INDIAN RAILWAY BUDGET 2014-15

HIGHLIGHTS OF RAILWAY BUDGET 2014-15

* No new increase in passenger fares and freight charges

* Bullet train in Mumbai-Ahmedabad sector

* Diamond quadrilateral for high speed trains

* Plan to hike speed of trains to 160-200 km/hr in 9 sectors

* Online booking to support 7,200 tickets per minute; to allow 1.2 lakh users log in simultaneously

* Reservation system to be revamped, ticket-booking through mobile phones, post offices to be popularised

* Online platform for unreserved tickets

* Combo parking-platform tickets at stations

* Women RPF Constables to escort ladies coaches; 4,000 women constables to be inducted

* Retiring room facility to be extended to all stations

* Battery operated cars for differently-abled and senior citizens at major stations

* Feedback services through IVRS on quality of food

* Food can be ordered through SMS, phone; Food courts at major stations

* Cleanliness budget up by 40 per cent over last year

* CCTVs to be used at stations for monitoring cleanliness

* Setting up of corpus fund for stations’ upkeep; RO drinking water in some stations and trains

* Automatic door closing in mainline and sub-urban coaches

* 58 new trains and extension of 11; 864 additional EMUs to be introduced in Mumbai over 2 years

* FDI in railway projects, except in operations

* FDI, domestic investments in rail infrastructure

* Office-on-Wheels: Internet & workstation facilities on select trains

* WiFi in A1, A category stations and in select trains

* Railways university for technical and non-technical subjects

* Some stations to be developed to international standards through PPP model

* Parcel traffic to be segregated to separate terminals to make passenger traffic unhindered

* Loss per passenger per kilometre up from 10 per cent in 2000-01 to 23 per cent in 2012-13

* Solar energy to be tapped at major stations

* Highest ever plan outlay of Rs. 65,455 crore for 2014-15

* Expenditure in 2014-15 pegged at Rs. 149,176 crore.

New Trains

Jansadharan Trains

i) Ahmedabad-Darbhanga Jansadharan Express via Surat

Ii Jaynagar-Mumbai Jansadharan Express

ii) Mumbai-Gorakhpur Jansadharan Express

iv) Saharasa-Anand Vihar Jansadharan Express via Motihari

v) Saharasa-Amritsar Jansadharan Express

Premium Trains

i) Mumbai Central-New Delhi Premium AC Express

ii) Shalimar-Chennai Premium AC Express

iii) Secunderabad-Hazrat Nizamuddin Premium AC Express 6

iv) Jaipur-Madurai Premium Express

v) Kamakhya-Bengaluru Premium Express

AC ExpressTrains

i) VijayawadaNewDelhiAPExpress (Daily)

ii) LokmanyaTilak(T)-Lucknow (Weekly)

iii) Nagpur-Pune (Weekly)

iv) Nagpur-Amritsar (Weekly)

v) Naharlagun-NewDelhi (Weekly)

vi) Nizamuddin-Pune (Weekly)

Express Trains

i) Ahmedabad-Patna Express (Weekly)via Varanasi

ii) Ahmedabad Chennai Express (Biweekly)via Vasai Road

iii) Bengaluru -Mangalore Express (Daily)

iv) Bengaluru -Shimoga Express (Biweekly)

v) Bandra(T)-Jaipur Express (Weekly) via Nagda, Kota

vi) Bidar-Mumbai Express (Weekly)

vii) Chhapra-Lucknow Express (Tri weekly) via Ballia, Ghazipur, Varanasi

viii) Ferozpur-Chandigarh Express (6 days a week)

ix) Guwahati-Naharlagun Intercity Express (Daily)

x) Guwahati-Murkongselek Intercity Express (Daily)

xi) Gorakhpur-Anand Vihar Express (Weekly)

xii) Hapa-Bilaspur Express (Weekly)via Nagpur

xiii) Hazur Saheb Nanded-Bikaner Express (Weekly)

xiv) Indore-Jammu Tawi Express (Weekly)

xv) Kamakhya-Katra Express (Weekly) via Darbhanga

xvi) Kanpur-Jammu Tawi Express (Biweekly)

xvii) Lokmanya Tilak(T)-Azamgarh Express (Weekly)

xviii) Mumbai_Kazipeth Express (Weekly) via Balharshah

xix) Mumbai-Palitana Express (Weekly)

xx) New Delhi Bhatinda Shatabdi Express (Biweekly)

xxi) New Delhi-Varanasi Express (Daily)

xxii) Paradeep-Howrah Express (Weekly)

xxiii) Paradeep-Visakhapatnam Express (Weekly)

xxiv) Rajkot-Rewa Express (Weekly)

xxv) Ramnagar-Agra Express (Weekly)

xxvi) Tatanagar Baiyyappanahali (Bengaluru) Express (Weekly)

xxvii) Visakhapatnam-Chennai Express (Weekly)

Passenger Trains

i) Bikaner-Rewari Passenger (Daily)

ii) Dharwad-Dandeli Passenger (Daily)via Alnavar

iii) Gorakhpur-Nautanwa Passenger (Daily)

iv) Guwahati-Mendipathar Passenger (Daily)

v) Hatia-Rourkela Passenger 7

vi) Byndoor-Kasaragod Passenger (Daily)

vii) Rangapara North-Rangiya Passenger (Daily)

viii) Yesvantpur-Tumkur Passenger (Daily)

MEMU services

i) Bengaluru-Ramanagaram 6 days a week (3 Pairs)

ii) Palwal-Delhi-Aligarh

DEMU services

i) Bengaluru-Neelmangala (Daily)

ii) Chhapra-Manduadih (6days a week) via Ballia

iii) Baramula-Banihal (Daily)

iv) Sambalpur-Rourkela (6 days a week)

v) Yesvantpur-Hosur (6 days a week)

Measures for improving Safety & Security· 

The railway minister has also taken steps to ensure safety and security of passengers. A total of 5,400 unmanned level crossings eleiminated – 2,310 by manning it and 3,090 by closure / merger / construction of ROBs or RUBs.

· Improved audio – visual warning to road users in advance of approaching trains.
· Induction of indigenously developed Train Collision Avoidance System
· Development of ‘crashworthy’ coaches
· In last five years, offering employment to over one lakh persons in Group C categories and to 1.6 lakh persons in erstwhile Group D categories.
· Provision of Vigilance Control Device in all locomotives

 Various measures to prevent fire incidents on trains –
Ø  Fire retardant materials
Ø  Multi-tier protection for electric circuits
Ø  Portable fire extinguishers in coaches
Ø  Induction based cooking to replace LPG in pantry cars
Ø  Intensive checks against explosives and inflammable materials.

Financial Health·

Rail infrastructure by cost sharing arrangement with State Governments; Karnataka, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Haryana agreed to several projects
·    Several Public Private Partnerships (PPP) projects are in the pipeline.
·    FDI being enabled to foster creation of world-class rail infrastructure.
·   Rail Land Development Authority raised Rs 937 crore so far.

Modernisation and Technology Induction·

The minister also announced that the government is working on the possibility of bringing High Speed Trains in the country.

-  Joint feasibility study by India and Japan for Mumbai – Ahmedabad Corridor to be co-financed by Japan International Cooperation Agency
-  Business Development Study by SNCF for Mumbai – Ahmedabad corridor.
-   Semi- High Speed Projects
-  Exploring low cost option of speeds 160- 200 kmph on select routes

- Trains will be equipped with wireless internet

- Future E-Ticketing to support 7200 tickets per minute & to allow 120,000 simultaneous users

Green Initiatives

The Railway Minister also announced government's plan to use green energy in the railways. The minister, while presenting the budget said that windmill and solar power plants will be set up with 40% subsidy from Ministry of New & Renewable Energy. Other initiatives to be taken by the government are:

- 200 Stations, rooftops of 26 buildings and 2,000 level crossing gates to be covered.
- Railways bagged 22 out of 112 awards given by the Government.
- ‘Green Curtains’ along the track close to major stations; Pilot work at Agra and Jaipur
- Coverage of Bio-toilets in 2,500 coaches and would be increased progressively.

Passenger Friendly Initiatives·

- Overwhelming public response to e-booking of ticket
-  On-line tracking of exact location and running of train movements
-  51 Jan-Ahaar outlets for Janta Meals ; 48 passenger escalators commisionsed at stations and 61 more being installed ; air-conditioned EMU services in Mumbai from July 2014 ; information display system in important trains to indicate stations & arrival time.
- ‘Upgradation’ scheme extended to AC Chair Car and Executive Chair car passengers.


Demand Management through Dynamic Pricing·         Premium AC Special train introduced in Delhi – Mumbai Sector with shorter advance reservation period and dynamically varying premium over tatkal fare



Enhancing Market Share·         Clearing missing links in Carrying Capacity + 8 tonne routes; freight train speeding ; upgradation of rolling stock ; increasing length of trains ; tariff and incentive schemes to encourage traffic to rail and minimizing empty running.

Rail Tariff Authority·         Independent Rail Tariff Authority set-up to advise on fixing of fares and freight, to engage all stake-holders

Information Technology·         Initiatives taken include – proliferation of cash accepting Automatic Ticket Vending Machines ; ticketing on mobile phones in unreserved segments ; system update on PNR status; online booking of retiring rooms at important stations ; online booking of meals for selected en-route stations ; introduction of e-forwarding note and electronic transmission of railway receipts for freight customers

Revenue Freight Traffic·         Loading target of 1047 Million Tonnes for 2013-14 would be surpassed
·         Empty Flow Discount Scheme to be implemented
·         Carrying Capacity + 9 tonne + 1 tonne routes being planned
·         Easing of some restrictions on movement of imported commodities through Containers
·         Carrying capacity of 20 feet containers increased by 4 tonnes
·         Parcel Terminals & Special Parcel Trains with scheduled timings.
·         New policy on parcels to encourage transportation of milk.
·         New concept of ‘hub and spoke’ for parcel business
·         Third party warehousing in Special Parcel Terminals envisaged.