Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw speaks in the Lok Sabha during the second part of the budget session of Parliament in New Delhi on March 17, 2026 | Photo credit: PTI/Sansad TV
Railways have saved ₹6,000 crore by switching from diesel to electric power for running trains, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw informed the Lok Sabha on Tuesday (March 17, 2026).
Responding to the debate on the railway ministry’s subsidy demands, he also said that the national carrier has become the second largest freight carrier in the world.
Mr. Vaishnaw said that during the tenure of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government, 35,000 km of railway tracks were laid and 27,000 km were electrified.
He said that while employee costs are the railways’ biggest expense, energy is the second biggest expense.
He noted that in the coming times, diesel locomotives will disappear and make way for electric locomotives.
Mr. Vaishnaw said that since the Modi government came to power in 2014, performance politics had taken over performance politics.
He said that in a visionary decision, Prime Minister Modi decided to merge the railway budget with the general budget, resulting in increased financial allocation for his ministry.
Now, new trains and new projects open throughout the year, which was not the case before. The financial health of railways has improved and so has transparency in publishing accounts, he said.
Mr. Vaishnaw noted that the Ministry of Finance and other agencies keep track of monetary health using IT systems.
210 MPs took part in the debate, which lasted two days.
Published – 17 March 2026 21:12 IST
