Over 200 new rail routes on the anvil: Mamata
25 Feb 2011
Physically handicapped passengers will now be given concession in Rajdhani and Shatabdi Express trains, Mamata Banerjee announced during her rail budget. Also, the lower age limit for female senior citizens will be reduced from 60 to 58 now. Concession for male senior citizens has been reduced by 10 per cent to 30 per cent.
One of the highlights of the budget was the introduction of over 200 new routes, especially for the North-East. Another special addition is the introduction of double-decker air-conditioned train service on the Jaipur-Delhi and Ahmedabad-Mumbai routes.
Three new Shatabdi trains will be introduced on Pune-Secunderabad, Jaipur- Agra and Ludhiana-Delhi routes, she said. New Duronto trains will be introduced on Allahabad-Mumbai, Pune-Ahmedabad, Sealdah-Puri, Madurai-Chennai, Chennai- Thiruvananthapuram and Mumbai Central-New Delhi routes.
As many as 47 additional trains will be introduced for the Mumbai suburban section and nine for Chennai, Banerjeee said.
Also, trolleys will be introduced at railway stations, said the minister. The 'Go India' smart card ticket project will be launched this year.
The railways is planning to invest Rs 57630 cr in the 2011-12 fiscal and railway earnings, she said, are set to exceed the Rs1 lakh crore mark.