Mamatas Rail Budget 2010 Salient features

Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee has not proposed any hike in passenger or freight rates.Presenting her second Rail Budget in the Lok Sabha the minister said Railways will not be privatised but will develop business models for improving earnings.
She announced 54 new trains, six long and four short route Duronto trains and 100 new suburban services for Mumbai. *Railway Minister appeals to business houses to join hands for building partnership with Railways.

Salient features of Rail Budget 2010

* Indian Railways to be lead partner for Commonwealth Games
*Railways to set up mobile e-ticketing centres at hospitals, universities, courts, IITs, IIMs, district headquarters and village panchayats.
*All 13,000 unmanned level crossings to be manned in the next five years.
*Railway Protection Force to be strengthened through amendments in RPF Act; women's wing to be formed in RPF to ensure security of women.
*Ex-servicemen to be inducted in RPF.
*Railways to set up Rabindra Museum in Howrah and Geetanjali Museum in Bolpur -- both in West Bengal – to commemorate Rabindranath Tagore's 125th birth anniversary.
*Railways will provide houses to all its employees in the next 10 years in collaboration with the Urban Development Ministry.
*Railways to enhance contribution to central staff benefit fund.
*Centre for Railway Research to be set up at IIT-Kharagpur.
*Chittaranjan Locomotive Works capacity to be augmented from 200 to 275 engines a year.
*Work on Rae Bareli Coach Factory in Uttar Pradesh to start within a year.
*Wagon Repair Shop to be set up in Badnera near Amravati in Maharashtra.
*Integral Coach Factory in Chennai to be modernised and a new unit to be set up there.
*If land is available, Railways willing to set up a Diesel Multiple Unit factory in West Bengal, says Banerjee.
*No forcible acquisition of land for freight corridor project. One member of each family of land losers to be given employment in the freight corridor as also in the new projects, says Banerjee.
*Railways to develop ten automobile hubs.
*High-speed dedicated passenger corridors to be constructed; National High Speed Rail Authority to be set up.
*Revenue from non-core business of Railways to go up from Rs 150 crore to Rs 1,000 crore.
*Despite slowdown, Railways to exceed freight loading target by eight million tonnes during 2009-10.
*Freight loading target for 2010-11 fixed at 944 million tonnes, 54 million tonnes more than the current year's revised target.
*Gross traffic receipt for 2010-11 pegged at Rs 94,765 crore.
*Allocation for construction of new lines increased from Rs 2848 crore to Rs 4411 crore.
*Rs 1,302 crore provided for passenger amenities in the 2010-11 railway budget against Rs 923 crore last year.
*Railways to have master plan for North Eastern region.
*Special train between India and Bangladesh to be started to commemorate 150th birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore.
*101 additional services to start on Mumbai suburban railways.