Outlaying the roadmap for the Railways, Metro and NaMo Bharat, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman that three major economic railway corridor programmes will be implemented. These are — energy, mineral and cement corridors, port connectivity corridors, and high-traffic density corridors. The projects have been identified under the PM Gati Shakti for enabling multi-modal connectivity. They will improve logistics efficiency and reduce cost.
The resultant decongestion of the high-traffic corridors will also help in improving operations of passenger trains, resulting in safety and higher travel speed for passengers. Together with dedicated freight corridors, these three economic corridor programmes will accelerate our GDP growth and reduce logistic costs.
Forty thousand normal rail bogies will be converted to the Vande Bharat standards to enhance safety, convenience and comfort of passengers.
Metro and NaMo Bharat
Nirmala Sitharam said, "We have a fast-expanding middle class and rapid urbanisation is taking place. Metro Rail and NaMo Bharat can be the catalyst for the required urban transformation. Expansion of these systems will be supported in large cities focusing on transit-oriented development."
