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Punjab’s 2025 Rail Overhaul: Record Funds, New Trains and Stalled Links Back on Track

The ministry has budgeted Rs 5,421 crore for 2025–26, putting roughly Rs 25,000 crore of Punjab rail works into a delivery-focused phase.

Overview

  • Three Punjab-origin services started in 2025, capped by the Firozpur Cantonment–New Delhi Vande Bharat Express inaugurated on November 8 and now running six days a week.
  • Long-pending connectivity moved forward with sanctions for the RajpuraMohali line (18 km, Rs 443 crore) and the Firozpur–Patti line (25.72 km, Rs 764.19 crore), and the QadianBeas project was defrozen.
  • For Firozpur–Patti, the Railways deposited land acquisition funds with district authorities to speed execution, and final location surveys advanced for the Chandigarh–Morinda–Ludhiana doubling and an AmbalaPathankot third line.
  • Station upgrades under the Amrit Bharat scheme are underway at 30 Punjab stations, including a Rs 465 crore revamp at Ludhiana Junction.
  • Officials report 382 km of new track laid and 1,634 km electrified in Punjab since 2014 as national modernisation reached 164 Vande Bharat services and about 99.2% broad-gauge electrification, with a Vande Bharat Sleeper expected in early 2026.