Budget draws 'safety first' strategy for railways with largest ever capex

The Budget 2018 lays an increased emphasis on expanding the suburban railway of Mumbai by 90 kilometres and that of Bengaluru by 110 kilometres

Terming that the government’s primary focus on railways is safety and capacity creation, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today announced the highest ever capital expenditure plan in the history of railways is seeing an increase of 13 per cent to Rs 1.485 trillion in 2018-19, as compared to Rs 1.31 trillion during the financial year 2017-18.

“We have given an all-time high allocation to railways and roads. We will be having a safety first policy. A large part of the capex is devoted to capacity creation of 18000 kilometres of doubling, third and four line networks and 5000 kilometers of guage