‘Mamata unveils populist railway budget’

NEW Delhi, February 25 (Agencies): For the third successive year, the Railway Budget for 2011-12 spared the passengers of any increase in fares and proposed no hike in freight rates while introducing 56 new trains, including nine non-stop Duronto trains and three Shatabdis. Regretting the two incidents of sabotage that led to a large number of deaths last year, Mamata said to avoid such incidents in future, anti-collision devices will be commissioned in three more divisions and all unmanned crossings will be done away with in the next fiscal.
Mamata, however, said rail accident rate has declined from 0.29 per cent last year to 0.17 per cent at present. The states with lowest number
of rail accidents will get two new projects and two new trains as an incentive, she said. The booking charges for A/C as well as non A/C seats have been slashed by 50 per cent and online ticketing is all set to get cheaper. The minister also extended concession for physically-challenged persons and Kirti and Shaurya Chakra awardees to travel in Rajdhani and Shatabdi trains, besides extending facility of card passes to parents of unmarried posthumous Paramvir Chakra and Ashok Chakra gallantry award winners.
Also, the lower age limit for female senior citizens will be reduced from 60 to 58. Concession for male senior citizens has been increased by 10% to 40%. 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 Rs 1 lakh crore mark. As many as 442 stations are to be completed and 584 upgraded by 2012 and new railway line capacities are to be increased to 700 km, she said. Banerjee announced that the first coach from the new rail factory at Rae Bareli will roll out in the next three months. Also, there is a plan to set up a rail industrial park in Nandigram and a metro coach factory in Kolkata. A coach factory is also planned to come up at Singur as is a track-machine industry in Uluberia.
A locomotive centre is to come up in Manipur’s Imphal. Railways is to set up a bridge factory in J&K considering need for large number of bridges on railway projects in the state, Banerjee said. Enthused by the high number of medals in international sports competitions won by the Railways, a Sports Cadre will be set up in the department. As many as 16,000 ex-servicemen will be inducted by March in the Railways for the first time. A 700 MW gas-based power plant will be set up at Thakurli in Maharashtra, she said.
 
Common man’s budget: PM Manmohan
 
New Delhi, February 25 (PTI): Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday said no increase in freight rates and passenger fares in the Railway Budget would reduce inflation. “It is a common man’s budget without increase in freight and passenger fares, thereby it will help to weaken cost push element of inflation,” Dr. Singh told reporters soon after Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee presented her third budget in the Lok Sabha. At the same time, Ms. Banerjee has taken care to increase investment in critical areas of infrastructure which would supplement growth momentum of the economy, he said.  “The Railway Minister has done a commendable job”, Dr. Singh added.
 
Highlights of Railway Budget 2011
 
Highlights of the railway budget for 2011-12 presented in the Lok Sabha on Friday by railway minister Mamata Banerjee:
* No increase in fares.
* Earnings for 2010-11 set to exceed Rs.1 lakh crore.
* Outlay of Rs.57,630 crore for 2011-12, the highest investment in one year.
* Rs.10,000 crore to be raised through railway bonds.
* Happy to announce 85 PPP proposals received; set up single-window system to take these forward.
* Decided to set-up rail-based industries.
* Ten-year backlog of 1.75 lakh jobs being addressed; 16,000 ex-servicemen to be given jobs in railways.
* Safety first priority; accident rate has come down.
* Anti-collision device, successful in North West Frontier Railway, to be extended to three more zonal railways.
* Will add 180 km of rail lines in 2011-12.
* All-India security helpline set up.
* New Durantos to be run on Allahabad-Mumbai, Pune-Ahmedabad, Sealdah-Puri, Secunderabad-Visakhapatnam, Madurai-Chennai routes, among others.
* Integrated suburban network to be set up in Mumbai, Chennai, Ahmedabad and other cities; suburban system of Hyderabad to be strengthened.
* Pradhan Mantri Rail Vikas Yojna to be launched.
* Industrial park to be set up in Nandigram, W Bengal.
* Railways to set up factory in Jammu and Kashmir.
* To set up Metro coach factory at Singur, West Bengal.
* First coach from Rae Bareli factory to roll out in next three months.
* Work on wagon factory in Orissa to begin after land is acquired.
* Manipur capital Imphal to be soon connected to railway network.
* Centre for excellence in software to be set up at Darjeeling.
* Fund to be created for socially desirable projects.
* Work started on two dedicated freight corridors.
* Work on upgrading 442 stations to be completed by March 31.
* Decision to start pilot projects to give shelter to homeless people living along the tracks in Mumbai.
* Multi-purpose smart card to be introduced for all-India travel.
* Airport-like trolleys to be provided at more stations.
* Railways to set up a sports cadre.
* Upgraded class of air conditioned travel to be introduced shortly.
* Train to run to Bangladesh to showcase Indian culture.
* Age for senior citizen’s concession reduced to 58 from 60.
* Concession for physically handicapped and gallantry award winners for travel in Rajdhani and Shatabdi expresses.
* 50 percent concession for mediapersons with families to be increased from once to twice a year.