Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announced an allocation of ₹7,611 crore for Tamil Nadu in the railway budget.

Tamil Nadu: Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw stated that Rs 7,611 crore has been allocated for Tamil Nadu railway projects in the Union Budget for the financial year 2026-2027.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget in Parliament on Sunday. ​​In it, she announced that seven high-speed railway lines would be constructed.

Following this, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw addressed reporters in New Delhi on Monday regarding the fund allocation for railway projects in southern states, including Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana. At that time, the Minister spoke about the funds allocated for Tamil Nadu railway projects in the budget:

Tamil Nadu has received Rs 7,611 crore for railway projects in the 2026-27 Union Budget.

This is 9 times more than the average annual allocation (Rs 879 crore) during the Congress rule from 2009 to 2014.

Additionally, two new bullet train routes are to be introduced in Tamil Nadu. The first route is Chennai-Bengaluru, and the second is Chennai-Hyderabad. Both these routes will be designed to operate at a maximum speed of 350 km per hour. Furthermore, it will be an elevated train route, similar to the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train route.

Moreover, the train journey time between Chennai and Bengaluru will be 1 hour and 13 minutes, and the journey time between Chennai and Hyderabad will be 2 hours and 55 minutes. This will be a major economic corridor.

The Chennai-Bengaluru-Hyderabad triangular route will be a high-speed diamond train project for the southern Indian states. This will be very important for the overall economy, transportation, tourism, healthcare, and education of the southern Indian states.

The total value of ongoing projects in Tamil Nadu is Rs 35,700 crore. 77 railway stations are being redeveloped under the Amrit Bharat scheme. Four Amrit Bharat trains have recently been launched.

Similarly, more Amrit Bharat and Vande Bharat trains are on the way. 97 percent electrification has been completed in the state. It will soon reach 100 percent.

State government support is needed.

The Railway Department needs support from the Tamil Nadu state government for its rail construction projects. 4,326 hectares of land are required for the railway projects. However, only 1052 hectares of land have been acquired so far. The state government has acquired only 24 percent of the land needed for the railway projects.

100 percent of the land must be acquired so that the people of Tamil Nadu can benefit from the railway projects. This is because rail transport is very good for the environment. Therefore, I request the Tamil Nadu government to provide support and cooperation in this matter.

We have provided the necessary funds for this. We will provide more funds if needed.

We must ensure that the railway projects are completed on time. For example, 189 hectares of land are required for the Attipattu railway line, but not a single inch of land has been acquired.

Mannargudi-Pattukottai new route (41 km), Thanjavur-Pattukottai (52 km)

No land has been acquired for the new routes either. Therefore, I request the Tamil Nadu government to support the projects, he said.

At that time, reporters asked when the land acquisition process would be completed. I have informed them about the correct situation. This should be asked of the state government. The minister said that it is their responsibility.

Work on the bullet train project will begin after the Detailed Project Report is prepared. Information related to this will be shared, the minister said.

Regarding the Tamil Nadu railway projects, railway officials said that under the Amrit Bharat Railway Station Project in Tamil Nadu, 77 railway stations have been selected for renovation. Work has been completed at 18 railway stations, including Chidambaram, Mannargudi,

Kulithurai, Srirangam, Virudhachalam, Thiruvarur, Manapparai, Chinnasalem, Parangimalai, Polur, and Tiruvannamalai. He added that work is underway at Pollachi Junction railway station in the second phase.