Highlights of Rail Budget 2011-12

Highlights of Rail Budget 2011-12
· 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 West Bengal proposed
· Feasibility study to raise speed of passenger trains to 160-200 kmph to be undertaken
· A special package of two new trains and two projects for the states managing trouble free run of trains throughout the year
· Anti Collision Devise (ACD) sanctioned to cover 8 zonal railways
· GPS Based 'Fog Safe' Device to be deployed
· All unmanned level crossing up to 3000 to be eliminated
· All India Security Help line on a single number set up
· All state capitals in the North-East except Sikkim to be connected by Rail in next seven years
· A Bridge Factory in J & K and a state-of-art Institute for Tunnel and Bridge Engineering is proposed at Jammu
· A Diesel Locomotive Centre will be set-up in Manipur
· A Centre of Excellence in Software at Darjeeling proposed under the aegis of CRIS
· Rail Industrial Parks at Jellingham and New Bongaigaon proposed
· Additional mechanised laundry units to be set up at Nagpur, Chandigarh and Bhopal
· 700 MW gas-based power plant to be set up at Thakurli in Maharashtra
· 18,000 Wagons to be procured during 2011-12
· A scheme for socially desirable projects, 'Pradhan Mantri Rail Vikas Yojana' with non-lapsable fund proposed
· 10,000 shelter units proposed for track side dwellers in Mumbai, Sealdah, Siliguri, Tiruchirapalli on pilot basis
· Concession to physically handicapped persons to be extended on Rajdhani and Shatabdi trains
· Concession of 50 per cent to press correspondents with family increased to twice a year
· Senior Citizens concession to be hiked from 30 per cent to 40 per cent
· Medical facilities extended to dependent parents of the Railway employees
· Scholarship for girl child of Group-D railway employees increased to Rs 1200 per month
· 20 additional hostels for children of railway employees to be set up
· Recruitment for 1.75 lakh vacancies of Group 'C' and 'D' including to fill up backlog of SC/ST initiated, 16,000 ex-servicemen to be inducted by March 2011
· A separate sports cadre to be created
· 2011-12 declared 'Year of Green Energy' for Railways
· Freight loading of 993 MT and passenger growth of 6.4 per cent estimated for 2011-12
· Gross Traffic Receipts at Rs 1,06,239 crore, exceeding one lakh crore mark for the first time estimated
· Ordinary Working Expenses assessed at Rs 73,650 crore