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The three rail corridors announced by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the interim budget 2024-25 will cost the Center Rs 11 trillion and add 40,000 kilometers (km) of track to the already existing rail network, Ashwini Vaishnaw , Union Railway Minister, said on Thursday.
“Once the three corridors are finished, we will have enough capacity to put an end to the problem of waiting lists,” he added.
According to the minister, the national transporter has learned from the development of Vande Bharat and Amrit Bharat trains and will use them to upgrade 40,000 bogies for a safer and faster experience.
These changes, he said, will be carried out on air-conditioned and non-air-conditioned coaches over a period of five years.
“The budget has laid the foundation for the railway modernization plan. Establishes the roadmap to increase passenger capacity from 7 billion to 10 billion. Secondly, it is important for safety that the roads are not congested and that there is sufficient time for maintenance and repair. Thirdly, a new form of train service is envisaged,” Vaishnaw said.
The national transporter is expected to have an operating ratio of 98.7 per cent in the current financial year.
“All our pension expenses are financed from internal revenues. In the railways there is a very strict discipline when it comes to finances. Secondly, the benefits of electrification are visible now. There are continuous stretches that are now fully electrified, providing seamless connectivity. Our diesel consumption has reduced significantly now,” he said, in response to a question from Business standard.
“By the end of January, we had spent 82 percent of the allocated capital expenditure (Rs 2.4 trillion), which is significant considering that work continued despite the elections. Next year, we are set to spend Rs 2.52 trillion (of budget allocations),” Vaishnaw said.
Freight revenues have been a cause of concern for the sector, as capacity expansion works and commercial factors have slowed the railways’ momentum in their profitable freight service. The ministry had maintained a target of Rs 1.75 trillion in goods revenue, which it revised downwards by nearly Rs 10,000 crore in the Revised Estimates for the current financial year.
Vaishnaw clarified that the performance of freight transportation has been good considering the complex challenges of capacity constraints.
“There is still huge congestion so capacity needs to be increased significantly, but rail services also need to be up and running. “We cannot stop entire corridors like other countries,” he stated.
The minister also said that talks on the India-Middle East Economic Corridor (IMEC) are progressing rapidly.
“IMEC is progressing very well. Conceptually, alignments of missing links in the trade route have been identified and it is clear that this is a great insurance against any disruption in the trade routes,” he said.
First published: February 2, 2024 | 1:21 a.m. IS
