No Big Bang Budget – No Hike in Passenger Fares – Privatisation of Rail Stations
Passenger comfort/safety Highest Priority
Rs 8.5 lakh crore investments in five years to up facilities
By TN Ashok
New Delhi, Feb 26 : Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu today presented a passenger friendly budget by ruling out any further hike in ticket fares but went high on raising passenger comfort through greater cleanliness on trains and stations, enhancing safety levels, reduce travel time between metros by introducing bullet like trains and declared that rs 8.5 lakh crores would be invested in the next five years to up amenities. Fare hike was spared mainly due to falling oil prices which included diesel the lifeline of Indian Railways.
The railway budget was not a big bang budget with big announcements on any big ticket reforms but a very pragmatic one presented in the lok sabha which the railway minister said had four basic goals – Goal One : Customer Experience to receive huge boost
Goal Two: Safer Travel for Rail Passengers
Goal Three: Modernise Railway Infrastructure
Goal Four: Make indian railways financial viable
The chartered accountant turned politician, who introduced major reforms in the power sector when he was power minister in his earlier outing in the BJP SS alliance in Vajpayees government, this time around donned the BJP cap junking the tiger flag presented a budget which seeks to give value for money to all stake holders , especially the passenger who comes top of the list.
Prabhu has proposed over Rs. 1 lakh crore outlay in 2015-16 while sparing the passengers of a fare hike. This is one eighth of Rs 8.5 lakh crore he has proposed to invest over the next five years to up passenger safety and amenities with special focus on senior citizens, but, refrained from making any statement on how he proposed to raise the money.
Railway Minister later told a TV interview that the money would come from private investments and other such schemes that government may unveil in the days to come. He pointed out the example how America built itself after the 30’s depression by issuing bonds and tapping private investments. China built its impressive infrastructure through loans. He hinted India might just do the same as he has already declared in the budget that rail financing would take a newer route by tapping pension and insurance funds.
Modi government is already on the top gear attracting foreign investments promising returns and railways could also be on the map for private and foreign investments.
Here are some of the things that the railway minister has said he seeks to do with the budget of 2015 for improving railways finances and at the same time give a feel good feeling to the passengers, its consumers.
- No increase in passenger fares
- No new trains announced
- Tickets can be booked 120 days in advance instead of 60 days to tackle tout menace
- Outlay for passenger amenities increased by 67%
- Plan expenditure to go up to a record Rs. 1.1 lakh crore in 2015-16 from an estimated Rs. 61,500 crore in 2014-15.
- Central government to outlay likely to at 41 per cent (Rs.45,100 crore) in 2015-16
- We will introduce train sets saving 20% of journey time, similar to bullet trains in design, and that can run on existing tracks
- The speed passenger trains across nine corridors will be increased to 160-200 km from 110 km
- SMS alert to be introduced for train timings
- To introduce air-conditioned coaches for suburban trains
- Wi-fi to be available at 400 railway stations
- To revamp station redevelopment policy completely
- To have bidding system for redevelopment of stations
- To develop 10 satellite railway stations this year
- 800 km of gauge conversion will be commissioned
- E-catering introduced in 108 trains, can order on IRCTC website
- To expand water vending machines on more stations
- On-board entertainment facility could be extended on Shatabdi trains
- Mobile charging stations will be introduced general class coaches
- More general class coaches will be added to select trains for benefit of the common man
- Railways plans to spend over Rs. 8 lakh crore over five years
- Pension funds, multi-lateral banks have evinced interest in Railways
- Proposed the best operating ratio in nine years, of 88.5 per cent for 2015-16
- Railways to go through transformation in five years; to increase track capacity by 10 per cent to 1.38 lakh km
- Feasibility report of high speed train between Mumbai and Ahmedabad expected by mid-2015
- Wagon-making scheme to be reviewed to make it easier for private investment
- To improve cleanliness & design of bed linen
- All India 24×7 grievances helpline 138 to start soon
- 7,000 more toilets to be replaced by Bio-Toilets, New toilets at 650 stations, more vaccum toilets
- Passenger travelling unreserved can procure a ticket within 5 minutes
- Mobile application to address complaints of people is also being developed
- Introduction of integrated ticketing will be done
- Hand-held devices for ticket checkers for moving towards paperless ticketing
- Centrally managed railway display network in over 2000 stations in next 2 years
- Railways will play a big role in socio-economic development of the country
- Railways carry a big burden of expectations
- Investments in railways will have multiplier effect
- Railways facilities have not improved significantly over last few years
- The cycle of under-investment should end
- Railways has to regain in share in freight traffic
- Railways aims to deliver a sustainable improvement in customer experience and make rail a safer means of travel
- Objective is to make Railways self-sustainable
- Rail-cum-road ticket to be extended to many stations
- We are committed to provide rail connectivity to North Eastern states
- Transport Logistic Corporation of India to be set up to aid expanding freight handling capacity and provide end-to-end logistic solutions
- PPP model will help to augment resources and generate more employment
- 6608 kms of track to be electrified
- Projects worth Rs. 96,182 crore to expand capacity of 9,420 km rail lines
- CCTVs to be introduced in select trains and suburban trains for women safety
- Train Protection Warning System, Train Collision Avoidance System
- Projects for rail connectivity to many ports and mines
- To monetise assets rather than sell them
- To set up full-fledged Railway University in FY16
- Rs.2000 crore for Coastal Connectivity Program; Rs.2500 crore through BOT/Annuity route
- Drawing up comprehensive policy to tap latent advertising potential
- Online application for all recruitment process
- To impart soft skills to our staff we intend to impart regular training
- 917 safety work projects to eliminate over 3,000 unmanned crossings in all states
- PPP cell to be revamped to make it result oriented
- Railways can’t function as business as usual mode
- To set up infra fund, JV with IRFC for long-term funding
