New Delhi: Plagued by chronic under-investment in the past, Railways has accelerated spending by over 28 per cent on infrastructure projects in the nine months of the current fiscal as against the corresponding period in the last fiscal.

Expenditures on projects like laying new tracks, doubling and electrification of the network across the country during April-December 2016 has witnessed a significant jump touching Rs 68,059 crore mark as compared to the Rs 53,118 crore in the same period last fiscal, which was an increase of 28.1 per cent, according to the Railways data.

Reeling under severe capacity constraints resulting in acute congestion on trunk routes, Railways has set a massive investment target of Rs 8.5 lakh crore in five-year period. For the fiscal 2016-17, the capital expenditure target is Rs 1.21 lakh crore and likely to go upto Rs 1.51 lakh crore for the next fiscal.

"We are hopeful of meeting the capital expenditure target in the current fiscal as work execution has picked up the speed," said a senior Railway Ministry official.

Doubling of broad gauge, laying new tracks and gauge conversion totalling 1,705 km during the last nine months period as compared to 1,273 km in last year is significant, he said.

Electrification has also jumped to 1,210 km as compared to 989 km last year.

The capacity augmentation is crucial for Railways in the coming days as majority of rail routes are severely congested affecting train movement and posing a serious challenge to the network.