Railway Budget highlights
08 Jul 2014
Here are the highlights of the railway minister's Railway Budget speech being delivered in the Lok Sabha
Railway finances
- Gross traffic receipts in 2013-14 was Rs 12,35,558 crore; operating ratio was 94 per cent
- Indian Railways spent Rs 41,000 crore on laying of 3,700 km of new lines in last 10 years
- FY15 Total Expenditure Pegged At Rs.1.49 lakh crore
- FY15 total receipts pegged at Rs.1.64 lakh crore
- Propose to hike budgetary plan outlay to Rs.47,650 crore
- FY15 passenger fare revenue pegged at Rs.44,600 crore
- Large part of the budget outlay to go to safety projects
- Maximum finabcial outlays for projects slated for completion in this area itself
- High priority areas - safety, cleanliness, passenger amenities and capacity augmentation
- Pre-cooked meals by reputed brands, focus on cleanliness and passenger feedback
- Outsource cleaning activities at 50 major stations, separate housekeeping wing for cleanliness and sanitation
- CCTVs to be used for monitoring cleanliness
- R-O drinking water at stations and trains
- Corporates encouraged to adopt stations for better maintenance and upkeep
- 23 projects underway in North-East. Propose to allocate higher funds than previous year for these
Parcel Traffic, Carrying Milk and Veggies
- Parcel traffic separated to requisite terminals, dedicated trains running on fixed timetable
- New design of parcel vans -- measures taken in order to improve earnings from the parcel system
- Special initiatives via the PPP mode for transport of fruits and vegetables and milk
- bio-diesel upto 5% to be used in diesel locomotives
Reservation system will be revamped
- Railways to scale down market borrowings to Rs. 11,790 crore
- Reservation system will be revamped and ticket-booking through mobile phones and post offices to be popularised
- Wi-fi Services in all A Category stations and trains
- To Have Diamond Quadrilateral Network for High-speed Trains
- Allocated Rs. 100 crore For High- Speed Rail Network
- Digital Reservation Charts at stations
Bullet Trains
- Indian Railways on course to fulfill its long cherished dream. I propose a Bullet train on the Ahmedabad- Mumbai sector.
- Higher speed for existing trains will be achieved by upgrading the present network
- Railways plans to increase speed of trains to 160 to 200 km per hour in nine select sectors.
Safety for Women Passengers
- 17,000 Railway Protection Force personnel to be available soon
- Introduction of women RPF constables, coaches meant for women to be escorted for greater safety
Increased Funds for Passenger Amenities and Cleanliness
- Future projects to be financed on public-private partnership model
- Plans to attract investment from domestic and foreign players in infrastructure; focus to be on aggressive indigenisation