Union Budget 2026-27: 7 new high-speed rail corridors announced for sustainable travel

In a bid to promote “environmentally sustainable” travel across the country, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman proposed development of seven new high-speed rail corridors in the country on February 1, 2026. Putting forward the proposal during her speech to deliver the Union Budget for 2026-27, Sitharaman said these corridors will provide faster passenger systems connecting major economic and cultural cities in India. 

The seven corridor routes proposed are Mumbai-Pune; Pune-Hyderabad; Hyderabad-Bengaluru; Hyderabad-Chennai; Chennai-Bengaluru; Delhi-Varanasi; and Varanasi-Siliguri. These corridors will serve as “growth connectors” to link the cities’ financial hubs, industrial and technological centres and population clusters, and to promote clean mobitiliy, said Sitharaman. 

The rail corridors came amid a slew of announcements under Budget 2026-27 to boost city economic regions, particularly in terms of basic infrastructure and public amenities. 

Freight and cargo movement

Apart from the passenger systems, Sitharaman also emphasised on environmentally sustainable cargo movement through three major proposals. First was the announcement of dedicated freight corridors connecting Dankuni (West Bengal) in the East to Surat (Gujarat) in the West. 

The second proposal seeks to operationalise 20 new national waterways over the next five years. This project will begin in Odisha, connecting mineral-rich areas of Talcher and Angul and industrial centres like Kalinga Nagar to the Paradeep and Dhamra ports. These waterways could also provide employment opportunities, with Regional Centres of Excellence set up to train youth across the waterways network and ship repair ecosystems established at Varanasi and Patna.

Lastly, Budget 2026-27 seeks to launch a Coastal Cargo Promotion Scheme to increase the share of inland waterways and coastal shipping from 6 per cent to 12 per cent by 2047, incentivising a modal shift from rail and road.

In her Budget speech, Sitharaman also laid emphasis on enhancing last-mile and remote connectivity, proposing introduction of incentives for indigenous manufacturing of seaplanes. A Seaplane VGF [viability gap funding] Scheme will also be established, she said.