Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday announced seven high-speed rail corridors and ₹2,77,830 crore allocated to Ministry of Railways for capital expenditure in 2026-27 ₹2,77,830 crore to Ministry of Railways for capital expenditure in 2026-27.from ₹2,52,000 crore in 2025-26.
High-speed rail corridors seek to promote environmentally sustainable passenger systems. (PTI)”…to promote an environmentally sustainable passenger system, we will build seven high-speed rail corridors between cities as growth connectors… Mumbai to Pune, Pune to Hyderabad, Hyderabad to Bengaluru, Hyderabad to Chennai, Chennai to Bengaluru, Delhi to Varanasi, Varanasi to Siliguri,” he said in his budget speech.
He announced a new dedicated freight corridor between Dankuni in West Bengal and Surat in Gujarat for environmentally sustainable movement of goods.
A high-speed corridor between Ahmedabad and Mumbai is in the works. Two dedicated freight corridors, East and West, are operational.
Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav That said, there is a lot of focus on security. ” ₹1,20,000 crore will be invested in security. 95% accidents have been reduced, more focus has been given on track maintenance, loco maintenance, wagon maintenance, coach maintenance, installation of fast coverage, installation of CCTV cameras, upgrading of overhead electrical system and construction of stations. Security will be improved. Customer care and customer convenience will be improved.”
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Vaishnav said the world is watching the progress of the Ahmedabad and Mumbai high-speed corridors. “It is being done at a fast pace while maintaining the quality of work. After the announcement of seven new high-speed corridors, the country’s transport sector will be completely transformed,” he said.
“Chennai-Bengaluru-Hyderabad will be a southern high-speed triangle or southern high-speed diamond, which will prove to be a big boon for the South Indian states of Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry.”
Vaishnav said the projects will significantly reduce travel time. He added that Chennai-Bengaluru journey will come down to 1 hour 13 minutes, Bengaluru-Hyderabad to two hours and Chennai-Hyderabad to 2 hours 55 minutes.
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“Chennai-Bengaluru-Hyderabad are three major economies and major hubs of IT. By creating this high-speed diamond, the South Indian states will have a big multiplier of growth, which is good for the country and all residents,” he said. “The Mumbai to Ahmedabad corridor is being built. Next, the Mumbai to Pune corridor will be built. From the Mumbai-Pune corridor, Mumbai and Pune will virtually merge, and the travel time between the two cities will be 48 minutes,” he said, adding that Pune to Hyderabad would be covered in 1 hour 55 minutes.
In North India, Delhi-Varanasi Corridor Will be able to travel in just 3 hours 50 minutes, said the minister. “The seven new corridors span about 4,000 km and will involve investment of approx. ₹16 lakh crore,” said Vaishnav.
“India has to be developed by 2047; so these seven corridors have to be worked on simultaneously… The capacity of industry and teams has increased, there is a lot to learn.. We have already climbed the learning curve in the country… We will move faster.”
Referring to the dedicated freight corridors, Vaishnav said, “…there is a very significant progress in Western Freight Corridor and Eastern Freight Corridor…We have already reached the saturation level as 400 trains per day are already traveling on this corridor.” Eastern Corridor, Western Corridor and East-West Freight Corridor of 2052 km and seven high-speed corridors together will give new strength to the railways, he added.
