The budget was presented by the Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu in the Parliament of India on 25 February 2016.

It was announced that the freight tariffs would be changed to make them more competitive to the cost of transport by road.

[10] New SMART (Specially Modified Aesthetic Refreshing Travel) coaches will be introduced, which will be roomier and have automatic doors, entertainment and vending machines.

The railway magazine, Rail Bandhu, will be now published in all regional languages and would be available for purchase to reserved passengers.

[11] Women traveling with infants will provided with baby foods, milk, hot water and diaper-changing boards on trains and stations under the "Janani Seva" initiative.

[2] A Special Unit for Transportation Research and Analytics (SUTRA) was announced to datamine the 1TB of data collected annually by the railways.

[5] Prime Minister Narendra Modi called the budget passenger-centric and said that it caters to all sections of the society.

[17] Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari called the budget reformative and claimed that it will change the basic infrastructure of the railways.

[18] The Aam Aadmi Party in a statement called the budget oblivious to the needs of the common man.

[19] INC leader Shashi Tharoor said that the budget seemed like corporate presentation and that it had no concrete proposals for changes in the services.

[21] Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel praised the railway budget for the facilities provided to senior citizens and women.