Ashwini Vaishnaw: Rs 14,205 cr allocated for Bengal in Rs 2.78L cr Railways Budget

Kolkata: West Bengal has been allocated Rs 14,205 crore from the record Rs 2.78 lakh crore earmarked for Indian Railways in the Union Budget for 2026–27, Union Railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Monday.

Addressing a press conference via video conferencing, the minister said the allocation for West Bengal was substantially higher than the state’s average annual outlay of Rs 4,380 crore during the 2009–14 period.

He announced plans for a high-speed rail corridor between Varanasi and Siliguri via Patna to facilitate future bullet train services. The corridor is proposed to be extended to Guwahati at a later stage.

The minister said the Dankuni–Surat freight corridor would improve freight efficiency across West Bengal, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat by reducing transit time and strengthening supply chains across multiple states.

On passenger services, the minister said more than a dozen new trains had been introduced in West Bengal over the last year.

Highlighting the rapid expansion of the Kolkata Metro network since 2014, he said that while 27 km of Metro lines were constructed between 1972 and 2014, an additional 45 km have been added in the 11 years since 2014.

Under the Amrit Station Scheme, over 100 railway stations in West Bengal are being redeveloped to improve passenger amenities and infrastructure.

Separately, Jharkhand has been allotted Rs 7,536 crore in 2026–27, compared with an average annual outlay of Rs 457 crore between 2009 and 2014. Odisha has received Rs 10,928 crore against an earlier average of Rs 838 crore.

Under the Amrit Station Scheme, 57 stations in Jharkhand and 59 stations in Odisha have been identified for complete redevelopment.

Following the minister’s address, Milind Deouskar, General Manager, Eastern Railway (ER) interacted with media persons and discussed development works and achievements of ER and Indian Railways. Anil Kumar Mishra, General Manager, South Eastern Railway (SER), was present at the

SER headquarters in Garden Reach during the video conference and later interacted with the media on the Railways Budget.