Railway Budget Highlights 2012

Presenting the annual Rail Budget for the financial year 2012-13 in Parliament on Wednesday, Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi made following key proposals:

*Passenger fares to be hiked by 2 paise per km for suburban and ordinary second class travel; 3 paise per km for mail/ express second class; 5 paise per km for sleeper class; 10 paise per km for AC chair car/AC 3-tier and First Class; 15 paise per km for AC 2-tier and 30 paise per km for AC 1-tier.

*Minimum fare and platform tickets to cost Rs 5.

*75 new Express trains to be introduced, along with 21 new passenger services, nine DEMU services and 8 MEMU services trains.

*Route of 39 trains to be extended and frequency of 23 trains to be increased.

*Railways to hire more than one lakh employees in 2012-13; 80,000 persons hired last year.

*Indian Railways Stations Development Corp to be set up to re-develop stations and maintain them like airports.

*To set up an independent Railway Safety Authority as a statutory body.

* The open discharge toilets on trains to be replaced with green (bio) toilets.

*All unmanned level crossings to be abolished in next five years; To target zero deaths due to rail accidents.

*To provide rail connectivity to neighbouring countries, a new line from Agartala to Akura in Bangladesh to be set up.

*Double-decker container trains to be introduced.

*Steps to improve cleanliness and hygiene on trains and stations within six months. A special house keeping body to be set up to take care of both stations and trains.

*New passenger services include escalators at major stations, alternative train accommodation for wait-listed passengers, laundry services, AC lounges, coin/currency operated ticket vending machines.

*Two new members, one for marketing, and other for safety, to be inducted into Railway Board.

*On board passenger displays indicating next halt station and expected arrival time to be introduced.

*Introduction of regional cuisine; Book-a-meal scheme to provide meals through SMS or email.

*Specially designed coaches for differently-abled persons to be provided in each Mail/Express trains.

*Railway Tariff Regulatory Authority to be considered.

*National High Speed Rail Authority to be set up; Pre-feasibility studies on six high speed corridors completed; study on Delhi-Jaipur-Ajmer-Jodhpur to be taken up in 2012-13.

*Wellness programme for railway staff at work places.

*Institution of ‘Rail Khel Ratna’ Award for 10 rail sportspersons every year.

*A wagon factory at Sitapali, Odisha, rail coach factory at Palakkad, two additional new coach manufacturing units in Kutch (Gujarat) and Kolar (Karnataka); component factory at Shyamnagar (West Bengal); new coaching terminal at Naihati, the birth place of Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay.

*Freight loading of 1,025 MT targeted; 55 MT more than 2011—12; Passenger growth targeted at 5.4 per cent.

*Passenger earnings to increase to Rs 36,200 crore.

*Gross rail traffic targeted to increase by Rs 28,635 crore to Rs 1,32,552 crore in 2012—13.

For more Details visit http://www.thehindu.com/