Rail Budget 2014: 58 new trains proposed, bullet train to be introduced

Railway Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda presented the Narendra Modi government’s maiden rail budget for the current fiscal today. Here are the highlights

In the railway budget presented to parliament Tuesday, Railway Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda unveiled many new measures to make Indian Railways, which runs about 20,000 trains and ferries 23 million passengers daily, a modern, efficient and commercially viable utility.

Railway Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda. Photo: AFP

He presented proposals, subject to parliamentary approval, for introduction of 58 new trains, paperless office in five years, digital reservation charts, wi-fi in select stations and trains, wake-up call for passengers, separate freight terminals, office-on-wheels for business travellers, more money for cleanliness and safety, food courts at stations, expansion of rail tourism and better connectivity in hilly areas and northeastern states.

Here are the highlights:

64 new electric multiple unit (EMUs) in Mumbai to ease rail traffic

Five Jan Sadharan trains, five premium trains and six AC express trains to be introduced

Run of 11 trains to be extended

Special festival trains to continue

Open mind to correct shortcomings

Twenty three railway projects underway in the northeast; Rs.5,116 crore allocated for this in 2014-15 - a jump of 54 percent from the previous fiscal

Dedicated freight corridor projects to be closely monitored

Banihal-Katra link in Jammu and Kashmir to be taken up; in the interim, a bus system has been introduced to enable travel to Srinagar on a single ticket

Wi-Fi at select stations and on some trains

Paperless railway offices in five years

Diamond quadrilateral to be launched for high-speed trains; Rs.100 crore allocated for taking project forward

Trains on select routes to be speeded up to 160-200 km per hour

Ticketing to be further modernised to issue 7,200 tickets per minute

Land records need to be digitised for better utilisation; PPP mode to be explored for better management and revenue

Innovation Incubation Centre to be set up

4,000 women constables recruited in RPF to make travel in women's coaches safer

Pre-cooked ready-to-eat meals to be introduced

Food courts to be introduced at major stations to provide regional flavour; pilot project on New Delhi-Amritsar and New Delhi-Jammu Tawi routes

Forty percent increase in expenditure on cleanliness; CCTVs to monitor cleanliness at stations

Special train on teachings of Swami Vivekananda

Receipts in 2014-15 estimated at Rs.164,374 crore, expenditure at Rs.149,176 crore

Fare revision will bring in Rs.8,000 crore; need another Rs.9,000 crore for golden quadrilateral project

Backbone of supply chain of defence establishment

Carry one billion tonnes of freight every year

Decline in traffic growth in 2013-14

Would require Rs.5 lakh crores in 10 years for modernisation

Receipts in 2013-14 were Rs.139,550 crore; expenditure was Rs.130,321 crore

Spend 94 paise of every rupee earned, leaving a surplus of only 6 paise

With 12,500 trains, railways move 23 million passengers every day; equivalent to moving Australia's population

Target to become largest freight carrier in the world

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