The BJP has begun highlighting the development of railway infrastructure in Bengal, focusing on the Centre’s role in improving services and connectivity in the state.

At the same time, the party emphasised that several railway projects were delayed or stalled because of land acquisition issues and a lack of coordination between the state government and the railway ministry.

On Tuesday, the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) shared detailed data outlining the work undertaken by the ministry since 2014, when Narendra Modi assumed office as Prime Minister.

According to the data, the average annual railway budget allocation for Bengal has increased more than threefold since 2014 — from ₹4,380 crore during 2009–14 to ₹13,955 crore in the post-2014 period.

“Building on this enhanced support, railway projects worth over ₹87,862 crore are currently under execution across Bengal. Since 2014, the railways have constructed 1,362 kilometres of new lines in the state, which is more than the total railway network of the United Arab Emirates,” the NFR said in a press release.

Major projects completed in the past 11 years include the 130km-long Mandar Hill–Rampurhat line and the 3km-long Haldibari line, which improved cross-border rail connectivity with Bangladesh.

Many doubling and additional line projects have also been completed, including the Rampurhat–Murarai third line (159km), Lalgola–Jiaganj doubling (23km), Krishnanagar–Bethuadahari doubling (28km), and New Cooch Behar–Gumanihat doubling (29 km).

The railways released the details ahead of Prime Minister Modi’s visit to the state.

On January 17 and 18, Modi is scheduled to flag off several trains, including the first Vande Bharat sleeper train connecting Kamakhya and Howrah. He is also expected to inaugurate multiple railway infrastructure projects during the visit.

“It is evident that the BJP is playing the infrastructure card by highlighting railway development to counter the Trinamool Congress’s anti-Bengal narrative and its development pitch through campaigns such as ‘Unnayaner Panchali (narration of development)’,” said Soumen Nag, a Siliguri-based social researcher.

While highlighting infrastructure expansion, the BJP and railway authorities stressed that many projects faced setbacks because of land acquisition hurdles and inadequate coordination from the Trinamool state government.

“Despite strong central investment and the commissioning of several projects after 2014, many important railway projects in Bengal remain partially completed or stalled because of issues related to land acquisition and coordination at the state level,” the NFR release said.

Among the partially completed projects is the Howrah–Amta–Bagnan new line (58km), which was halted after 42km of work was completed on the Bargachia–Chapadanga–Tarakeswar section. Similarly, work on 10km of the New Alipur–Akra doubling project (41km) and 15km of the Sonarpur–Canning doubling project (53km) was completed before both projects were stalled, despite central funds and approvals, sources said.

The NFR authorities noted that some projects were completely stalled because of land acquisition challenges.

These include the Tarakeswar–Magra (52km), Arambagh–Chapadanga (23km), Katwa (Dainhat)–Manteswar (34km), Manteswar–Memari (36km), Joynagar–Durgapur (32km), and Diamond Harbour–Baharampur (21km) routes.

“Even after repeated efforts and readiness for the execution by the Centre, these projects remain stuck primarily because of land acquisition issues and delays in obtaining state-level clearances,” the release said.

Reacting to the NFR’s claims, Ritabrata Banerjee, a Rajya Sabha member of the Trinamool Congress, said: “Ahead of every election, the BJP disseminates wrong information using the government machinery. The state government has always cooperated with the Centre for development of infrastructure, but the BJP wants to take the entire credit by undermining the state’s role in arranging land and providing necessary clearances.”

Arup Chakraborty, a spokesperson for Trinamool, said: “They (Centre) are launching new trains one after another… but poor and common people who bank on train services are not getting benefits out of these services as the fares are high. Even the basic fares have soared, and such people find it tough to buy railway tickets these days. This is the BJP’s model.”