New Delhi, Feb. 2 -- Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday proposed seven high-speed rail corridors and allocated Rs.2,77,830 crore to the ministry of Railways for capital expenditure in 2026-27, up from Rs.2,52,000 crore in 2025-26. Presenting the Union Budget, Sitharaman said, "In order to promote environmentally sustainable passenger systems, we will develop seven high-speed rail corridors between cities as growth connectors...Mumbai to Pune, Pune to Hyderabad, Hyderabad to Bengaluru, Hyderabad to Chennai, Chennai to Bengaluru, Delhi to Varanasi, Varanasi to Siliguri." The minister also proposed a new dedicated freight corridor between Dankuni in West Bengal and Surat in Gujarat to promote environmentally sustainable movement of cargo. Work on one high-speed corridor between Ahmedabad and Mumbai is already in progress. Similarly, two dedicated freight corridors, Eastern and Western are operational, covering several states and districts. Railways minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said there is a lot of focus on safety. "Rs.1,20,000 crores will be invested in safety. 95% accidents have been reduced, there is more focus track maintenance, loco maintenance, wagon maintenance, coach maintenance, rapid installation of coverage, installation of CCTV cameras, upgrading the overhead electrical system, construction of stations. safety will be improved. Customer care and customer facilities will be improved," he said. Commenting on the high-speed corridor announcement, Vaishnaw said, "The world is noticing the progress of Ahmedabad and Mumbai high-speed corridors. It is being done at a fast pace keeping the quality of the work high. After the seven new high-speed corridors that have been announced today, the transportation sector in the country will be completely transformed and changed." "Chennai-Bangalore-Hyderabad will be a south high-speed triangle or south high-speed diamond, which will prove to be a great boon for the complete five South Indian states- Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry," he said. Vaishnaw said the projects would significantly reduce travel time, adding that Chennai- Bangalore travel would come down to 1 hour 13 minutes, Bangalore- Hyderabad to two hours, and Chennai-Hyderabad to 2 hours 55 minutes....