in two to three years of sanction.

Bridges: Safety of bridges is accorded high priority on Indian Railways. There is a well established system of inspection of bridges on Indian Railways. All the bridges are inspected by twice a year, once before the onset of monsoon and once after the monsoon designated officials. After inspection, every bridge is assigned an Overall Rating Number (ORN) and based on the ORN of bridge, rebuilding/strengthening is undertaken. In addition, certain bridges are also inspected more frequently depending upon their condition.

Repair/strengthening/rehabilitation/rebuilding of railway bridges is a continuous process and is undertaken whenever so warranted by their physical condition as ascertained during these inspections. During the last five years (2015-16 to 2019-20), a total of 4727 bridges have been repaired/strengthened/rehabilitated/rebuilt on Indian Railways.

The information on bridges is maintained Zone-wise and not State-wise. Bihar State is covered under Eastern Railway, East Central Railway, North Eastern Railway, and Northeast Frontier Railway. There is no bridge in dilapidated condition in all the concerned zones covering Bihar State. However, as on 01.04.2020, a total of 1786 bridges in the above four (04) Zonal Railways have been sanctioned for repair/strengthening/rehabilitation etc.

This information was given by the Minister of Railways and Commerce & Industry, Shri Piyush Goyal in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.

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