Source – https://www.businesstoday.in/union-budget/story/budget-2024-updates-3-major-railway-corridors-40000-rail-bogies-to-be-converted-to-vande-bharat-standards-415718-2024-02-01
Publisher – Business Today
Budget 2024: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday announced the establishment of three major corridors — port connectivity corridor, energy, mineral and cement corridor and high traffic density corridor. Besides, she added 40,000 normal rail bogies will be converted to Vande Bharat to enhance safety, convenience, and comfort of passengers.
Key rail infrastructure projects including Metro Rail and Namo Bharat will be expanded to more cities, Sitharaman said.
Railways is one of the key drivers of the PM GatiShakti scheme and the National Logistics Policy. The PM GatiShakti has a massive size of Rs 100 lakh crore. The government has been working to decongest railway infrastructure by 51% by 2024-25.
On the railway announcement in the Interim Budget 2024, CRISIL said: “The development of commodity-specific economic rail corridors can de-congest existing lines, mostly in the eastern part of the country. This is supportive of faster freight movement and turnaround times and should help reduce the logistics cost for India from 12% of GDP, improving competitiveness, especially manufacturing, against peers.”
