Budget 2024: 40,000 Rail Bogeys To Be Converted To Vande Bharat Standards
In the interim Budget 2024, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced that 40,000 rail bogies will be converted to Vande Bharat standards. Notably, the Finance Minister also announced the expansion of major rail infrastructure projects, including Metro Rail and Namo Bharat, to additional cities.
During the Budget speech, Nirmala Sitharaman said that three major economic railway corridor programmes will be implemented. This includes energy, mineral, and cement corridors, port connectivity corridors, and high traffic density corridors. Notably, these corridors were identified under the PM Gati Shakti scheme. It is worth mentioning that the PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan was unveiled in 2021 to provide multimodal connectivity infrastructure to various economic zones. According to the Finance Minister, these corridors will improve logistics efficiency and reduce costs.
Indian Railways @ Interim #Budget2024. #ViksitBharatBudget pic.twitter.com/E1OCrEu5NB
— Ministry of Railways (@RailMinIndia) February 1, 2024
The Union Finance Minister also noted that the resultant decongestion of the high-traffic corridors will help improve the operations of passenger trains. The minister also added that this will result in safety and higher travel speeds for passengers. “Together with dedicated freight corridors, these three economic corridor programmes will accelerate our GDP growth and reduce logistic costs,” added Nirmala Sitharaman in her speech.
Nirmala Sitharaman also said that the safety, convenience, and comfort of passengers will be enhanced by converting 40,000 normal rail bogies to the Vande Bharat standards. At the same time, Centre also says that Metro Rail and NaMo Bharat can be catalysts for the required urban transformation. “Expansion of these systems will be supported in large cities focusing on transit-oriented development,” added the Finance Minister.
