NEW DELHI, Sept. 9, 2026: The Union government has approved a major railway infrastructure expansion plan to quadruple seven of the country’s busiest high-density rail corridors, with multi-tracking projects estimated to cost about Rs. 11,000 crore. The approval was given by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) as part of efforts to increase rail capacity and ease congestion on key routes.
The expansion will cover the Delhi–Howrah, Howrah–Mumbai, Delhi–Mumbai, Delhi–Guwahati, Delhi–Chennai, Howrah–Chennai and Mumbai–Chennai corridors. The projects are expected to benefit 14 districts across five states, improve rail connectivity for nearly 4,790 villages and directly or indirectly benefit about 56 lakh people.
Several major economic and population centres fall along these routes. The Delhi–Howrah corridor connects important locations including Kanpur, Prayagraj, Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Junction, Patna and Asansol. The Delhi–Mumbai route links Mathura, Kota, Ratlam, Vadodara and Surat, while the Delhi–Chennai corridor connects Agra, Gwalior, Jhansi, Bhopal, Nagpur and Vijayawada. The Mumbai–Chennai corridor includes Pune and other major industrial and commercial centres.
The additional tracks are expected to ease congestion and allow more passenger and freight trains to operate on the heavily used network. The corridors are particularly important for transporting coal, cement, iron and steel. Once the multi-tracking projects are completed, the country’s freight handling capacity is projected to increase by about 27 million tonnes a year.
Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said railway modernisation and infrastructure expansion had continued under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership. He said the government was not only expanding the seven high-density corridors but was also focusing on developing other routes expected to face higher transportation demand in the future.
