Amrit Bharat Station Scheme Station redevelopment 2025-2030
Under a INR 1 trillion initiative, 600 railway stations will be redeveloped by monetizing 2700 acres of spare railway land under the ₹1,070,000 crore (US$127 billion) plan undertaken by Indian Railway Stations Development Corporation by converging it with the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation and Smart Cities Mission in collaboration with Ministry of Urban Development, Rail Land Development Authority and National Buildings Construction Corporation. Following monetization of land, ₹680,000 crore (US$80 billion) will be used for the commercial development, ₹280,000 crore (US$33 billion) for station redevelopment and the remaining ₹110,000 crore (US$13 billion) as surplus with the Railways. Initially A1 and A category stations will be prioritised. 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, 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
See also: Railways in Jammu Kashmir and Ladakh, India-Bhutan geostrategic rail lines, and India-Nepal geostrategic rail lines
See also: Dispute with China, Dispute with Pakistan, India's geostrategic roads, ANC geostrategy, and QUAD
In 2012, Ministry of Defence (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, Pakistan and Nepal border for the rapid and easier deployment of troops while simultaneously undertaking development of geostrategic India-China Border Roads (ICBR) roads as border rail and road transport development in India is lagging much behind China. China has built lines up to Shigatse in Tibet, with plans to connect it to Nepal and further to India. Surveys of all 15 lines is complete, 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).
| Phase | Line | length | Border | State | FLS | Cabinet construction funding approval | Construction status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Phase- | Murkongselek–Pasighat–Tezu–Rupai line | 227 km | China (Eastern sector) | Arunachal Pradesh, Assam | Yes | No | Not commenced |
| Missamari–Tenga–Tawang line | 378 km | China, Bhutan (Eastern sector) | Arunachal Pradesh, Assam | Yes | No | Not commenced | |
| Lakhimpur–Along–Silapathar line | 249 km | China (Eastern sector) | Arunachal Pradesh, Assam | Yes | No | Not commenced | |
| Bhanupli–Manali–Leh line | 498 km | China, Pakistan (Western sector) | Himachal Pradesh, Ladakh | Yes | No | Construction underway as of June 2025. | |
| Srinagar-Kargil-Leh line | China, Pakistan (Western sector) | Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir | ? | No | Survey done, DPR on hold in 2025 due to lack of financial viability. | ||
| Pathankot-Leh line | China, Pakistan (Western sector) | Ladakh, Punjab | No | No | Survey done, DPR being prepared in 2025. | ||
| Dehradun–Uttarkashi line (Gangotri) | China (Central sector) | Uttarakhand | Completed | Yes | Under construction, see Char Dham Railway. | ||
| Rishikesh–Karanprayag line (via Chamoli) | (Central sector) | Uttarakhand | Completed | Yes | Under construction, also see Char Dham Railway. | ||
| Tanakpur–Jauljibi line | Nepal (Central sector) | Uttarakhand | No | No | Not commenced | ||
| Tanakpur–Bageshwar line | (Central sector) | Uttarakhand | No | No | Not commenced | ||
| Jammu–Akhnoor–Poonch line | (Western sector) | Jammu and Kashmir | Yes | FSL | Survey done, DPR being prepared in 2025. | ||
| Patti–Ferozepur line | Pakistan (Western sector) | Punjab | No | No | Under-construction. | ||
| Anupgarh–Chattargarh–Motigarh–Bikaner line | Pakistan (Western sector) | Rajasthan | No | No | Not commenced | ||
| Jodhpur–Agolai–Shergarh–Phalsund line | Pakistan (Western sector) | Rajasthan | No | No | Not commenced | ||
| Jodhpur–Jaisalmer line doubling | Pakistan (Western sector) | Rajasthan | Yes |
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 Uttarakhand
- 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, 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.
- Sivok–Rangpo line (Gangtok) in Sikkim, 44 km long line, will serve disputed area of Doklam on LAC,
Track gauge conversion
Indian Railways is converting its entire network to 1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in) 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.
Track electrification
Central Organisation for Railway 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 annual fuel bill is ₹32,000 crore (US$3.78 billion or €3.35 billion), including ₹20,000 crore (US$2.37 billion or €2.09 billion) on diesel and converting to 100% electricity will save ₹10,000 crore (US$1.18 billion or €1.05 billion) by bringing the total fuel bill to ₹22,000 crore (US$2.60 billion or €2.30 billion) (c. Dec 2017). Completion of electrification at the end of March 2024 was 45,881 km (28,509 mi) 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 solar powered trains by installing 1 gigawatt of solar and 130 megawatts of wind power between 2017 and 2022. India introduced world's first solar powered train in June 2017 as well as 50 coaches with rooftop solar farms. 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.
Train top 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 LED 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 ₹100,000 crore (US$12 billion) "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).
Automated fog pilot assistance system
GPS-enabled Fog Pilot Assistance System railway signalling 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, North Central Railway zone, North Eastern Railway zone and North Western Railway zone.
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 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
Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation, Bharat Net, Bharat Broadband Network, and UMANG
On 7 August 2019, IRCTC launched a payment wallet named I Mudra 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 driven digitalisation of railway to improvement efficiency and reduce cost. ₹3,500,000 million (equivalent to ₹4.9 trillion or US$58 billion in 2023) funding was approved in 2016.
Services
Wi-fi-enabled trains and stations
RailTel and Bharat Net
Progressively CCTV cameras and wifi will be installed on all trains and stations (announcement c. March 2018). In September 2015, the IR and Google 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-Google free high-speed public WiFi service is currently available at Mumbai Central, Chennai Central, Chennai Egmore, Madurai Junction, Coimbatore Junction, Chandigarh, Old Delhi, Pune, Bhubaneshwar, Bhopal, Ranchi, Raipur, Vijayawada, Kacheguda, Ernakulum, Thiruvananthapuram, Thrissur, Jabalpur, Vishakhapatnam, Jaipur, Kanpur, Lucknow, Gorakhpur, Patna, Guwahati, Ujjain, Allahabad, Howrah, Varanasi, 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.