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Ashwini Vaishnaw, Minister for Railways, Information & Broadcasting, Electronics & Information Technology, said that the high-speed rail corridors announced
in the Union Budget 2026-27 are based on the success of Mumbai-Ahmedabad high-speed rail corridor which will get commercially operated next year. He said that high-speed rail corridor means corridors which are designed for 350 km per hour speed and today our country has the capability to design and execute such projects..
Seven High-Speed Rail Corridors: LIST
Notably, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on February 1 announced seven high-speed rail corridors and earmarked around Rs 2.77 lakh crore for Indian Railways, the highest-ever allocation.
The seven high-speed rail corridors are: Mumbai and Pune; Pune and Hyderabad; Hyderabad and Bengaluru; Hyderabad and Chennai; Chennai and Bengaluru; Delhi and Varanasi and Varanasi and Siliguri.
"The seven new high-speed corridors which have been announced, these are basically Chennai-Bengaluru, Bengaluru-Hyderabad and Chennai-Hyderabad as the southern high-speed triangle. This southern high-speed triangle will reduce the travel times in South Indian states in a very significant way. Chennai to Bengaluru will become just 1 hour 13 minutes. Bengaluru to Hyderabad will become just about 2 hours. Chennai to Hyderabad will become just about 2 hours 55 minutes. The states of Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Kerala, they will all be significantly benefited by the very immense economic multiplier which happens when such high-speed corridors are built," he told ET NOW in an exclusive interaction.
'Major Economic Boost'
He said that the high-speed rail corridors will prove to be a boon for people and transform the country’s transportation sector. He said that these corridors will give a major economic boost to industrial activity as well by improving connectivity, cutting logistics costs and attracting investments.
"Then comes the Mumbai to Pune high-speed rail corridor. So Mumbai-Pune high-speed corridor will mean that Mumbai to Pune travel will be completed in just 48 minutes. So practically, Mumbai and Pune will become one city. And then Pune to Hyderabad will be just about 1 hour 55 minutes. So that means Mumbai-Pune-Hyderabad will become a major economic hub. Pune is a very important education center. Mumbai is a very major financial center. Hyderabad is a very major IT center. So together and they will get connected with the southern triangle," he sai.
"So Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, Chennai, Bengaluru... so this entire thing will be a major major economic boost," the Union Minister said.
VIDEO: Ashwini Vaishnaw Interview | EXCLUSIVE
In North India, he said that Delhi to Varanasi travel will be completed in just 3 hours and 50 minutes. "So that means the cities of Uttar Pradesh, Lucknow, Agra, many cities will get connected. And this will be a major significant economic driver for growth in North India."
Varanasi to Siliguri via Patna will be completed in just 2 hours 55 minutes. "This will be a major economic corridor helping people in health care, education, economic activity, going for work, going for tourism," he said.
Vaishnaw added that "these will be about 4000-km of high-speed corridors'.
When asked by when the programme will be announced, the Minister replied: "We will very rapidly announce the programmes, how the roadmap will be. Very soon the DPRs will be finalized. We will take them to the finance cabinet and that entire process will start now."
Budget 2026: Railway Allocation
On the Capex and the budgetary allocation, he said that the budgetary support for railways this year is Rs 2,78,000 crore, "which is very significant and I thank Finance Minister and Prime Minister for that".
"We have earmarked a large part of this Rs 1,20,000 crore for safety. Because of this huge focus on safety and maintenance, the safety has improved 95% and this change is going to be further accelerated by this budgetary allotment. We are very focused on track maintenance, wagon maintenance, coach maintenance, loco maintenance, installing coverage, installing Kavach, making sure that the overhead electrical system is upgraded. All these things are a big focus for us and we are going to the root cause of each and every activity, improving passenger experience. We have 160 Vande Bharat trains already in service and this entire journey will now get accelerated because of the higher budget," he said.
'200 Vande Bharat Sleeper Trains'
To a question on Vande Bharat Sleeper trains, Vaishnaw said that "about 200 more Vande Bharat Sleepers are getting manufactured and we will see them in the coming months one by one".
The Minister added that "we have seen the construction pace is almost now nine kilometers a day, which is huge compared to any part of the world. And it is a very big multiplier for all those areas where the construction is happening.
