All aboard the bullet trains to Bharat Growth Jn
Seven new high-speed rail corridors, stretching 4,000 km at an investment of Rs 16,000 crore – the budget puts railways on the fast track.The journey between Delhi and Varanasi will be shortened to less than four hours, and travel between Varanasi and Siliguri can be completed in less than three hours.
One can reach from Mumbai to Pune in just 48 minutes.
Budget 2026 overview: What citizens and businesses should know
Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnao said the development of three corridors – which he described as the “southern high-speed triangle or diamond” – will connect the southern states of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and the UT of Puducherry.“This triangle will prove to be a huge boon and growth multiplier for major economies in regions with major IT hubs,” he said, adding that details would be announced in 3 to 4 months.
Work on these extensions will be carried out simultaneously.In her Budget speech, Finance Minister Niramala Sitharaman described the seven corridors as “growth connectors” and announced a new dedicated freight corridor connecting Dankuni in Bengal with Surat in Gujarat.These elevated stretches will “transform” transportation, Vaishnau said. Chennai and Bengaluru take 73 minutes, Bengaluru-Hyderabad will take just 2 hours, Chennai-Hyderabad can be reached in 2.5 hours, and Pune-Hyderabad in just 1.5 hours.
Continuing the government’s drive towards the railway sector, Rs 2.8 lakh crore has been allocated for 2026-27, compared to Rs 2.55 lakh crore for the current financial year. While Rs 2.78 lakh crore has been allocated for capital expenditure, officials said the total capital expenditure will be in the region of Rs 2.9 lakh crore.The budget document shows that total revenue is expected to rise to just over Rs 3 lakh crore during 206-27 compared to the revised estimate of around Rs 2.8 lakh crore in the current financial year. The government estimated increased revenues in the passenger and freight sectors.
