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No hike in rail passenger fares, women safety emphasised

No hike in rail passenger fares, women safety emphasised

India Blooms News Service | | 26 Feb 2015, 01:53 pm
New Delhi, Feb 26 (IBNS) Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu said there will be no increase in passenger fares as he presented the 2015-16 Railway Budget on Thursday promising to transform it in next five years and make it self-sustainable, modern, clean and safe for women.

Digital India initiative by wi-fi extension to B category stations and smart cards introduction, paperless tickets, SMS alerts on timings, cleanliness and women safety were major highlights of the budget speech while 17000 toilets will be converted into bio-toilets in the coming year.

No new trains were announced but the minister spoke of high speed corridors. Prabhu  said that an all - India helpline number, 138, will become functional to attend to the problems of passengers on a real time basis.

Prabhu  announced that Railways proposes to install Train Protection Warning System and Train Collision Avoidance System on select routes at the earliest. He informed  that to prevent fire in coaches and also prevent coaches from climbing over each other during accidents, RDSO has been asked to develop new systems.

The Railway Minister informed the members that to curb derailments, modern track structure consisting of sleepers and heavier rails are being used while carrying out primary track renewals. Better welding techniques would also be promoted. Further, analogue machines for testing of rails are being replaced with digital type machines, which are more reliable, he said.

Prabhu  announced  in the next financial year 970 number of ROB/RUBs (rail over and under bridges) and other safety-related works to eliminate 3438 level crossings at a total Railway expense of Rs. 6,581 crore.

Further, keeping in mind the criticality of security related issues, the Railways has dedicated a toll-free number 182 for receiving security related complaints.

He said there is an investment plan of Rs 8.5 lakh crore in next five years, especially through banks and pension funds, to develop the infrastructure and modernise it. 

He said the Railway is the backbone of India and it has to be modernized though legacy of decades will take time to heal.

"Some weaknesses have to be removed," he said. He said from about 20,000 suggestions to improve the Railway he has started working on the feasible ones.

He said over next five years the customer experience will change on the service quality, Railway will be made a safer means of travel and its infrastructure will be improved.

He said a 2030 vision document will be presented too.

Prabhu said that it is proposed to introduce an “SMS Alert” service to inform passengers in advance the updated arrival/departure time of trains at starting or destination stations. Similarly SMS alert would be sent 15/30 minutes in advance of arrival of the train at the destination.

He said Railway will partner with private sectors as well as PSUs to take it forward.

Prabhu  said that the intention of Railway Budget 2015-16 is to capture increased revenues and ensure appropriate investments which can de-congest the system and enhance line capacity. He said that the passenger earnings growth has been pegged at 16.7% and earnings target has accordingly been budgeted at Rs. 50,175 crore.

The freight traffic is pegged at an all time high incremental traffic of 85 million tonnes, anticipating a healthier growth in the core sector of economy, specially where rail co-efficient is high and by tapping full railway potential to cater maximum to demand-side. Goods earnings is accordingly proposed at Rs. 1,21,423 crore which includes rationalisation of rates, commodity classification and distance slabs. Other coaching and sundries are projected at Rs. 4,612 crore and Rs. 7,318 crore.

The Minister said Gross Traffic Receipts are estimated at Rs 1,83,578 crore which is a growth of 15.3% Ordinary Working Expenses (OWE) have been proposed to grow at a modest 9.6% over RE 2014-15. 

Prabhu spoke of vacuum toilets and bio toilets and harped on women safety through helpline number. He harped on cleanliness and use of smart cards.

Prabhu   said that Indian Railways would utilise resources from the Nirbhaya Fund for augmenting security of women passengers.

Prabhu said, for the safety of women passengers, surveillance cameras will be provided on a pilot basis in selected mainline coaches and ladies’ compartments of suburban coaches without compromising on privacy.

He said it will be ensured that a passenger can buy a ticket in five minutes.

Prabhu  said that to provide freedom to passengers to select their meals from an array of choices including local cuisine, e-catering has been introduced in 108 trains on an experimental basis from January this year.

Food can be ordered through the IRCTC website at the time of booking of tickets. He said, the Railways is working to integrate the best food chains of the country into this project.

While last mile connectivity projects continue to be accorded the highest priority, the Railways intend to fast track the sanctioned works on 7,000 kms of double/third/fourth lines and commission 1200 km in 2015-16 at an investment of Rs. 8686 crore.

Presenting the Railway Budget  Prabhu said this budgetary allotment under Capital is 84% higher than 2014-15. He said, “We also intend commissioning 800 km of gauge conversion. Additionally, we have sanctioned 77 projects covering 9,400 km of doubling/tripling/quadrupling works along with their electrification at a total cost of Rs. 96,182 crore which is over 2700% higher in terms of amount sanctioned in 2013-14, 2014-15 being a Plan holiday”.


This is the second Railway Budget of the Narendra Modi government and the first to be presented by Suresh Prabhu.

India has the world's largest railway networks comprising 115,000 km (71,000 mi) of track over a route of 65,436 km (40,660 mi) and 7,172 stations.

In 2013–14, Indian Railway ferried 8.425 billion passengers  or more than 23 million passengers daily (roughly half of which were suburban passengers) and 1050.18 million tons of freight in the year.

In 2013–2014 Indian Railways had revenues of Rs 1441.67 billion (US$23 billion) which consists of Rs 940.0 billion (US$15 billion) from freight and Rs 375.0 billion (US$5.9 billion) from passengers tickets.

HIGHLIGHTS AT A GLANCE


Train collision avoidance system to be installed in some tracks
Electrification of 6000 km route in 2015-16
Rs 6581 crore sanctioned for railway safety
Passengers can book wheel chairs online: Rail Minister
Railway to install CCTVs in coaches for women safety
High speed train to run between Mumbai and Ahmedabad
Prabhu announces 120 days window to book rail tickets
Bio-toilets to replace 17000 existing toilets in trains
Railway to introduce mobile app for complaints
Rs 120 crore for lifts and escalators in stations
All India 24X7 Railway helpline will be 138: Prabhu
WiFi now in all A1 and A2 stations will extend to B category stations taking to 400 stations.
SMS service to alert passengers on train timings
No increase in passenger fares: Suresh Prabhu
Investment plan of Rs 8.5 lakh crore in next five years for Railway

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