Railway Budget 2026: Railway Budget is expected to prioritise safety, affordable travel, freight efficiency and modern trains while keeping the common passenger at the core.
Railways Budget 2026 Expectation
Railway Budget 2026: As the Budget 2026 approaches, the Indian Railways are at a critical point with more than 23 million passengers every day and freight carried beyond 1.5 billion tons annually, there is hope that the upcoming Railway Budget will provide more than just promises. After years of massive outlays, the attention is now on safety, speed, capacity and accessibility where the Budget 2026 is expected to walk a tight rope maintaining social responsibility and viability alongside keeping the common man in the middle, as it progresses with the growth story of India.
Safety has become not only a concern but a public demand. With a series of major accidents, the safety budget is all set to see a massive jump, possibly touching Rs 1.3 lakh crores—close to a 25% increase from last year. The budget will likely be allocated to track renewal, bridge maintenance, and signaling systems, where Indian Railways is already replacing approximately 4,500 km of tracks every year. However, the rate needs to be above 6,000 km to reduce the chances of derailment and aim for a zero-accident network.
The manufacturing of railway equipment has emerged as a success story and India is now making Vande Bharat trains, metro coaches and safety systems in the country itself, reducing imports. The Budget 2026 is expected to continue this trend by providing incentives to the private sector manufacturers, especially for advanced components like braking systems, signaling gear and high-speed bogies. With exports of coaches to over 20 countries already in progress, the right policy intervention could help India become the world’s manufacturing hub for railway equipment.
The existing cut in senior citizen concessions during the pandemic is still affecting senior citizens and there is a strong expectation that Budget 2026 will reinstate these concessions, at least in part. Proposals being considered include reinstating concessions for non-AC classes or restricting concessions to passengers above 70 years of age. Since senior citizens account for close to 8% of total passengers and it will give social relief without affecting the railway budget much.
Dedicated Freight Corridors have shown that faster and reliable freight transport can be a game-changer in logistics. Trains on the Western and Eastern DFCs are now running at average speeds of 60 to 70 kmph, whereas earlier they used to run at 20 to 25 kmph where Budget 2026 is expected to provide support for new corridors and feeder lines, besides encouraging private investment in terminals and rolling stock while increasing the freight share of railways from less than 30% to 45% by 2030 is still a major aim.
Kavach is the indigenous anti-collision system of India, is likely to be one of the largest beneficiaries of the budget and the Railways plan to roll out Kavach 4.0 on 18,000 km of high-density routes. The system has the ability to apply brakes automatically in case of human error, thus reducing the chances of collision. Faster processing of tenders, a clear timeline and budgetary support are essential to roll out the system from pilots to the entire network.
Though day services have been revolutionized by the introduction of chair-car Vande Bharat trains, passengers on long routes have always looked forward to a sleeper service. The Budget of 2026 is expected to introduce mass production of 24-coach Vande Bharat Sleeper trains which are expected to replace Rajdhani trains with modern berths, pantry cars and improved safety measures, the first models are expected to arrive by the end of 2026.
Not all people may be interested in traveling in luxury and this has been taken into account in the budget where as the plan includes 50 Amrit Bharat trains and non-AC push-pull services for migrant workers and daily commuters, which are expected to receive budgetary support. At the same time, Namo Bharat rapid rail projects may see an increase in budgetary allocation, thereby increasing short-distance inter-city routes.
The railways are at the very center of the larger Viksit Bharat Sankalp and the agenda is quite simple to reduce waiting lists, double the number of tracks and construct new lines. Despite heavy outlays of around Rs 2 to 2.5 lakh crores in the last few years, bottlenecks continue. In Budget 2026, the focus is likely to be on optimizing existing resources, accelerating project implementation and pursuing reforms that link infrastructure outlays to performance.
One of the most telling indicators of this shift is the renewed focus on affordable travel options and the Railways have already begun to focus their coach manufacturing on 70% non-AC coaches and the Budget 2026 is likely to outline plans for the construction of 17,000 general and sleeper coaches. For the millions of people who travel by train every day, this focus could be a game-changer, solidifying the railways as the most accessible form of transportation in India.
