26/02/2016
All About Railway Budget
2016-2017
Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu presented
his second rail budget this year. He kept the
fares unchanged. In his budget speech, he
said that for this budget he owes its
inspiration to vision of PM Modi who said:
" My vision is to make railways backbone of
India’s progress & economic development."
He outlined the 3 pillars of strategy - raise
new revenues, raise productivity and
efficiency and revamp the processes. He
also said that the Core objective is to
become engine of economic growth, create
employment and provide customer service.
So now let’s see what Mr. Prabhu had for
the citizens of India. Here are the highlights
of the Rail Budget 2016:
• Operating ratio kept at 92% FY17 as
against 90% in current year .
• To generate revenues of order of
Rs. 1,84,820 cr next year which is a 10.1%
higher than revised target of current year.
• The Capital plan of Rs 1.21 lakh crore.
• Aimed to generate 10-20% of revenues from
non-tariff sources over next 5 years
by monetizing assets.
• Railways will get Rs 40,000 crore
budgetary support from the government.
• Railways incurred a loss of Rs 30,000 crore
by subsidizing passenger fares.
• Rs 8.5 lakh crore to be spent over 5 years
for modernization of railway infrastructure
• To have 2,800 kms of new tracks in next
year, almost 30% higher than last year
target.
• Two dedicated freight corridors by 2019.
• Railway electrification have increased by
50% & 2,000 km route to be electrified next
fiscal year.
• 400 stations to be re-developed through
PPP.
• 2 locomotive factories at the cost of Rs
40,000 crore to be set up.
• Overnight double-Decker train Uday
Express to be introduced on busiest routes
which will increased carrying capacity with
40% more.
• Three direct services, fully air-conditioned
Humsafer, to travel at 130km per hour will
be starting this year .
• Lower berth quota for senior citizens to be
increased by 50%
• 33% of sub-quota for women in each of the
reserved categories will be introduced.
• Railways announces measures for women
security: All India 24X7 helpline, CCTV
surveillance, reserved middle bay in coaches.
• To Generate Rs 9 crore mandays in
FY17-18, Rs 14 crore mandays in FY18-19
• Completely paperless contract system in
2016-17
• He also stated that 124 MPs have
committed to contribute from MPLADS for
passenger amenities.
• WiFi in 100 stations this year and 400
other stations next year .
• To have CCTV surveillance at all stations,
300 major stations will be covered this year .
• Enhanced capacity of e-ticketing system -
from 2000 tickets a minute to 7200 a minute
(to support 120,000 concurrent users) .
• 44 new projects valued at Rs 92,714 crore
to be implemented this year
• 17 states agree to form JVs with Indian
Railways for construction of rail-over-bridges
• To introduce 20,000 screen rail display
network for passing info to passengers and
huge advertising potential
• Railways will partner with the Govt. of TN
for developing suburban network in Chennai
through innovative financing methods.
• Ring Railway to be redeveloped in
partnership with the Delhi government.
• Elevated rail corridors from Church gate to
Virar and CST to Panvel on the cards.
• India's first rail auto hub to come up in
Chennai .
• LIC has agreed to fund Rs 1.5 lakh crore
over next 5 years at favorable terms
• A sum of Rs. 50 crores for providing
innovation grants to start-ups has been kept
aside.
• We'll install GPS-based digital display in
coaches for showing upcoming stations.
• Now the Coolies will be called 'Sahayaks' .
• Children's menu, baby foods, baby boards
to be made available for travelling mothers.
• We've introduced Sarthi Seva in Konkan
Railways for help to senior citizens, will
expand this service.
• With helpline number 139, the passenger
will soon able to do cancellation of ticket.
• Journalists to get facility of e-booking of
tickets on concessional passes.
• Planning to introduce bar-coded tickets on
pilot basis to tackle menace of ticket
less travel.
• Opened long awaited Broad Gauge
Lumding-Silchar section in Assam,
connecting Barak Valley with rest of
country .
• Long distance superfast train Antyodaya
Express for unreserved passengers .
• Introduction of Deen Dayal coaches for
long distance trains for unreserved
passengers.
• Introduction of Tejas, the future of train
travel with operating speeds of 130 kph .
• National academy of railways at Vadodara
to be upgraded to a full-fledged Railway
university.
• Railways will partner with Gujarat,
Telangana & Tamil Nadu for developing
suburban sections in Ahmedabad, Hyderabad
& Chennai by innovative financing
mechanism.
• Intend to take up on priority provision of
passenger amenities and beautification of
stations at pilgrimage centres including
Ajmer, Amritsar, Bihar Sharif, Chengannur,
Dwarka, Gaya, Haridwar, Mathura, Tirupati,
& Varanasi.
• He also said that World's first Bio-vacuum
toilet developed by Indian Railways is being
used in Dibrugarh Rajdhani express.
• By 2020, plans to eliminate all unmanned
level crossings
• Foreign Rail Technological Cooperation
scheme to be formulated for
technological up gradation.
• Wireless enabled 'Rakshak' devices to
intimate gangmen about approaching train.
• Introduction of separate toilets for
"divyaang" people.
• To introduce Humsafar Express, full air-
conditioned third AC service with operational
services for meals.
• Proposal for Antyodaya Express and
Deenadayalu coaches for
unreserved travelers.
• Poised to commission 7km of broad gauge
lines in 2017 against an average of 4.3 km