RTI reveals railway land under encroachment grew 32% in 5 years

More than 1,068 hectares of Indian Railways land remained under encroachment as of March 2025, with the total area under illegal occupation increasing by nearly 32% over the past five years, according to an RTI response accessed by India Today. The data also shows that while encroachments continued to rise, only 98.02 hectares of land was reclaimed during the same period.

The RTI, filed with the Railway Board, sought a 25-year history of encroachments on railway land. However, the Board said it maintains records for only the last five years. The available data shows the encroached area increased from 810.31 hectares in 2020-21 to 1,068.54 hectares in 2024-25, marking a rise of nearly 32%.

The figures are in line with what the government informed Parliament on March 27, 2026. In a reply to the Lok Sabha, the Centre said Indian Railways owned around 4.99 lakh hectares of land as of April 1, 2025, of which about 0.21% — or 1,068 hectares — was under encroachment.

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Encroachments surged after a brief dip

Data shared by the Railway Board's Land and Amenities Directorate shows there was only one year when encroachments declined. In 2021-22, the encroached area fell to 782.81 hectares from 810.31 hectares a year earlier.

The decline was short-lived.

By 2023-24, encroachments had climbed to 1,078.55 hectares, an increase of nearly 268 hectares in a single year — the sharpest annual jump during the five-year period. Although the figure edged down slightly to 1,068.54 hectares in 2024-25, the overall trend remained upward.

Reclamation has lagged behind the pace of fresh encroachments. Across the five-year period, only 98.02 hectares of encroached railway land was cleared, even as the total encroached area stood at 1,068.54 hectares by March 2025.

Where reclaimed land is used

The parliamentary reply of March 27, 2026 also detailed how recovered railway land is utilised. It said around 98.02 hectares of railway land had been reclaimed from encroachments over the last five years, matching the RTI data.

According to the government, reclaimed land is used for railway infrastructure projects, including multi-tracking, railway workshops, passenger terminals and cargo terminals. Land not immediately required for operational purposes is transferred to the Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA) for commercial development.

Data the Railway Board does not maintain

The RTI response also reveals gaps in record-keeping.

Asked for a 25-year trend of encroachments, the Railway Board replied that it "maintains encroachment data of 5 years only."

When asked which states had the highest concentration of encroached railway land, the Board said "location wise encroachment is not maintained in this office," and advised approaching the Public Information Officers (PIOs) of individual zonal railways for state- or location-specific information.

How big is 1,068 hectares?

To put the scale into perspective, the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad occupies about 25.5 hectares. The railway land currently under encroachment is enough to accommodate nearly 42 such stadiums.

It is also equivalent to around 1,496 FIFA-standard football pitches, considering only the playing surface.