According to specialists who follow the railway business closely, the year 2022 appears to be a good year for the Indian Railway in terms of the Union Budget. Experts believe that increasing the budgeted spending for Indian Railways is critical in order to improve capacity, infrastructure, and boost rail freight share ahead of demand.
Over the next few years, capacity growth will be crucial for strengthening India's competitiveness, as logistics and freight movement by rail will play a critical role in meeting growing demand until 2050. Apart from increasing capacity, Indian Railways must increase track safety, speed, and digitization of locomotives and Indian Railways in order to remain competitive and open up new options for private sector participation.
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Railway Budget 2022
This year's Rail Budget will prioritize making long-distance travel more comfortable, expanding the railway network in poll-bound areas, and improving connectivity in urban centers and the Northeast. Nirmala Sitharaman, the Union Finance Minister, will introduce her fourth Budget on Tuesday.
Following the combination of the Rail Budget and the Union Budget in 2017, this will be the sixth joint Budget. According to information, the Centre is expected to enhance the Rail budget by 15 to 20% this year.
The Centre can announce new railway facilities for common travelers as Assembly elections in five states approach. Despite a loss of Rs 26,338 crore in the previous fiscal year, the Rail Budget is projected to be increased to approximately Rs 2.5 lakh crore this year. The Railways received a record budget of Rs 1,10,055 crore from the Centre last year.
Expectations From Railway Budget 2022
- Electrification of tracks- According to speculations in the media, the center could potentially propose electrifying 7,000 kilometers of rail track as a first step toward achieving 100% electrification by 2023. With the next elections, this will be combined with the addition of new railway lines in the states.
Railway Budget is critical for the lower and middle classes because it is the country's lifeline. In addition, the central government may announce the construction of more rail lines connecting India's metro cities to tier 2 and tier 3 cities.
- Bullet trains- A bullet train connecting New Delhi and Varanasi could also be announced by the center. In addition, an additional bullet train between Delhi and Howrah may be announced. For the uninitiated, the first bullet train between Ahmedabad and Mumbai is now under construction. On the Golden Quadrilateral route, the center may also declare semi-high-speed trains. With a speed of 180-200 kph, these trains will be similar to the Vande Bharat Express.
- Increased focus on North East- The Centre will also prioritize the expansion of the train network in the Northeast region in the Rail Budget. The Finance Minister had also announced intentions to create new DFC corridors for routes such as the East Coast, East-West, and North-South in the last Budget. For the first time since independence, a freight train arrived at Rani Gaidinliu railway station in Manipur's Tamenglong district just before the elections.
Indian Railways serves a large portion of the commuting population, with over 23.9 million passengers using trains every day. Trainman makes it easy to book train tickets online from the ground up. We aspire to be the quickest, most mobile-friendly site that provides answers to all of your rail travel questions in just a few taps. A comprehensive center of railway travel information dedicated to providing its users with intelligent information, all under one roof, to assist you in checking PNR status, Time Table, Live Train Status under one roof.