Budget 2024: Govt plans to set up three economic railway corridors, 40,000 trains will be upgraded to Vande Bharat 

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s Interim Budget for 2024-25 has proposed a significant boost to the Indian Railways, with plans to establish three major economic railway corridors Energy, Mineral and Cement corridor, Port Connectivity Corridor and a High Traffic Density Corridor aimed at reducing congestion and logistics costs in India. Besides, the budget proposal includes the upgrading of approximately 40,000 trains operating under the Indian Railways to Vande Bharat trains. These corridors were identified under the PM Gati Shakti scheme to enable multi-modal connectivity. These corridors will reduce costs and improve efficiency, according to the finance minister. “Three corridors, including a corridor for energy, mineral, and cement, another to enhance port connectivity corridor, and a third to decongest the high traffic density corridors will be set up,” the finance minister said in her Interim Budget speech on February 1. The projects have been identified under the PM Gati Shakti for enabling multimodal connectivity. They will improve logistics efficiency and reduce costs, Sitharaman added.