The union budget 2026-27 has brought a major boost for Pune’s transport landscape in the announcement of two high-speed rail corridors connecting Mumbai and Hyderabad. As per the budget announcement, the Mumbai-Pune and Pune-Hyderabad high-speed rail corridors will dramatically reduce travel time; offering faster, safer, and more comfortable journeys for daily commuters, business travellers, students, and tourists. These corridors will also ease pressure on existing road and rail networks, particularly the heavily congested Mumbai-Pune Expressway and conventional railway lines.
Presenting her ninth consecutive budget, union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman identified these routes as part of seven national ‘growth connector’ corridors aimed at strengthening inter-city mobility, promoting sustainable public transport, and accelerating economic integration between major metropolitan regions. While Pune was mentioned only twice in the 95-minute-long budget speech, both corridors carry long-term significance for the city’s infrastructure and commuter ecosystem. With Pune already set to benefit from Maharashtra’s first semi high-speed Pune–Nashik corridor, which will cut travel time to just two hours, the city is now emerging as a central hub in India’s expanding high-speed rail grid.
Reacting to the announcement, Harsha Shah, president of the Pune Pravasi Group, said that the budget has addressed a long-pending demand of Punekars. “High-speed rail connectivity to Mumbai and Hyderabad is a game-changer for Pune. Thousands of professionals travel daily between Pune and Mumbai for work, while Hyderabad is a key IT and business destination. Faster and reliable rail options will improve quality of life, reduce road congestion, and make Pune even more attractive as a knowledge and business hub. We hope the government now moves swiftly from announcement to execution, with clear timelines,” Shah said.
Local citizens have also welcomed the move. Aniket Mandrani, an IT professional from Hinjewadi, said, “For people like me who travel frequently to Mumbai for meetings, this is a huge relief. If travel time comes down significantly, it will change how we plan our workdays. High-speed trains are much more practical than sitting for hours in traffic on the expressway.”
Similarly, Ismail Shaikh, a small business owner from Kondhwa, viewed the announcement as a step towards balanced regional development. “Better rail connectivity will not just help corporates, but also small traders, students, and families. Pune has been growing rapidly, and such infrastructure is essential to support that growth without harming the environment,” he said.
Meanwhile, the government has positioned these projects as part of a broader push for environmentally sustainable transport, with high-speed rail seen as a cleaner alternative to road and short-haul air travel. The seven corridors announced include Mumbai–Pune, Pune–Hyderabad, Hyderabad–Bengaluru, Hyderabad–Chennai, Chennai–Bengaluru, Delhi–Varanasi, and Varanasi–Siliguri. To support such large-scale infrastructure expansion, the union budget has proposed increasing public capital expenditure to ₹12.2 lakh crore in 2026–27, signalling strong fiscal backing for transport-led growth.