Budget 2023: The Railway allocation in the union budget is expected to be around Rs 1.9 lakh crore and this will cover 500 new Vande Bharat trains, hydrogen-powered trains and modernised rolling stock among other things. The Modi government is set to give a huge thrust to railways in the upcoming budget.
It is being reported that the Indian Railways is likely to get an allocation of nearly Rs 1.9 lakh crore ($23 billion) in the Budget 2023-24. The Modi government is expected to give a big boost to Vande Bharat, with 500 more semi-high speed trains proposed to be added to the fleet and 35 hydrogen-fuelled trains on the cards.
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Vande Bharat trains
The Centre has been pushing for the Vande Bharat for two reasons – one it expects to replace all Rajdhanis and Shatabdis with the Vande Bharat to raise average speeds on routes to 180km/h. Second, the administration is also hopeful of exporting these trains to markets in Europe, South America and East Asia by 2025-26.
Besides the Vande Bharat expansion, 4,000 newly designed automobile carrier coaches and 58,000 wagons will also be announced in the upcoming budget and rolled out in the next 3 years.
Hydrogen-powered trains
Recently, the Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had revealed plans torun hydrogen-powered trains on eight heritage routes – Darjeeling, Nilgiris, Kalka-Shimla and Kangra Valley. A prototype for these routes is being developed at the Northern Railway workshop which will be test run on Sonipat-Jind section in Haryana. When launched, these trains are expected to transform rail travel in the hills to a zero carbon emitting option.
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Rolling stock
There will be a huge thrust on new age rolling stock (trains, coaches and wagons), possibly the highest so far. Railway rolling stock will be modernised and upgraded under the plan. The government also plans 100 new Vistadome coaches and refurbishment of 1000 coaches of premier trains.
