Railway Budget 2026 Highlights: 7 high-speed rail corridors announced – check routes & other details

Railway Budget 2026: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced seven new high-speed, bullet train corridors spanning the Indian Railways network across the country as part of her Union Budget speech. This is the first time that the Budget is being presented on a Sunday.“In order to promote environmentally sustainable passenger systems, we will develop seven high speed rail corridors between cities as growth collectors,” FM Sitharaman announced. The seven routes are:

At present India does not have any functional high-speed or bullet train corridor. The first bullet train project is currently under construction between Ahmedabad and Mumbai. The first phase of this bullet train corridor within Gujarat is expected to be operational by 2027.

Jagannarayan Padmanabhan, Senior Director & Global Head, Consulting, Crisil Intelligence says, “The Finance Minister’s announcement of seven high-speed transport corridors is critical not just for capacity creation, but for enabling technology adoption through advanced signalling, traffic management and higher-spec rolling stock. These corridors will significantly reduce inter-city travel times and support seamless multimodal people movement by integrating rail, road, metro, bus and aviation networks. Given their long gestation, success will hinge on access to long-term financing and appropriately structured moratoriums.”Sitharaman said to promote environmentally-sustainable movement of cargo, she proposed to establish a new dedicated freight corridor connecting Dankuni in the east to Surat in the west.Talking about infrastructure, FM Sitharaman said, “During this past decade, our government has undertaken several initiatives for large scale enhancement of public infrastructure, including through new financing instruments such as infrastructure investment trust. We shall continue to focus on developing infrastructure in cities with over five lakh population that is tier two, tier three cities, which have expanded to become growth centers.”Indian Railways has been getting record capital expenditure allocation for some years now. In the last five years, railway budget allocations have grown exponentially, as the government focused on infrastructure as a driver of economic growth. Till 2017, the Railway Budget was presented separately. Suresh Prabhu was the last Railway Minister to present a separate railway budget in 2016. Since then railway allocations find space in the Finance Minister’s speech, but there is no separate speech or list of new trains announced. The Budget speech around railways tends to center around upcoming projects and long-term vision on passenger services, freight, and safety.Indian Railways News This YearAt the start of this year, Indian Railways introduced the first Vande Bharat sleeper train service between Guwahati and Howrah. The new semi-high speed train set, capable of 160 kmph speeds, is aimed at overhauling overnight travel experience on the Indian Railways network. In the coming years hundreds of Vande Bharat sleeper trains will be rolled out.Indian Railways says that Vande Bharat sleeper trains offer world-class comforts, with superior ride comfort compared to the existing premium trains like Rajdhani Express and Tejas Express. Cushioned berths, redesigned ladders, a host of passenger-friendly amenities, disabled-friendly features, faster travel experience and jerk-free rides are some of the top features of the Vande Bharat sleeper trains.The chair car version of the Vande Bharat trains is a popular service and as of December 2025,a total of 164 Vande Bharat train services are running across the Indian Railways network.Meanwhile, Amrit Bharat trains are push-pull services with locomotives on both ends to enhance train speed are also being rolled out. The trains for common man have sleeper and general coaches and there are plans to introduce them with AC coaches soon.Amrit Bharat services, which are at present fully non-AC trains, have 12 Sleeper Class Coaches and 8 General Class coaches, providing high quality services to the passengers, in many aspects similar to Vande Bharat trains. Indian Railways has also recently commissioned 472.3 route kilometres of Kavach Version 4.0. Kavach is the indigenous Automatic Train Protection system. Kavach Version 4.0 is the most advanced version of India’s home-grown Automatic Train Protection system. It has evolved through technological improvements, drawing on field experience, operational feedback, and independent safety evaluations, according to Indian Railways. Cleared by the Research Designs and Standards Organisation (RDSO), the system marks a significant leap in railway safety capabilities.The Kavach system combines microprocessor-based architecture, GPS technology, and radio communication to maintain safe train operations. When another train is detected on the same track within a defined safety distance, it alerts the locomotive pilot and, if necessary, automatically activates braking through onboard systems.