Railway Budget 2025: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is all set to present Railway Budget 2025 in the Parliament on February 1 and all eyes are on theRailways sector as passengers have great expectations from the Central government.
The regular train passengers expect the Budget 2025 to focus on on modernising the Indian Railways network, improving passenger services, and expanding connectivity across regions.
Apart from this, the general train passengers also expect the Budget to focus on Vande Bharat trains, Kavach and upgraded stations across the country.
It is also expected that the Centre in Nudget 2025 might focus on safety, sustainability and the introduction of advanced technology in the Indian Railways this time.
Along with this, the budget is expected to outline investments in high-speed trains, new routes, station upgrades, and environmental initiatives to reduce carbon emissions.
This time, the Indian Railways is expected to receive a 15-20% increase in capital expenditure allocation for FY26 in the forthcoming Union Budget as the national transporter progresses towards utilising the current year’s funds. It is also expected that the total capital expenditure allocation for the national transporter could exceed Rs 3 lakh crore, up from the current fiscal year’s Rs 2.65 lakh crore.
What to expect from Railway Budget:
Artificial Intelligence
The Indian Railways is expected to put more emphasis on investments and initiatives in the technology sector, with a major focus on leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance systems and processes. The AI right now is being utilised for predictive analysis to boost efficiency.
Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw recently introduced the Linen Inspection and Sorting Assistant (LISA), an AI-based system designed to automatically identify and segregate stained linens while conducting thorough quality checks on bed sheets used in trains.
LHB coaches
The Indian Railways is expected to focus on the replacement of older ICF coaches with Linke-Hofmann-Busch (LHB) coaches. The Indian Railways since April 2018 has exclusively produced LHB coaches. The production targets for coaches in 2023-24 were not met. There has been no update on its manufacturing in FY 2024-25 also.
