The Union Budget 2026-27 allocated ₹2,77,830 crore to the Ministry of Railways for capital expenditure — 10.25% higher than the previous year and the highest ever. FM Sitharaman announced seven high-speed rail corridors: (1) Mumbai-Pune, (2) Pune-Hyderabad, (3) Hyderabad-Bengaluru, (4) Hyderabad-Chennai, (5) Chennai-Bengaluru, (6) Delhi-Varanasi, and (7) Varanasi-Siliguri. These corridors span nearly 4,000 km and will act as city-to-city growth connectors. The total outlay is estimated at ₹16 trillion. The budget also highlighted the continued rollout of Vande Bharat trains and the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project. Railways remain central to the government's infrastructure-led growth strategy.