Yesterday i.e. on 25th feb 2011, Union Railway minister Mamta Banerjee "DIDI" announced the rail budget. This is the 9th consecutive times ,when there is no increase in passenger fare and frieght charges. This was the happy news for common and middle class men. As well as she charmed all the sectors by her rail budget. Apart from the concessional fare; the Minister proposed for user friendly stations for physically challenged people. The Ministry also proposed for new Rail lines connecting the under developed suburban areas with rest of the cities. In next fiscal year; it is likely to introduce smart card scheme called “Go India” with single window ticketing counter for long distance travels
Here is some more highlights of rail budget 2011,at a glance :-
No hike in passenger fare and freight rates.
- Highest ever Plan outlay of Rs. 57, 630 crore proposed for Railways.
- Rs. 9,583 crore provided for new lines.
- 1300 km new lines, 867 km doubling of lines and 1017 km gauge conversion targeted
in 2011-12.
- 56 new Express Trains, 3 new Shatabdis and 9 Duronto trains to be introduced.
- AC Double Decker services on Jaipur-Delhi and Ahmedabad-Mumbai routes.
- New Super AC Class to be introduced.
- A new portal for e-ticketing to be launched shortly. Booking charges will be cheaper
with a charge of only Rs. 10 for AC classes and Rs.5 for others.
- Pan-India multi-purpose smart card "Go India" to be introduced.
- 236 more stations to be upgraded as Adarsh Stations.
- 47 additional suburban services in Mumbai and 50 new suburban services proposed
for Kolkata.
- Two new passenger terminals in Kerala and one each in Uttar Pradesh and
- Feasibility study to raise speed of passenger trains to 160-200 kmph to be undertaken.
No comments:
Post a Comment