Railway Reforms 2026: Warehouses and factories will be built on the vacant land of Railways, there will be a queue of investors with 50 year contract.

New Delhi. Indian Railways has announced a major reform package on 14 February 2026 to bring revolutionary changes in its infrastructure and passenger amenities. This new vision of the Railway Ministry is based on the synergy of ‘Gati Shakti’ and ‘Modern Passenger Service’. Under this new policy, now the vacant lands of the Railways will be used not only for laying tracks but also for building big industrial and logistics hubs of the country. Come, let us understand in the reporter style of Amar Ujala how these changes are going to change the face of your rail travel and the business of the country. New avatar of coach cleaning: Now only one team will handle the entire task. Railways has now found a solution to the biggest problem of rail passengers – dirty toilets and tattered linen. Railways is now implementing the ‘Integrated Cleaning, Linen and Pet Repairs’ model. Multi-Tasking Teams: No more trips to different contractors for coach cleaning, maintenance of bedsheets and minor repairs (like faulty taps or loose seats). A single high-tech team will be responsible for all these works. Real-time monitoring: Now cleaning will not be based only on papers, but on digital data. Passengers will be able to direct their complaints to route-based teams, which will be on standby at all times in long distance trains. The most important thing is that in this model, special attention will be given to the cleanliness of the general coach. Gati Shakti Cargo Terminal: Railways’ second big bet is on logistics. The government’s aim is to reduce the increasing burden of trucks on the roads and bring the goods back on track. For this, major changes have been made in the ‘Gati Shakti Cargo Terminal’ (GCT) policy. Construction of factories and warehouses: Now private companies will be able to build their warehouses, grinding units and processing centers on the vacant land of the Railways. Old and unused goods warehouses will now be converted into state-of-the-art terminals. 50-year mega-contract: To attract the business world, Railways will now give land on lease for a long period of 50 years. This will provide stability to investors and they will be able to dare to make huge investments. Economy will get a boost: Revenue target of Rs 20,000 croreRailways has set a target of building 124 multi-modal cargo terminals in the next three years. Railways aims to transport an additional 200 million tonnes of freight through these terminals, which is expected to bring revenue of about Rs 20,000 crore to the government exchequer. Direct connectivity: Railways will now be directly connected to ports and industrial corridors. This will reduce the cost of transportation of heavy goods like cement, coal and steel. GRF (Guaranteed Railway Freight): Traders will now have the facility of ‘Guaranteed Railway Freight’, which will guarantee safe and timely arrival of their goods.