Railway Minister Vaishnaw announces three transformative corridors, laying 40,000 km of tracks and promising an end to passenger wait lists by 2030–31.
Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw unveiled a game-changing plan to alleviate the perennial issue of passenger wait lists. In response to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s budget proposals for 2024–25, Vaishnaw disclosed the development of three significant multi-modal economic corridors. These corridors, focusing on energy, minerals, and cement; port connectivity; and high traffic density, aim to address the overcrowded ticket wait lists.
The ambitious project involves laying 40,000 km of rail tracks over the next six to eight years, promising to enhance the network capacity substantially. Vaishnaw emphasised that these corridors, costing approximately Rs 11 lakh crore, would be multi-model, catering to both freight and passenger traffic. The three corridors are expected to significantly boost the railway’s capacity and contribute to a reduction of up to 90 percent in carbon emissions.
Vaishnaw also introduced the “Amrit Chaturbhuj,” a corridor designed for high-density traffic routes. He highlighted the transformative impact of rail transport on the country’s economy, making it more efficient, productive, and sustainable.
Additionally, the Railway Minister addressed the conversion of 40,000 coaches to the Vande Bharat standard, following the success of the Vande Bharat and Amrit Bharat trains. Vaishnaw underscored the government’s focus on capacity enhancement, noting a substantial increase in track additions from 4 km per day in 2014 to about 15 km per day presently. With an impressive 82 percent achievement of the capital expenditure budget by January, the total budget allocation of 2.52 lakh crore for 2024–25 aims to further augment capacity, improve infrastructure, and enhance passenger experience.
(Source: PTI)
