New Delhi [India], June 8 (ANI): Union Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announced on Monday an ambitious expansion plan for India’s rail network, aiming to add 3,000 new regular train services over the next five years.
This initiative is part of a broader strategy to enhance capacity for middle and lower-middle-class passengers, following the successful addition of 2,000 train services in the post-COVID period.
Highlighting the sector’s transformation since 2014, Vaishnaw contrasted the current scale of investment with the “peanuts” allocated in the 60 to 70 years prior. The Minister pointed to the 2016 merger of the railway and general budgets as a critical turning point that enabled a significant surge in funding, escalating from ₹35,000 crore to ₹2,72,000 crore.
He credited the current government under Prime Minister Naredra Modi for prioritising the sector since 2014, noting that the merger of the railway and general budgets in 2016 was a pivotal step that allowed for much larger funding.
In the last 60-70 years, the investment in railways was peanuts. It was like 20,000 crore or something. Prime Minister Modi started increasing it in 2014. He merged the budgets. The railway budget used to be separate. The general budget used to be a separate budget. In 2016, he merged both budgets. From a 35,000 crore rupees investment, he has brought it to 2,72,000 crore rupees. It’s a gap of 50-60 years which has to be filled up in the last 10 years. It’s still in the third mode of transport for the middle class and lower middle class. Absolutely. And that is what our focus is,” he said.
Vaishnaw said that to support the addition of new train services, the government has focused on massive infrastructure expansion. Approximately 36,000 kilometres of new railway tracks have been laid, representing entirely new infrastructure rather than simple upgrades. The ministry has completed upgrades across 75,000 kilometres of existing track.
“In just After the COVID, we have added about 2,000 more train services after COVID. And in the next five years, we want to add at least 3,000 more regular trains. Once you add that many trains, you need more capacity. That’s why when you look at the entire growth strategy, the first pillar of investment, we have been able to add about 36,000 kilometres of railway tracks. You need a railway track to run a train, right? 36,000 kilometres of railway tracks have been added. This is not upgradation, this is new tracks. Upgradation is of the order of about 75,000 kilometres,” he added.
The Minister also shared a positive outlook on the nation’s inaugural bullet train project, noting that construction is moving at an efficient pace of 15 kilometres per month.
Key milestones for the bullet train corridor include the Surat to Bilimora section, which is scheduled for inauguration in August 2027. Following the initial launch, the ministry plans to open the Vapi to Surat, Vapi to Ahmedabad, Thane to Ahmedabad, and finally the full Mumbai to Ahmedabad sections in sequence.
He said, “The bullet train project has progressed very well. We are constructing almost 15 kilometres a year, a month, I am sorry, 15 kilometres a month. By now, practically the entire Gujarat section out of that, the first section that we have taken as a priority section, Surat to Bilimora, will be inaugurated next year in August, 2027. And after that, section by section, then after Surat Bilimora, we will be opening Vapi to Surat. Then we will be opening Vapi to Ahmedabad and then Thane to Ahmedabad, and then Mumbai to Ahmedabad. So that entire section will be open and then the next corridors we have already started working on them. These corridors will bring a huge change.”
Vaishnaw emphasised that these high-speed corridors, along with the increased frequency of regular trains, are designed to fundamentally reshape India’s transportation landscape as the government works to address the infrastructure deficit accumulated over several decades. (ANI)
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