The

Indian Government The Government of India (ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of 36 states and union territor ...

is undertaking several initiatives to upgrade its aging railway infrastructure and enhance its quality of service. The Railway Ministry has announced plans to invest to upgrade the railways by 2030. Upgrades include 100% electrification of railways, upgrading existing lines with more facilities and higher speeds, expansion of new lines, upgrading railway stations, introducing and eventually developing a large

high-speed train High-speed rail (HSR) is a type of rail transport network utilising trains that run significantly faster than those of traditional rail, using an integrated system of specialised rolling stock and dedicated tracks. While there is no single def ...

network interconnecting major cities in different parts of

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and development of various dedicated freight corridors to cut down cargo costs within the country. The

Research Design and Standards Organisation The Research Designs & Standards Organisation (RDSO) is the R&D, research and development and railway Specification (technical standard), technical specification development organisation under the Ministry of Railways (India), Ministry of Railwa ...

(RDSO) is undertaking all research, designs and standardisation work for modernisation,

National High Speed Rail Corporation Limited The National High Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL) was incorporated in 2016 to manage High-speed rail in India, high-speed rail corridors in India. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Indian Railways, the Ministry of Railways and the Go ...

(NHSRCL) is overlooking the implementation of high-speed train programs across the country,

Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India The dedicated freight corridors in India are a network of Railway electrification, electric 5 ft 6 in gauge railway, broad gauge Rail freight transport, freight railway lines that solely serve freight trains, thus making the freight service in In ...

(DFCCI) is the agency undertaking development of freight corridors around the country and Indian Railway Stations Development Corporation (IRSDC) is engaged in railway stations upgrade and development programs.

Trains

Brand_New_saffron_Vande_Bharat_express_for_VISAKHAPATNAM

Semi-high-speed rail

A semi-high-speed rail network will be introduced for connecting important routes, including Delhi–Agra, Delhi–Kanpur, Chennai–Hyderabad, Nagpur–Secunderabad, Mumbai–Pune–Solapur–Hyderabad and Mumbai–Goa. Initially, the trains will operate at a maximum speed of 160 km/h, which will be increased to 200 km/h after the rails are strengthened and fenced off. The

Gatimaan Express The 12049 / 12050 Gatiman Express is an express train run by Indian Railways. It connects Hazrat Nizamuddin in Delhi and Jhansi railway stations. The train is equipped with a 5,400HP electric locomotive and has 12 coaches which covers the j ...

began services on April 5, 2016, after safety clearances were obtained on its first route. Currently,

Vande Bharat Express Vande Bharat Express is a medium to long-distance Higher-speed rail (Indian English: Semi-High Speed) Express trains in India#Superfast, Express train service. It is a Indian Railways#Ticketing and fares, reserved, air-conditioned chair car se ...

is the fastest train running on 66 routes with highest trail speed of 183 km/h, with potential of reaching up to 200 km/h. Mission Raftaar was announced in the Railway Budget of 2016-17 with the target of increasing the average speed of freight and superfast mail/express trains. The railway is focusing on the New Delhi-Mumbai and New Delhi-Howrah routes as part of the Golden Quadrilateral. Mission Raftar compromises several measures have been taken to achieve the medium- and long-term goals of Mission Raftaar, including the construction of tracks, bridges, rail flyovers, bypasses, right-powering of trains, third and fourth line construction, replacement of conventional loco-hauled trains by MEMUs, changes in timetable, and modification of the 1×25 KV traction system to the 2×25 KV traction system, among others. The country has made target of having 4,500 Vande Bharat trains running across India by 2047. Indian Railways have planned to introduce Vande Bharat trains in inner parts of India such as Ranchi-Puri, Raipur-Ranchi, Indore-Pune, Raipur-Varanasi, Pune-Goa, Goa-Mysore, Gokarna-Bangalore, Agartala-Guwahati, Indore-Lucknow to increase connectivity and economic development. Indian Railways will soon start the upgradation of tracks with high strength rails (R-350).The railways has started the work to increase the design speed limit of the next-generation Vande Bharat sleeper trains to 220 kmph and work has also started to improve the Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Howrah lines to allow trains to run at 160 km/h.

Dedicated freight corridors(dfc)

Dedicated freight corridors of 3,300 km length will also be completed thus freeing the dual use high demand trunk routes for running more high-speed passenger trains. The project will continue to figure on the high priority list of all the government agencies associated with it. DFCs will help India reduce its high logistics costs from some 13-15 per cent of the GDP and help it move towards the target of 8 per cent. Till date in the commissioned sections, a total of 4000 trains have been run. Some of the trains in the section are achieving the average speed of 99.38 kmph in EDFC and the average speed is 89.50 kmph in WDFC. Passenger train such as

have already ran on DFC tracks during exigencies.

High-speed rail

The Indian government conducted joint surveys with a Japanese government team in 2014, finally approving a corridor between Mumbai and

Ahmedabad Ahmedabad ( ), also spelled Amdavad (), is the most populous city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ahmedabad district and the seat of the Gujarat High Court. Ahmedabad's population of 5,570,585 ...

. The new high-speed service will use a Japanese

Shinkansen The , colloquially known in English as the bullet train, is a network of high-speed railway lines in Japan. It was initially built to connect distant Japanese regions with Tokyo, the capital, to aid economic growth and development. Beyond lon ...

system and rolling stock. The cost of procuring the technology is estimated to be around . India and Japan signed agreements for the project in December 2015; the Japanese government will fund 81% of the total cost with a soft loan fixed at a nominal interest rate. A special committee has recommended the trains be run on an elevated corridor for an additional cost of , to avoid the difficulties of acquiring land, building underpasses and constructing protective fencing. Indian Railways will operate the corridor for a five-year period after its commissioning and afterwards will be turned over to a private operator. Construction work of the corridor began in 2017 and will be completed by 2028. However, there is uncertainty in other routes as many of the routes have been junked as unfeasible.

Rolling stock

Modern locomotive factories

In 2015, plans were disclosed for the construction of two locomotive factories with foreign partnerships in the state of Bihar, at Madhepura (electric) and at Marhowra (diesel). The diesel locomotive works will be jointly operated in a partnership with

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) was an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in 1892, incorporated in the New York (state), state of New York and headquartered in Boston. Over the year ...

, which has invested for its construction and the electric locomotive works with

Alstom Alstom SA () is a French multinational rolling stock manufacturer which operates worldwide in rail transport markets. It is active in the fields of passenger transportation, signaling, and locomotives, producing high-speed, suburban, regional ...

, which has invested . The factories will provide IR with 800 electric locomotives of 12,000 horsepower and a mix of 1,000 diesel locomotives of 4,500 and 6,000 horsepower each. In November 2015, it was announced IR and GE would engage in an 11-year joint venture in which GE would hold a majority stake of 74%. IR would purchase 100 goods locomotives a year for 10 years, beginning in 2017; the locomotives would be modified versions of the

GE Evolution series The Evolution Series is a line of diesel locomotives built by GE Transportation Systems (now owned by Wabtec), initially designed to meet the United States, U.S. United States Environmental Protection Agency, EPA's United States emission standa ...

. The diesel locomotive works will be built by 2018; GE will import the first 100 locomotives and manufacture the remaining 900 in India from 2019 onwards, also assuming responsibility for their maintenance over a 13-year period. In the same month, a partnership with Alstom to supply 800 electric locomotives from 2018 to 2028 was announced. Indian Railways is now moving to manufacturing high-end aluminium self-propelled 160 km/hour indigenous

Make in India is an initiative by the Government of India to create and encourage companies to develop, manufacture and assemble products in India and incentivize dedicated investments into manufacturing. The policy approach was to create a conducive envi ...

coaches that require no locomotive and are 10% cheaper than the comparable imports. The first such self-propelled train,

, was rolled out in October 2018. It is estimated to be 40% cheaper than foreign-built trains.

Railway coach refurbishment

Railway coach refurbishment project aims for the refurbishment of 12 to 15 years old coaches at Carriage Rehabilitation Workshop in Bhopal to enhance passenger amenities and fire safety measures.

Bio-toilets in all trains

In 2014, IR and DRDO developed a bio-toilet to replace direct-discharge toilets, which was the primary type of toilet used in railway coaches. Upgrade of all trains to bio-toilet was completed by the end of FY2018-19 (c. Dec 2017). The direct discharge of human waste from trains onto the tracks corrodes rails, costing IR tens of millions of rupees a year in rail-replacement work. Flushing a bio-toilet discharges human waste into an underfloor holding tank where anaerobic bacteria remove harmful pathogens and break the waste down into neutral water and methane, which can then be harmlessly discharged onto the tracks. IR plans to completely phase out direct-discharge toilets by 2020 or 2021. All-new coaches were installed in 2016, with older rolling stock to gradually becoming retrofitted. After

Comptroller and Auditor General of India The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (ISO: ''Bhārata kē Niyaṁtraka ēvaṁ Mahālēkhāparīkṣaka'') is the supreme audit institution of India, established under Article 148 of the Constitution of India. They are empowered to au ...

found 200,000 complaints related to the foul smelling and blocked bio-toilets, IR announced that it will add 80,000 bio-toilets (each costing INR 1 lakh) in FY2018-2019 and will start installing much improved "vacuum bio-toilets" (each costing INR 2.5 lakh) as well. By Feb 2018, over 100,000 biotoilets have been installed and the project is on target to have 100% biotoilets by 31 March 2019.

Hyperloop

Mumbai–Pune hyperloop

Mumbai–Pune hyperloop is a proposed 1000 km/h

Hyperloop Hyperloop is a proposed high-speed transportation system for both passengers and freight. The concept was published by entrepreneur Elon Musk in a 2013 white paper, where the hyperloop was described as a transportation system using capsules supp ...

system that will take 14 minutes compared to current 3 hours to commute between these two cities while carrying 10,000 commuters per hour (5,000 in each direction). The route is found feasible and can be made operational by 2026 as per the Detailed Project Report (DPR) submitted to ''"Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority"'' (PMRDA) by ''"Virgin Hyperloop company"'' in January 2018. Commuters and cargo will travel in pods traveling in the near-vacuum tubes at the speed of 1,000 km/h. DPR provided three feasible terminal end-points options in Mumbai, namely Dadar, Santacruz and the international airport. Currently, 300,000 people commute between these two cities daily in 110,000 vehicles (including 80,000 cars and 6,000 buses).Pune-Mumbai in 14 minutes: Firm’s project report says Hyperloop transport system feasible

Hindustan Times ''Hindustan Times'' is an Indian English language, English-language daily newspaper based in Delhi. It is the flagship publication of HT Media Limited, an entity controlled by the Birla family, and is owned by Shobhana Bhartia, the daughter o ...

, 9 Jan 2018. (as of Jan 2018) On December 2024, India's First Hyperloop Test track was completed successfully at Thaiyur near

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

and soon trials are about to start on this test track.

Infrastructure

Stations

Station redevelopment

Under a INR 1 trillion initiative,Indian Railways unit invites proposals to modernize 3 stations

Livemint ''Mint'' is an Indian business and financial daily newspaper published by HT Media, a Delhi-based media group which is controlled by the K. K. Birla family. The K. K. Birla family also publishes ''Hindustan Times''. Mint has been running sin ...

, 17 Mar 2018. 600 railway stations will be redeveloped by monetizing 2700 acres of spare railway land under the plan undertaken by Indian Railway Stations Development Corporation by converging it with the

Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) is a development mission launched by Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi in June 2015 with the focus to establish infrastructure that could ensure adequate robust sewage networks a ...

and

Smart Cities Mission Smart Cities Mission was an urban renewal and retrofitting program by the Government of India with the mission to develop smart cities across the country, making them citizen-friendly and sustainable. The Union Ministry of Urban Development ...

in collaboration with

Ministry of Urban Development Ministry of Urban Development may refer to: * Ministry of Urban Development (Albania) *Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, India, formerly the Ministry of Urban Development * Ministry of Urban Development (Maharashtra), India *Ministry of Urban D ...

, Rail Land Development Authority and National Buildings Construction Corporation. Following monetization of land, will be used for the commercial development, for station redevelopment and the remaining as surplus with the Railways. Initially A1 and A category stations will be prioritised.Railways appoints IRSDC as nodal agency for station redevelopment
Livemint, 5 Dec 2017. To begin with 22 stations will be developed by end of 2018. Under Amrit Bharat Station Scheme, invited proposals in February 2023 for redeveloping 2000 stations over next decade, including the Gandhinagar railway station,

Banaras railway station Banaras Railway Station (station code: BSBS), formerly known as Manduadih Railway Station, is located in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India. This station, recently renamed to resonate more closely with the city's heritage, has become a key transit ...

, Chandigarh railway station, Bijwasan railway station and Anand Vihar railway station costing Rs140 crore, Rs310 crore and Rs206 crore respective.

Tracks

Dedicated freight corridors

There are 2 under implementation and 4 approved DFCs with many more planned. DFC will convert existing and implement new DFC as High-speed rail corridors of India.

Geostrategic border rail lines

In 2012,

Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

(MoD) identified a list of at least 15 new geostrategic rail lines (initially 14 and Bilaspur–Manali–Leh line was added later) to be constructed near

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

and

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

border for the rapid and easier deployment of troops while simultaneously undertaking development of geostrategic

India-China Border Roads Chinese Indian or Indian Chinese may refer to: * China–India relations China and India maintained peaceful relations for thousands of years, but their relationship has varied since the Chinese Communist Party's victory in the Chinese Civil ...

(ICBR) roads as border rail and road transport development in India is lagging much behind China.India to lay 14 strategic railway lines near China, Pakistan border
Pakistan Today, APRIL 4, 2014. China has built lines up to Shigatse in Tibet, with plans to connect it to Nepal and further to India.Real reason why India is building 14 strategic rail lines
International Business Times, Dec 1, 2016. Surveys of all 15 lines is complete,Government gives go-ahead to 4 strategic rail lines along China border
Indian Express, October 22, 2014.
Hindustan Times, 30 Nov 2016.2019 target to survey 3 strategic rail lines along China border
Arunachal Observer, January 5, 2019.Defence ministry has identified 4 strategic lines
Times of India, 4 April 2018. and in June 2025 at least 4 lines were under construction and DPR was being prepared for another 3 while there was no progress on another 7 (50% of the lines). Following projects along the LAC with China are also of relevance, only one of these is included in the MoD's list of strategically important defence projects, however all of these have been declared projects of strategic national importance. * Char Dham Railway in Uttrakhand ** Dehradun–Uttarkashi–Maneri Gangotri Railway, included in the MoD list, will serve the disputed Nelang-Pulam Sumda area of LAC. ** Uttarkashi–Palar Yamunotri Railway, 22 km long route,Good news for Chardham rail line, approved budget for this big work
18 January 2018. will serve disputed Nelang-Pulam Sumda area of LAC. ** Karnaprayag–Saikot–Sonprayag Kedarnath Railway 99 km long route, will serve disputed Nelang-Pulam Sumda and Bara Hoti area of LAC. ** Saikot–Joshimath Badrinath Railway, 75 km long route will serve disputed Nelang-Pulam Sumda and Bara Hoti area of LAC.Achilles Heel in India's Border Defence with China!
Indian Defence Review, 20 June 2017.After 24 years of work, strategic military outpost near India-China border connected with motorable road

Times of India ''The Times of India'' (''TOI'') is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by the Times Group. It is the List of newspapers in India by circulation, third-largest newspaper in India by circulation an ...

, 11 Nov 2016. * Sivok–Rangpo line (Gangtok) in Sikkim, 44 km long line,North East to get better Indian Railways connectivity! 5 major rail projects lined up
Financial Express, July 17, 2020. will serve disputed area of

Doklam Doklam (), called Donglang ( zh, c=洞朗) by China, is an area in Chumbi Valley with a high plateau and a valley, lying between China's Yadong County to the north, Bhutan's Haa District to the east and India's Sikkim state to the west. Since ...

on LAC,

Track gauge conversion

Indian Railways is converting its entire network to broad gauge to enhance viability. New and converted broad gauge tracks are being introduced at the rate of 7.7 km per day. IR has projected completion date of the same till 2022.Indian narrow gauge shrinks further under Project Unigauge
The Railway Magazine, March 2017.Uni-gauge Policy of Indian Railways
29 Jul 2016.Speeding up gauge conversion

The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It was founded as a weekly publication in 1878 by the Triplicane Six, becoming a daily in 1889. It is one of the India ...

, 2012.

Track electrification

Electrification of all routes to save on the imported fuel costs and improve running speed, IR launched "Mission Electrification" in 2017 to electrify 100% or the remaining 38,000 km of the broad gauge network in five years from fy2017-18 to fy2022-23,Railways set to electrify 38,000 km route in next five years
Economic Times, 15 Dec 2017. Railways annual fuel bill is , including on diesel and converting to 100% electricity will save by bringing the total fuel bill to (c. Dec 2017). Completion of electrification at the end of March 2024 was or 94.44%.

Doubling of tracks

Doubling of tracks to reduce congestion and delays while improving safety. 15,000 km double tracks already exist by 2016 and funding for 12,500 km more track doubling was approved in 2016. In fy2018-19 budget, 18,000 km of broad gauge track doubling and conversion was approved along with 36,000 km of track renewal for safety.

Track renewal

In FY 2018-19 budget, 36,000 km of broad gauge renewal was approved to enhance the safety.

Power and fuel

Off-the-grid solar-powered trains

Off-the-grid Off-the-grid or off-grid is a characteristic of buildings and a lifestyle designed in an independent manner without reliance on one or more public utilities. The term "off-the-grid" traditionally refers to not being connected to the electrical ...

solar powered trains by installing 1 gigawatt of

solar Solar may refer to: Astronomy * Of or relating to the Sun ** Solar telescope, a special purpose telescope used to observe the Sun ** A device that utilizes solar energy (e.g. "solar panels") ** Solar calendar, a calendar whose dates indicate t ...

and 130 megawatts of

wind power Wind power is the use of wind energy to generate useful work. Historically, wind power was used by sails, windmills and windpumps, but today it is mostly used to generate electricity. This article deals only with wind power for electricity ge ...

between 2017 and 2022. India introduced world's first solar powered train in June 2017 as well as 50 coaches with rooftop solar farms.India’s new solar-powered train is the first in the world
June 2017 In July 2017, IR rolled out its first DEMU train with rooftop solar panels that power the lights, fans and information display systems inside passenger coaches.

Rooftop solar electricity

Rooftop solar electricity at stations to reduce long-term fuel cost and protect the environment.

Traintop solar electricity

In 2017, first train with solar rooftop panels started. Increasingly more trains will be operated with renewal onboard solar electricity generation.

LED lighting

Sustainable Sustainability is a social goal for people to co-exist on Earth over a long period of time. Definitions of this term are disputed and have varied with literature, context, and time. Sustainability usually has three dimensions (or pillars): env ...

LED A light-emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor device that emits light when current flows through it. Electrons in the semiconductor recombine with electron holes, releasing energy in the form of photons. The color of the light (corresp ...

lighting on all stations by March 2018 to cut electricity costs (Dec 2017).

Safety

Elimination of unmanned level crossings on broad gauge network

Target completion date for this is March 2020. Fy2017-18 has allocated funds to eliminate remaining 4,267 unmanned railway crossings on broad gauge routes in the next two years by March 2020. A "National Rail Safety Fund," for a complete safety upgrade by 2022, was announced in the 2017 Union Budget; among other improvements, the program would eliminate unmanned level crossings by March 2020. Elimination of Unmanned Level Crossings at an average of 1217 per year by building an average of 1066 Road Over Bridges (ROB) and Road Under Bridges (RUB) per year (May 2016).Indian Railways commissions around 4800 kilometer of broad gauge track in last two financial years which is a record performance
12 May 2016.

Automated fog pilot assistance system

GPS The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a satellite-based hyperbolic navigation system owned by the United States Space Force and operated by Mission Delta 31. It is one of the global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) that provide geol ...

-enabled Fog Pilot Assistance System

railway signalling Railway signalling (), or railroad signaling (), is a system used to control the movement of railway traffic. Trains move on fixed rails, making them uniquely susceptible to collision. This susceptibility is exacerbated by the enormous weight ...

devices, old practice of putting firecrackers on train tracks to alert train divers was done away with by initially installing 6,095 devices in four most affected zones in 2017,

Northern Railway zone The Northern Railway (NR) is one of the 17 Railway zones of India and the northernmost zone of the Indian Railways. It is headquartered at Baroda House in New Delhi. History Officially notified as a new railway zone on 14 April 1952, ...

North Central Railway zone The North Central Railway (abbreviated NCR) is one of the 19 Indian Railways, railway zones in India. The largest railway station in NCR is Prayagraj Junction & Kanpur Central as busiest. It is headquartered at Prayagraj Junction railway stat ...

, North Eastern Railway zone and

North Western Railway zone The North Western Railway (abbreviated NWR) is one of 19 railway zones in India. It is headquartered at Jaipur. It has a route length of more than across the states of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Punjab and Haryana. NWR operates international rail s ...

. /economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/62042305.cms "Indian Railways to use GPS-enabled devices to fight fog this season" ''The Economic Times'', 12 December 2017.

Automated fire alarm system

Automated fire alarm system project started from 2013 when improved automated fire alarm System in Rajdhani Express trains were installed, these will be installed in the AC coaches of all regular trains.

CCTV camera on stations

963 stations will have

CCTV Closed-circuit television (CCTV), also known as video surveillance, is the use of closed-circuit television cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place on a limited set of monitors. It differs from broadcast television in that the signa ...

camera by the end of 2018. Progressively CCTV cameras and wifi will be installed on all trains and stations.

CCTV camera inside trains

IR has started to install cameras in some of the trains from fy2017-18 under the Nirbhaya fund. Progressively CCTV cameras will be installed in all trains.

Information technology

On 7 August 2019,

IRCTC {{Infobox company , name = Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation , logo_size = 150px , logo = IRCTC Logo.svg , type = Public , traded_as = {{ubl, {{BSE, 542830, {{NSE, IRCTC , ISIN = {{ISIN, sl=n, pl=y, INE335Y01012 , foundation ...

launched a payment wallet named ''iMudra''. On 11 August 2021, IRCTC introduced a smart card system through which unreserved train tickets which can be bought either at railway stations or online.

Digital India Digital India is a campaign launched by the Government of India to make its services available to citizens electronically via improved online infrastructure and by increasing Internet connectivity. The initiative includes plans to connect ru ...

driven digitalisation of railway to improvement efficiency and reduce cost. funding was approved in 2016.

Services

Wi-fi-enabled trains and stations

Progressively CCTV cameras and wifi will be installed on all trains and stations (announcement c. March 2018). In September 2015, the IR and

Google Google LLC (, ) is an American multinational corporation and technology company focusing on online advertising, search engine technology, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, consumer electronics, and artificial ...

announced a joint initiative intent on delivering high-speed wi-fi access across 400 major railway stations. The first 100 stations were connected to the network by the end of 2016, with Mumbai Central station the first to be connected. The Railtel-

free high-speed public WiFi service is currently available at

Mumbai Central Mumbai Central (formerly Bombay Central, station code: MMCT) is a major railway station on the Western line, situated in Mumbai, Maharashtra in an area known by the same name. It serves as a major stop for both local and intercity trains with ...

Chennai Central Chennai Central (officially Puratchi Thalaivar Dr. M.G. Ramachandran Central Railway Station, formerly Madras Central) (station code: MAS), is an NSG–1 category Indian railway station in Chennai railway division of Southern Railway zone ...

, Chennai Egmore, Madurai Junction,

Coimbatore Junction Coimbatore Junction railway station (station code: CBE) is a List of railway stations in India, railway station located in Coimbatore in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the major rail-head in the city ...

Chandigarh Chandigarh is a city and union territory in northern India, serving as the shared capital of the states of Punjab and Haryana. Situated near the foothills of the Shivalik range of Himalayas, it borders Haryana to the east and Punjab in the ...

Old Delhi Shahjahanabad colloquially known as Old Delhi( Hindustani: ''Purāni Dillī'') is an area in the Central Delhi district of Delhi, India. It was founded as a walled city and officially named Shahjahanabad in 1648, when Shah Jahan decided to shi ...

Pune Pune ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in Western ...

Bhubaneshwar Bhubaneswar () is the capital and the largest city of the Indian state of Odisha. It is located in the Khordha district. The suburban region, especially the old town, was historically often depicted as ''Chakra Khetra'' and ''Ekamra Khetra'' ( ...

Bhopal Bhopal (; ISO 15919, ISO: Bhōpāl, ) is the capital (political), capital city of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh and the administrative headquarters of both Bhopal district and Bhopal division. It is known as the ''City of Lakes,'' due to ...

Ranchi Ranchi (; ) is the capital city and also the largest district by population of the Indian state of Jharkhand. Ranchi was the centre of the Jharkhand movement, which called for a separate state for the tribal regions of South Bihar, northern ...

Raipur Raipur ( ) is the capital city of the Indian state of Chhattisgarh. Raipur is also the administrative headquarters of Raipur district and Raipur division, and the largest city of the state. It was a part of Madhya Pradesh before the state of Chh ...

Vijayawada Vijayawada ( ), formerly known by its colonial name Bezawada, is the second largest city and a major commercial hub in the Andhra Pradesh state of India. The city forms an integral part of the Andhra Pradesh Capital Region and is situated on th ...

, Kacheguda, Ernakulum,

Thiruvananthapuram Thiruvananthapuram ( ), also known as Trivandrum, is the Capital city, capital city of the Indian state of Kerala. As of 2011, the Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation had a population of 957,730 over an area of 214.86 sq. km, making it the ...

Thrissur Thrissur (, ), Renaming of cities in India, formerly Trichur, also known by its historical name Thrissivaperur, is a city and the headquarters of the Thrissur district in Kerala, India. It is the List of most populous urban agglomerations in Ke ...

, Jabalpur, Vishakhapatnam,

Jaipur Jaipur (; , ) is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and the List of cities and towns in Rajasthan, largest city of the north-western States and union territories of India, Indian state of Rajasthan. , the city had ...

Kanpur Kanpur (Hindustani language, Hindustani: ), originally named Kanhapur and formerly anglicized as Cawnpore, is the second largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Uttar Pradesh after Lucknow. It was the primary ...

Lucknow Lucknow () is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and the largest city of the List of state and union territory capitals in India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is the administrative headquarters of the epon ...

Gorakhpur Gorakhpur is a city in the List of state and union territory capitals in India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, along the banks of the West Rapti River, Rapti river in the Purvanchal , Purvanchal region. It is situated 272 kilometres east of ...

Patna Patna (; , ISO 15919, ISO: ''Paṭanā''), historically known as Pataliputra, Pāṭaliputra, is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and largest city of the state of Bihar in India. According to the United Nations, ...

Guwahati Guwahati () the largest city of the Indian state of Assam, and also the largest metropolis in northeastern India. Dispur, the capital of Assam, is in the circuit city region located within Guwahati and is the seat of the Government of Assam. Th ...

Ujjain Ujjain (, , old name Avantika, ) or Ujjayinī is a city in Ujjain district of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It is the fifth-largest city in Madhya Pradesh by population and is the administrative as well as religious centre of Ujjain ...

Allahabad Prayagraj (, ; ISO 15919, ISO: ), formerly and colloquially known as Allahabad, is a metropolis in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.The other five cities were: Agra, Kanpur, Kanpur (Cawnpore), Lucknow, Meerut, and Varanasi, Varanasi (Benar ...

Howrah Howrah (; ; alternatively spelled as Haora) is a city in the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. Howrah is located on the western bank of the Hooghly River, opposite to its twin city of Kolkata. Administratively ...

Varanasi Varanasi (, also Benares, Banaras ) or Kashi, is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world.* * * * The city has a syncretic tradition of I ...

, etc.

Tickets

Select passengers with confirmed tickets will now be allowed to transfer tickets to someone else. Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) is now offering a pay-on-delivery option for train tickets on its website and app, where the customers can book their tickets and pay on delivery.

Escalators

Progressively escalators will be installed on all stations with a footfall of more than 25,000 per day.

Station upgrades

600 stations will be upgraded, including 400 to be redeveloped, progressively to enhance services, safety and security.

List of upcoming Vande Bharat Express services

Social responsibility

Rainwater harvesting

Rainwater harvesting Rainwater harvesting (RWH) is the collection and storage of rain, rather than allowing it to run off. Rainwater is collected from a roof-like surface and redirected to a Rainwater tank, tank, cistern, deep pit (well, shaft, or borehole), Aquifer s ...

with 1885 rainwater harvesting systems already installed at different locations by December 2016.Rain Water Harvesting System In Indian Railway
7 Dec 2016.

Reforestation

Reforestation Reforestation is the practice of restoring previously existing forests and woodlands that have been destroyed or damaged. The prior forest destruction might have happened through deforestation, clearcutting or wildfires. Three important purpose ...

on the railway land and along the tracks is being undertaken.India Plants 50 Million Trees in One Day, Smashing World Record

National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly ''The National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as ''Nat Geo'') is an American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. The magazine was founded in 1888 as a scholarly journal, nine ...

, July 2016.

References

{{Indian Railways Rail transport in India Proposed transport infrastructure in India Proposed infrastructure in India 2020s in India 2020s in rail transport