Railway Minister Lalu Prasad began presenting his fifth budget for his ministry in the Lok Sabha at noon Tuesday amid initial protests by opposition members.
Railway Minister Lalu Prasad began presenting his fifth budget for his ministry in the Lok Sabha at noon Tuesday amid initial protests by opposition members.
He announced a cash surplus of more than Rs 25,000 crore for 2007-08 while outlining his strategy of achieving high volumes by keeping the passenger fares low and selectively imposing surcharges to generate high revenues from freight.
Here are some highlights of rail Budget 2008-09.
Budget Highlights
- 5% reduction in 2nd class fares beyond 50 km
- AC-I fares to be cut by 7%, AC-II by 4%, AC-III by 3%
- Sleeper fare to be cut by 5%
- TV, internet services on trains in future
- Special focus on North Eastern Region
- Bhubaneswar-New Delhi Rajdhani to run tri-weekly
- Special train between Delhi and Pune for Commonwealth Games
- 10 new Garib Raths to be introduced this year
- 53 new trains to be introduced
- A new rail coach unit to be set up in Kerala
- AC Northern railway main hospital in Delhi
- 50 per cent concession for AIDS patients traveling in trains
- Mother Child Health Express to be started
- Rajdhani, Shatabdi to get modernised coaches
- Modular toilets to be installed in trains
- 6,000 automated ticket machines in 2 years
- Amritsar Garib Rath tri-weekly
- Bagalkota-Jaswantpur train now daily
- Kurla to Howrah train bi-weekly PAGE_BREAK
- Proposal to spend Rs 17.3 bn on new lines
- Proposal to spend Rs 6.5 bn on metro transport projects
- Bhubaneshwar-Mumbai express bi-weekly
- Mathura-Lucknow train extended to Patna
- Varanasi-Ranchi via Rourkela train up to Sambhalpur
- Bangalore-Coimbatore train extended to Ernakalum
- 155 km new lines seen completed in FY08
- Gangmen to man level crossings
- Container train operators to be up to 50-55 trains
- SC,STs given more jobs than quota alloted to them
- Free Rajdhani, Shatabdi travel for Ashok Chakra winners
- Plan to provide ticket booking via mobile phone
- Smart card system to all railways
- Electrification of more routes
- Raise platform levels in phased manner
- Railways to issue wait-listed e-tickets
- 50 big stations to have lifts, escalators
- Stainless steel coaches for mail, express trains
- Only stainless steel coaches to be produced after 2010
- Upgradation of 203 medium-level platforms
- Indian Railways employees at 1.4 mln in 2007-08
- 50 big stations to have lifts, escalators
- New coaches in Shatabdi trains by 2011
- New coaches in all Rajdhani trains by 2010
- CCTVs at major railway stations
- Touch screen, colour TVs at railway stations
- Clearance given for western freight corridor from Delhi to JNPT, Nhava Sheva, adjoining Mumbai
- Work on automatic signalling to start in new sections
- Doubling of lines to be given priority
- Middle-level and low-level platforms to be upgraded
- More facilities for women and old passengers
- Smart tickets to be extended from W Railways to others
- To link trains via IT, communications by 2009
- Planning ‘smart card’ based ticket system
- Mulling ticket confirmation via mobile phone
- Plan to provide ticket booking via mobile phone
- Gave 5 bln rupees for pension for 6th pay commission
- Investing surplus to boost capacity
- 139 phone enquiry services available on railways
- 200,000-500,000 phone enquiries in 1 year
- E-ticket booking seen up at 300,000 vs 100,000 in 1 year
- 15,000 computer ticket counters in 2 years vs 3,000 now
- Other income seen at 47 bln rupee in 4 years vs 19 bln
- Aim to have no queues for tickets in 2 years
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