The budget is historic and provided unprecedented support to the Railways, said Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw citing the capital support of ₹ 1,37,300 crore. Vaishnaw said the Railways is targeting 98 per cent operating ratio in the coming year and reduce the logistics cost of the country.

In her budget speech, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that Railways will develop new products and efficient logistics services for small farmers, and small and medium enterprises. She said the Railways will lead the integration of Postal and Railways networks to provide seamless solutions for movement of parcels. “’One Station-One Product’ concept will be popularised to help local businesses and supply chains,” she said.

About 2,000 kilometres of rail network will be brought under Kavach, the indigenously developed technology for safety and capacity in 2022-23. Vaibhaw hailed this proposal and said Kavach is a reliable product and enhance the capacity and safety of Railways.

Sitharaman also announced that 400 new-generation Vande Bharat Trains with better energy efficiency and passenger riding experience will be developed and manufactured during the next three years. Around 100 PM Gati Shakti Cargo Terminals for multimodal logistics facilities will also be developed in the next three years.

Vaibhaw said the railways will improve its operating ratio. “We are achieving four million tonnes loading every day. This is unheard. The entire team of Railways is working with dedication. Our services have been simplified. We are targeting 4.5 to 5 million tonnes per day. Our effort is to reduce the logistic cost of the country,” he told reporters during a press conference.

The Railways expects passenger revenue of ₹58,500 in 2022-23. In the Covid-hit 2020-21, the actual passenger revenue collected was ₹15,248.49crore. The budget estimate in the 2021-22 budget was ₹61,000 crore and it was revised to ₹44,375 crore. The total goods revenue in the budget is ₹1,65,000 crore. The actual revenue collected in 2020-21 was ₹1,17,231.82 crore, while the budget estimate of 2021-22 was ₹ 1,37,810 crore and it was revised to ₹ 1,45,275 crore.

The budget said the Railways targets construction of 300 kilometres of new lines, 500 kilometres of gauge conversion, 1,700 kilometres of doubling of lines, production of 685 electric locomotives, 7,551 coaches, 13,000 wagons, 3,700 kilometres of track renewals, and 6,500 kilometres of electrification projects.

Vaishnaw claimed that the electrification of lines will be completed before the target year of 2023. Construction of tracks for bullet trains too is also being done in a satisfactory manner, he said.

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