Highlights of Railway Budget
India’s first rail auto hub, boost to e-catering, connectivity to North-East and no hike in passenger fares. Here’s a quick recap of all major announcements made by Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu.
This is Mr. Prabhu’s second rail budget.
| 1 | No hike in passenger fares. |
| 2 | Action has been initiated on 139 budget announcements made last year. |
| 3 | Eliminate all unmanned level crossings by 2020. |
| 4 | Swacch Bharat: 17000 biotoilets and additional toilets in 475 stations before the close of this financial year. |
| 5 | Increased quota for senior citizens and women travellers this year. |
| 6 | Wifi at 100 stations this year and 400 stations next year. |
| 7 | Enhanced capacity of e-ticketing system from 2,000 tickets/min to 7,200/min. Supporting 1.2 lakh concurrent users now, as opposed to 40,000 earlier. |
| 8 | All major stations to be brought under CCTV surveillance in a phased manner. |
| 9 | Deen Dayal coaches for long distance trains for unreserved passengers. These coaches will include potable water and higher number of mobile charging points. |
| 10 | IRCTC to manage catering service in phased manner. Local cuisine of choice will be made available to passengers. |
| 11 | Cleaning of toilets by requests through SMS. |
| 12 | Children’s menu, baby foods, baby boards to be made available for travelling mothers. |
| 13 | GPS-based digital display in coaches for showing upcoming stations. |
| 14 | Will open cancellation facility through 139 helpline number. |
| 15 | Introduce bar-coded tickets on pilot basis to tackle menace of ticketless travel. |
On new projects to be implemented this year:
| 1 | Overnight double-decker trains to be introduced on business travel routes. |
| 2 | 1,600 km of electrification this year and 2,000 km proposed for the next year. |
| 3 | Broad Gauge Lumding-Silchar section in Assam, connecting Barak Valley with rest of country. |
| 4 | North-East India, especially Mizoram and Manipur, to be connected through broad gauge soon. |
| 5 | Special purpose vehicle for the Ahmedabad-Mumbai high speed corridor registered this month. |