In the Union Budget introduced today, the Center has made an allocation of Rs. 2.4 lakh rupees for the railway budget. In this, Vande Bharat has given the highest priority to trains Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Railway Budget for the financial year 2023-24 today.
It has been revealed that a capital expenditure of Rs.2.4 lakh crore is going to be made for the railways. The Center has decided to make 75 Vande Bharat trains available by August 2023. It has also announced that tenders will be invited for the manufacture of 200 Vande Bharat sleeper trains.
Center has decided to replace Shatabdi Express with Vande Bharat Express in Indian Railway network. Vande Bharat Chair Cars are going to replace the Shatabdi seat. Also, the Finance Minister has signaled that Rajdhani Express is going to be replaced by Vande Bharat Sleeper Express.
This is sure to lead to major changes in the railways in the coming financial year. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today boasted that in the financial year 2013-14, i.e. the last year of the UPA regime, they have allocated 9 times more than the railway budget introduced.
Finance Minister Nirmala said that this is the largest allocation of funds for the railways, and that this year’s railway budget should focus on the completion of incomplete projects and the development of infrastructure. She revealed that soon Vande Bharat will focus on launching high speed trains.
The funds allocated this year are expected to be used to lay new tracks, increase the number of semi-high-speed Vande Bharat trains, introduce hydrogen-powered trains as well as the Ahmedabad-Mumbai bullet train project.