Northeast railways see 'complete transformation' with 5-fold budget hike

Northeast India's railway infrastructure has seen a "complete transformation" in the last 12 years, says NFR. This is driven by a fivefold increase in budget allocation, enabling timely project execution and major upgrades like gauge conversion.

Railway infrastructure and services in Northeast India have undergone a "complete transformation" over the last 12 years, driven by a substantial increase in budgetary allocation and the timely execution of key projects, Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO) Kapinjal Kishore Sharma said on Wednesday.

Enhanced Budget Allocation

Speaking on new railway projects, Sharma highlighted the significant rise in funding for the region's railway sector. "In the last 12 years, there has been a complete transformation of the railway infrastructure and services in Northeast India. First of all, if we see the major impact that has been created, that is because of the enhanced budget allocation that we have started receiving for the Northeast," Sharma said. "Before 2014, if we look at 2009-2014, the average budgetary allocation for the railways in the Northeast was around Rs 2,000 crore. But in 2026-27, the budgetary allocation is Rs 11,486 crore. So you can see that there has been a fivefold growth in the budget. And that is enabling projects to be taken up and completed on time. ," he added.

Major Infrastructure Upgrades

Highlighting infrastructure upgrades, Sharma said gauge conversion has been one of the most significant achievements in the region. "Some of the major changes include gauge conversion. Before 2014, many stretches in Assam and the rest of the Northeast were meter gauge. So passengers had to change trains mid-journey. Now we have a complete unigauge system in the Northeast," Sharma said. "833 route km of meter gauge tracks have been converted into broad gauge, and the entire region is now broad gauge," he added.

Record Ticket-Checking Revenue

Meanwhile, on June 6, the Ticket Checking Section of New Jalpaiguri (NJP) under Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) achieved a historic milestone by recording an unprecedented earning of more than Rs 2.08 crore during the month of May 2026, according to an official statement. Kapinjal Kishore Sharma, Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO) of Northeast Frontier Railway, said that this marks the highest-ever monthly ticket-checking revenue achieved by any section across Northeast Frontier Railway.

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