Thursday 25 February 2016

Rail Budget 2015-16 - Highlights

Highlights of Rail Budget 2015-16:


India's first rail auto hub, boost to e-catering, connectivity to North-East and no hike in passenger fares. Here's a quick recap of all major announcements made by Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu.
This is Mr. Prabhu's second rail budget.
1No hike in passenger fares.
2Action has been initiated on 139 budget announcements made last year.
3Eliminate all unmanned level crossings by 2020.
4Swacch Bharat: 17000 biotoilets and additional toilets in 475 stations before the close of this financial year.
5Increased quota for senior citizens and women travellers this year.
6Wifi at 100 stations this year and 400 stations next year.
7Enhanced capacity of e-ticketing system from 2,000 tickets/min to 7,200/min. Supporting 1.2 lakh concurrent users now, as opposed to 40,000 earlier.
8All major stations to be brought under CCTV surveillance in a phased manner.
9Deen Dayal coaches for long distance trains for unreserved passengers. These coaches will include potable water and higher number of mobile charging points.
10IRCTC to manage catering service in phased manner. Local cuisine of choice will be made available to passengers.
11Cleaning of toilets by requests through SMS.
12Children's menu, baby foods, baby boards to be made available for travelling mothers.
13GPS-based digital display in coaches for showing upcoming stations.
14Will open cancellation facility through 139 helpline number.
15Introduce bar-coded tickets on pilot basis to tackle menace of ticketless travel.
On new projects to be implemented this year:
1Overnight double-decker trains to be introduced on business travel routes.
21,600 km of electrification this year and 2,000 km proposed for the next year.
3Broad Gauge Lumding-Silchar section in Assam, connecting Barak Valley with rest of country.
4North-East India, especially Mizoram and Manipur, to be connected through broad gauge soon.
5Special purpose vehicle for the Ahmedabad-Mumbai high speed corridor registered this month.

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