Union Railway
Minister Lalu Yadav presented the Railway Budget for 2008-09
in Parliament on Tuesday.Following are the highlights:
- Railway profit in 2007-08 at Rs 25,000 crore.
-
155 kms of new lines to be completed in 2007-08 ,
target for 2008 -09 is 350 kms
-
Non-lapsable Nort-East rail development fund to be
created
-
Construction of railway line in Kashmir valley to
be completed by 2009
-
Outlay for doubling work increased to Rs 2,500 cr
-
New investments of Rs 35,500 cr for 2008-09
-
Special train between Pune and Delhi for
Commonwealth Youth Games between Oct 12-18
- 50% concession for AIDS patient
- Foot overbridges at all high-level platforms.
- Northern railway main hospital in Delhi will be fully
airconditioned. Divisional railway hospitals in Jaipur and
Hubli will be upgraded.
- A new rail coach unit to be set up in Kerala
- A 1,000 megawatt captive power plant to be set up in
Nabinagar in Bihar
- Ten new Garib Raths and 53 new trains to be
introduced.
- Railway tickets to show 'expected time of arrival'
- Thirty per cent discount to senior citizens for rail
travel and 50 per cent discount for women in all classes
- Mother Child Health Express to be started.
- Clearance given for western freight corridor from
Delhi to JNPT, Nhava Sheva, adjoining Mumbai.
- Close circuit TV and bomb detecting equipment to be
installed at major stations.
- Doubling of lines to be given priority.
- Railways planning smart card-based ticketing system.
- CCTvs at all important stations
- Modular toilets to be introduced in trains.
- 'Go Mumbai' card to be sold at bus depots.
- Freight loading estimated to increase from 650 mt to
1100 mt by 2011
- New policy for wagon leasing.
- New line for Ennore Power Station.
- By 2010, all coaches will be made of steel.
- Professional agencies being involved on a pilot basis
to ensure cleanliness in running trains.
- Work on automatic signalling to start in new sections.
- Railways to bring in led displays in stations on train
arrivals/ departures.
- Stainless steel coaches for mail and express trains.
- Cleanliness drive on rajdhani and shatabdi trains.
- Railways show a surplus of rs 68,778 cr in last four
years.
- Railways to provide escalators at 50 per cent of the
stations in the country.
- Railway Minister Lalu Yadav announced that Indian
Railways will introduce 15,000 ticketing counters in the
next 2 years. The Railways plans to offer tickets through
mobile phones.
- By 2009 call centre based inquiry services to be
unveiled.
- Issuance of wait-listed e-tickets will also allowed
- Operating ratio of the Railways was at 76%.
- Rs 49,250 crore invested into new railway projects.
- Railway plan size increased from Rs 11,000 crore to Rs
30,000 crore in the last four years.
- Productivity of Railway assets has been constantly
increasing.
- Railways attained 790 tonne payload target in the year
2007-08.
- E-ticket booking is likely to rise to 300,000 from
100,000 in a year.
- Freight traffic target of 785 million tonnes crossed
to touch 790 million tones
- Railway plan size increased from Rs 11,000 crore to Rs
30,000 crore in the last four years.
- 560 railway station platforms to be lengthened to take
long trains.
- Middle-level and low-level platforms to be upgraded to
high-level platforms in several stations to help
commuters.
- More facilities for women and old passengers.