26/02/2015
Highlights from Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu's Speech:
●No increase in passenger fares
●SMS alert to be introduced for train timings
●To introduce air-conditionedcoaches for suburban trains
●Wi-fi to be available at 400 railway stations
●To revamp station redevelopment policy completely
●To have bidding system for redevelopment of stations
●To develop 10 satellite railway stations this year
●On-board entertainment facility could be extended on Shatabdi trains
●Mobile charging stations will be introduced general classcoaches
●Wagon-making scheme to be reviewed to make it easier for private investment
●To improve cleanliness & design of bed linen
●All India 24x7 grievances helpline 138 to start soon
●17,000 more toilets to be replaced by Bio-Toilets, New toilets at 650 stations, more vacuum toilets
●Passenger travelling unreserved can procure a ticket within 5 minutes
●Mobile application to address complaints of people is also being developed
●Hand-held devices for ticket checkers for moving towards paperless ticketing
●Centrally managed railway display network in over 2000stations in next 2 years
●We are committed to provide rail connectivity to North Eastern states
●CCTVs to be introduced in select trains and suburban trains for women safety
●Train Protection Warning System, Train Collision Avoidance System
●Tickets can be booked 120 days in advance instead of 60days
●Plan expenditure to go up to a record Rs 1.1 lakh crore in 2015-16 from Rs 66,000 crore in the previous year
●Railways plans to spend over Rs 8 lakh crore over five years
●We will introduce train sets saving 20% of journey time, similar to bullet trains in design, and that can run on existing tracks
●Feasibility report of high speed train between Mumbai and Ahmedabad expected by mid-2015
●The speed passenger trains across nine corridors will be increased to 160-200 km from 110 km
●Railways to go through transformation in five years; to increase track capacity by 10 per cent to 1.38 lakh km
●To monetise assets rather than sell them
●To set up full-fledged Railway University in FY16
●Rs.2000 crore for Coastal Connectivity Program; Rs.2500 crore through BOT/Annuity route
●6608 kms of track to be electrified
●Projects worth Rs 96,182 crore to expand capacity of 9,420 km rail lines
●Drawing up comprehensive policy to tap latent advertising potential
