Kolkata, Feb. 1 -- With an eye on the upcoming Bengal Assembly elections, the Centre has proposed a Varanasi-Siliguri high-speed rail corridor in the Union Budget 2026 - a move expected to dramatically cut travel time between north Bengal and north India while also carrying clear political messaging for a region crucial to the BJP's electoral strategy.

However, according to experts, Bengal's tourism sector has been forgotten completely in the Budget and the only silver lining is this proposed high-speed railway corridor. "We don't know when this will see the light of day. It will definitely take time," stated an expert.

The announcement comes as North Bengal once again emerges as a key battleground. During a recent visit to Siliguri, Union Home minister Amit Shah said the BJP would sweep all 54 Assembly seats in North Bengal in the forthcoming polls. In the 2021 Assembly elections, the party had won 30 seats from the region, underlining its relative strength in the region compared with south Bengal.

If implemented, the corridor will directly link Siliguri with Varanasi. Varanasi will, in turn, be connected to Delhi through a separate high-speed rail corridor also announced in the Budget.

Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said the Delhi-Varanasi corridor would enable travel in about 3 hours 50 minutes, while the Varanasi-Siliguri corridor, passing through Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh, is expected to reduce travel time between the two cities to around 2 hours 55 minutes. Taken together, the two corridors could allow passengers from north Bengal to reach Delhi in approximately 6 hours 45 minutes, compared with more than 20 hours on most existing rail routes. The proposed links are also expected to create a new economic corridor spanning Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal, boosting trade, mobility and regional economic activity.

At present, rail connectivity between north Bengal and north India remains limited. There are six trains from New Jalpaiguri to Delhi, with travel times ranging from 21 hours 15 minutes to 34 hours 5 minutes, most of which originate in Guwahati. Only one train - the Siliguri-Delhi Sikkim Mahananda Express - originates from Siliguri, taking about 30 hours 55 minutes.

There are also two trains connecting Malda with Delhi.

Rail links to Varanasi include two trains from New Jalpaiguri - one operating five days a week and another

running weekly - with travel times between 13 hours 15 minutes and 15 hours. While air travel remains the fastest option, it comes at a significantly higher cost.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.