Railway Budget in a nutshell

Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu presented the railway budget in the Parliament on Friday.

Here are the highlights for you:

INVESTMENTS

•     Over next five years we are expecting investment of Rs 8.5 lakh crore in Railways.
•     To Spend Rs 96,182 Cr On Capacity Expansion In for year 2016
•     Planned budget for 2015-16 pegged at 1.11 trillion rupees. Size of railway budget up by 52 per cent this financial year.
•     To save Rs. 3,000 Cr via cheaper power purchase
•     Government launching a coastal connectivity programme this year at cost of Rs 2,000 cr

SMART RAILWAYS

•     Mobile app to address complaints of people is also being developed.  Railways to launch multi-lingual E-ticket portal. Unreserved tickets can now be booked through smart phones.
•     SMS alert service to be initiated to inform passengers about arrival & departure.
•     WiFi at all A1, A2 stations. Would be extended to B stations also.
•     An all-India 24x7 helpline number, 138 to become functional to attend to the problems of passengers. The passengers can lodge complaint about railway functioning.
•     To monetise assets rather than sell them; expansion of water harvesting system to continue

SECURE RAILWAYS

•     Cameras to be installed inside coaches to ensure greater security.
•     Toll free No.182 – for security related complaints
•     To prevent fire in coaches, train protection warning system and train collision avoiding system to be installed.
•     917 safety work projects to eliminate over 3,000 unmanned crossings in all states

HELP FOR DIFFERENTLY ABLED

•     Newly manufactured coaches will be Braille enabled & have wider entrances for differently abled passengers

AMENITIES

•     17000 more toilets to be replaced by Bio-Toilets
•     Rs 120 crore for providing lifts and escalators at railway stations.
•     10 cities to have satellite railway stations to avoid passenger rush.
•     On ticketing, Suresh Prabhu announces operation 5 minutes to improve ticketing process
•     One can now book your rail meal from a food chain online. Book rail tickets 4 months in advance
•     Speed will be increased, so Delhi-Kolkata journey can be done overnight
•     Middle berth to be reserved for women & senior citizens. Pregnant women, elders will get only lower berths.
•     6000 km of route to be electrified in 2015-16

NEW TRAINS

•     Direct line between Delhi and Meghalaya introduced
•     Railway connectivity for North Eastern State and J&K - ongoing process major thrust

NEW INITIATIVES

•     Four railway research centres in four cities
•     The speed on some railway corridors to be increased to 160-200 kmph
•     1000MV Solar plants to be set-up by developers on railway and private lands
•     Entertainment in Shatabdi Express.
•    1200 km of fresh lines, 800 km of gauge conversion, Rs 96,182 crore for capacity extension.

For AP and Telangana

•     Third railway line to be set up between Kazipet and Vijayawada