Railway Budget Highlights

Sambad English Bureau Published On : Feb 26, 2015 at 1:18 PM Updated On : Feb 26, 2015 at 1:19 PM

New Delhi, Feb 26:

Following are the highlights of the Railway Budget for 2015-16 presented by Minister Suresh Prabhu in the Lok Sabha Thursday:

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* Speed of trains running at 110-130 kmph to be increased to 160-20 kmph

* Green technology locomotives to be introduced

* 10 cities identified for creating fully-functional satellite terminals to reduce congestion

* Two dedicated freight corridors gathering steam

* Innovation Council and Technology Portal to be set up to invite suggestions on improvements

* All newly-manufactured coaches to be braille-enabled

* Online booking for wheel chairs to be enabled

* MPs urged to use part of their funds for improving rail facilities

* Over 17,00 toilets on trains already replaced, another 17,000 to be replaced

* Wi-Fi facility to be extended to category B stations

* Open bids to be invited from private parties to develop railway stations

* Operational ratio of 88.5 percent targetted

* Defence travel system developed to eliminate system warrants

* SMS alerts to be introduced

* Paperless ticketing system to be developed

* New department to keep stations clean

* Waste to energy conversion plants to be created

* Toilets at stations need improvement; 650 additional toilets to be created in addition to 120 last year

* Investment of Rs.8.5 lakh crore in next five years

* Over 20,00 suggestions received on improving facilities

* Four goals: Deliver sustained improvement in customer facilities, Make railways safer means of travel, expand substantially, make Indian Railways self-sustainable

* Budget part of trilogy: White paper already tabled, this budget, vision document soon

* Railways backbone of national connectivity

* Will partner with private sector to improve last mile connectivity

* Railways unique integrator of modern India

* Facilities not improved substantially over past few decades

* Vicious cycle of under-investment must end

* 1,219 sections on network – most of them overworked

* In next five years, intention to substantially augment capacity. (IANS)