Highlights of Rail Budget 2012-13
Courtesy: The Hindu
An increase in passenger fares across all classes, more than 100 new trains, enhanced frequency or routes for many others, and plans to hire more than one lakh employees were some of the key Rail Budget proposals made on Wednesday.
Presenting the annual Rail Budget for the financial year 2012-13 in Parliament on Wednesday, Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi made following key proposals:
*Passenger fares to be hiked by 2 paise per km for suburban and ordinary second class travel; 3 paise per km for mail/ express second class; 5 paise per km for sleeper class; 10 paise per km for AC chair car/AC 3-tier and First Class; 15 paise per km for AC 2-tier and 30 paise per km for AC 1-tier.
*Minimum fare and platform tickets to cost Rs 5.
*75 new Express trains to be introduced, along with 21 new passenger services, nine DEMU services and 8 MEMU services trains.
*Route of 39 trains to be extended and frequency of 23 trains to be increased.
*Railways to hire more than one lakh employees in 2012-13; 80,000 persons hired last year.
*Indian Railways Stations Development Corp to be set up to re-develop stations and maintain them like airports.
*To set up an independent Railway Safety Authority as a statutory body.
* The open discharge toilets on trains to be replaced with green (bio) toilets.
*All unmanned level crossings to be abolished in next five years; To target zero deaths due to rail accidents.
*To provide rail connectivity to neighbouring countries, a new line from Agartala to Akura in Bangladesh to be set up.
*Double-decker container trains to be introduced.
*Steps to improve cleanliness and hygiene on trains and stations within six months. A special house keeping body to be set up to take care of both stations and trains.
*New passenger services include escalators at major stations, alternative train accommodation for wait-listed passengers, laundry services, AC lounges, coin/currency operated ticket vending machines.
*Two new members, one for marketing, and other for safety, to be inducted into Railway Board.
*On board passenger displays indicating next halt station and expected arrival time to be introduced.
*Introduction of regional cuisine; Book-a-meal scheme to provide meals through SMS or email.
*Specially designed coaches for differently-abled persons to be provided in each Mail/Express trains.
*Railway Tariff Regulatory Authority to be considered.
*National High Speed Rail Authority to be set up; Pre-feasibility studies on six high speed corridors completed; study on Delhi-Jaipur-Ajmer-Jodhpur to be taken up in 2012-13.
*Wellness programme for railway staff at work places.
*Institution of ‘Rail Khel Ratna’ Award for 10 rail sportspersons every year.
*A wagon factory at Sitapali, Odisha, rail coach factory at Palakkad, two additional new coach manufacturing units in Kutch (Gujarat) and Kolar (Karnataka); component factory at Shyamnagar (West Bengal); new coaching terminal at Naihati, the birth place of Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay.
*Freight loading of 1,025 MT targeted; 55 MT more than 2011—12; Passenger growth targeted at 5.4 per cent.
*Passenger earnings to increase to Rs 36,200 crore.
*Gross rail traffic targeted to increase by Rs 28,635 crore to Rs 1,32,552 crore in 2012—13.
Courtesy:India Today
Union Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi presents his maiden Railway Budget 2012-13 in the Lok Sabha. He says:
- Hike of 10 paise per km for third AC passengers.
- Sleeper class passengers to pay 5 paise more per km.
- First AC fare hiked by 20 paise per km.
- 2 paise per km hike for 2nd class suburban trains.
- 2AC passengers to pay 15 paise more per km.
- 3 paisa per km for mail and express trains.
- Platform ticket hiked to Rs.5. It earlier cost Rs.3.
- 2-30 paise fare hike proposed in different classes.
- Independent tariff authority suggested; needs serious debate; experts panel established; decision after debate in Parliament.
- Fare hike proposed. First since 2003.
- GRP/RPF personnel deployed on 3,500 trains.
- Free travel by Rajdhani express for Arjuna awardees.
- Rail Khel Ratna awards to be given to rail sportspersons every year.
- Railway Board to be restructured, two more members to be included.
- Dedicated railway design wing at National Institute of Design with a contribution of Rs.10 crore.
- New passenger services: 820 new items; 75 new express trains; 21 new passenger trains; 75 new services in Mumbai suburban system.
- Targeting freight carriage of 1,025 million tonnes to bring in Rs.89,339 crore; passenger earnings estimated at Rs.36,073 crore; gross receipts estimated at Rs.1.32 lakh crore.
- Guru Parikarma special trains to cover Sikh pilgrimage centres of Amritsar, Patna and Nanded.
- Separate trains to run for wait-listed passengers.
- Excess of Rs.1,492 crore after meeting expenses/dividend payments not adequate for meeting costs of several projects.
- Special housekeeping body to be set up to maintain stations and trains.
- Passenger amenities to be given Rs.1,112 crore in 2012-13 as against Rs.762 crore in current year.
- Indian railways passing through a difficult phase.
- Improvement of passenger amenities at a cost of Rs.1,112 crore; regional cuisines to be introduced.
- World Bank funding of R 6,500 crore firmed up for dedicated freight corridors; land acquired for 3,300 km; first contracts to be handed out during 2012-13.
- Standard of hygiene needs to be improved substantially; all out efforts will be made on this in the next six months; duty bound to provide high standard of services; special housekeeping body to be set up for stations and trains
- One lakh people to be recruited in 2012.
- Corrosion from night soil being discharged from toilets on tracks costs Rs.350 crore annually; green toilets to be installed in 2,500 coaches in the next one year.
- Electric loco plant in Chhapra to be commissioned soon.
- 750 km tracks to be converted in double lines.
- Eco-friendly toilets to replace openly discharged ones.
- Tickets will be sold at post offices also.
- Garib Raths to have one special AC coach for differently-abled commuters.
- 2100 specially designed coaches manufactured to meet needs of the differently abled; aim to provide one such coach in each express train.
- Upgradation of 929 stations.
- 1000 new stations to be set up through public-private partnership.
- Electrification to be undertaken over 6,500 km at an allocation of Rs.8,000 crore during 12th Plan.
- Conversion from DC to AC power supply completed in Western Railway corridor of Mumbai suburban rail system; conversion of Central Railway corridor to be completed in 2012-13.
- The government should consider dividend payback to railways.
- Thirty-one projects over 5,000 km being implemented with state govenments sharing costs.
- Have to make Indian Railways among the best in the world.
- Signalling system to be modernised with advanced features.
- Elevated corridor from Churchgate to Virar in Mumbai being firmed up.
- 12 car trains to run for Navi Mumbai.
- 1500 new coaches for Mumbai local trains.
- 825 km of railway tracks to be transformed into broad gauge.
- Train protection warning system on 3000 km of tracks.
- Extension of Kolkata Metro continues to be on track.
- Railways expect gross budgetary support of Rs.2.5 lakh crore during 12th Plan.
- Improvements to railway stations can provide employment to 50,000 people.
- New tracks proposed for tribal areas.
- Four rail factories to be set up in Kerala.
- Capacity augmentation to get Rs.4,410 crore during 2012-13.
- Eighty-five new line projects to be taken up during 2012-13.
- One hundred and fourteen new line surveys to be undertaken during 2012-13.
- New line projects to get Rs.6,870 crore in 2012-13.
- Gauge conversion to be undertaken over 800 km with an allocation of Rs.1,950 crore.
- Focus during next five years on five areas: tracks, bridges, signalling, rolling stock and stations.
- Investment of Rs.1.70 lakh crore on rolling stock in next five years.
- New railway corporation to maintain and develop stations.
- 19,000 km of railway tracks to be modernised.
- Rs.39,110 cr needed over next 5 years to fund rail safety.
- New wagons with higher uploads need to be introduced.
- Railways will require Rs.14 lakh crore in the next 10 years for modernisation.
- Aim to bring down operating ratio from 90 per cent to 84.9 per cent in 2012-13 and to 72 per cent by 2016-17.
- Time has come for formulating national policy for railways on the lines of that for defence and external affairs.
- Railways should grow at 10 per cent annually for sustained GDP growth.
- Railways must attract 10 per cent of the Rs.20 lakh crore government expects to spend on infrastructure during 12th Plan.
- Railways should contribute 2 per cent of GDP from the present one per cent.
- Attempt to increase train speeds to 160 kmph; journey time from New Delhi to Kolkata can be brought down to 14 hours from 17 hours..
- Upgradation of coaches to be focussed upon for next 5 years.
- Train approaching warning systems to be initiated to prevent collision of trains.
- Rs.14 lakh crore needed in next 10 yrs for modernisation.
- Need Rs.2.5 lakh cr to build better infrastructure.
- Planned outlay highest ever for Railway.
- Outlay of Rs.60,100 crore during 2012-13, the highest ever.
- Have kept everyone demands in mind in this Railway Budget.
- Rs.5.5 lakh crore to connect rural areas.
- Have chosen to bite the bullet and not maintain status quo.
- Have Himalayan task of running the Indian Railways.
- Focus on 5 areas, including, consolidation, modernisation, safety and congestion
- 487 rail projects worth Rs.1 cr still pending.
- Large basket of pending projects still a cause of concern.
- Trivedi proposes rail regulator to enhance safety.
- Stress on strengthening safety. Has to be be benchmarked with the best in the world.
- Target of reducing accidents from 0.55 to 0.17 has been met.
- Railway Safety Plan for 12th Plan will be Rs.16,842 crore.
- Sam Pitroda to head railway modernisation panel.
- Anil Kakodkar to head railway safety panel.
- Trivedi proposes to set up Independent Railway Safety Authority as a statutory body.
- Special Purpose Vehicle - Rail Road Grade Separation Corporation of India - to be set up for abolishing level crossings.
- All unmanned level crossings to be abolished in next five years.
- We need to bring down deaths to zero due to rail mishaps.
- Safety cannot be achieved without modernisation.
- Safety is our highest priority.
- Want to stop recurring rail accidents.
- Death on tracks is unacceptable.
- Without the railways growing, India's GDP cannot grow.
- I dedicate all the achievements of the Railways to its staff.
- I am thankful to Mamata Banerjee for her vision for the Indian Railways in her 2011-12 paper.
- It will be a good budget for common man.
Courtesy:Economic Times
The following are the highlights of the railway budget for 2012-13 presented in parliament Wednesday(14-03-2012) by Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi:
* No steep increase in passenger fares; 2 paisa per km for suburban trains; 3 paisa per km for mail and express trains.
* Independent tariff authority suggested; needs serious debate; experts panel established; decision after debate in parliament.
* GRP/RPF personnel deployed on 3,500 trains.
* Free travel by Rajdhani express for Arjuna awardees.
* Targeting freight carriage of 1,025 million tonnes to bring in Rs.89,339 crore; passenger earnings estimated at Rs.36,073 crore; gross receipts estimated at Rs.1.32 lakh crore.
* Excess of Rs.1,492 crore after meeting expenses/dividend payments not adequate for meeting costs of several projects.
* Dedicated railway design wing at National Institute of Design with a contribution of Rs.10 crore.
* New passenger services: 820 new items; 75 new express trains; 21 new passenger trains; 75 new services in Mumbai suburban system.
* Guru Parikrama trains to be run to Amritsar, Patna and Nanded.
* Improvement of passenger amenities at a cost of Rs.1,112 crore; regional cuisines to be introduced.
* World Bank funding of Rs.6,500 crore firmed up for dedicated freight corridors; land acquired for 3,300 km; first contracts to be handed out during 2012-13.
* Standard of hygiene needs to be improved substantially; all out efforts will be made on this in the next six months; duty bound to provide high standard of services; special housekeeping body to be set up for stations and trains.
* Corrosion from night soil being discharged from toilets on tracks costs Rs.350 crore annually; green toilets to be installed in 2,500 coaches in the next one year.
* Two thousand one hundred specially designed coaches manufactured to meet needs of the differently abled; aim to provide one such coach in each express train.
* Electrification to be undertaken over 6,500 km at an allocation of Rs.8,000 crore during 12th Plan.
* Conversion from DC to AC power supply completed in Western Railway corridor of Mumbai suburban rail system; conversion of Central Railway corridor to be completed in 2012-13.
* Elevated corridor from Churchgate to Virar in Mumbai being firmed up.
* Government should consider dividend payback to railways.
* Thirty-one projects over 5,000 km being implemented with state govenments sharing costs.
* Capacity augmentation to get Rs.4,410 crore during 2012-13.
* Eighty-five new line projects to be taken up during 2012-13.
* One hundred and fourteen new line surveys to be undertaken during 2012-13.
* New line projects to get Rs.6,870 crore in 2012-13.
* Gauge conversion to be undertaken over 800 km with an allocation of Rs.1,950 crore.
* Focus during next five years on five areas: tracks, bridges, signalling, rolling stock and stations.
* Signalling to be improved over 19,000 km.
* Investment of Rs.1.70 lakh crore on rolling stock in next five years.
* Attempt to increase train speeds to 160 kmph; journey time from New Delhi to Kolkata can be brought down to 14 hours from 17 hours.
* Improvements to railway stations can provide employment to 50,000 people.
* Outlay of Rs.60,100 crore during 2012-13, the highest ever.
* Railways will require Rs.14 lakh crore in the next 10 years for modernisation.
* Aim to bring down operating ratio from 90 percent to 84.9 percent in 2012-13 and to 72 percent by 2016-17.
* Time has come for formulating national policy for railways on the lines of that for defence and external affairs.
* Railways should grow at 10 percent annually for sustained GDP growth.
* Railways to invest Rs.7.35 lakh crore during 12th Five Year Plan period (2012-17), a quantum jump from the Rs.1.92 lakh crore invested in previous plan period.
* Railways must attract 10 percent of the Rs.20 lakh crore government expects to spend on infrastructure during 12th Plan.
* Railways expect gross budgetary support of Rs.2.5 lakh crore during 12th Plan.
* Collective challenge to formulate viable funding mechanism for modernisation.
* Railways should contribute 2 percent of GDP from the present 1 percent.
* Stress on strengthening safety. Has to be be benchmarked with the best in the world.
* Target of reducing accidents from 0.55 to 0.17 has been met.
* Special purpose vehicle to be set up on safety protocols.
* Independent railway safety authority to be set up as statutory safety body.
* Investment of Rs.5.60 lakh crore required for modernisation.
* No steep increase in passenger fares; 2 paisa per km for suburban trains; 3 paisa per km for mail and express trains.
* Independent tariff authority suggested; needs serious debate; experts panel established; decision after debate in parliament.
* GRP/RPF personnel deployed on 3,500 trains.
* Free travel by Rajdhani express for Arjuna awardees.
* Targeting freight carriage of 1,025 million tonnes to bring in Rs.89,339 crore; passenger earnings estimated at Rs.36,073 crore; gross receipts estimated at Rs.1.32 lakh crore.
* Excess of Rs.1,492 crore after meeting expenses/dividend payments not adequate for meeting costs of several projects.
* Dedicated railway design wing at National Institute of Design with a contribution of Rs.10 crore.
* New passenger services: 820 new items; 75 new express trains; 21 new passenger trains; 75 new services in Mumbai suburban system.
* Guru Parikrama trains to be run to Amritsar, Patna and Nanded.
* Improvement of passenger amenities at a cost of Rs.1,112 crore; regional cuisines to be introduced.
* World Bank funding of Rs.6,500 crore firmed up for dedicated freight corridors; land acquired for 3,300 km; first contracts to be handed out during 2012-13.
* Standard of hygiene needs to be improved substantially; all out efforts will be made on this in the next six months; duty bound to provide high standard of services; special housekeeping body to be set up for stations and trains.
* Corrosion from night soil being discharged from toilets on tracks costs Rs.350 crore annually; green toilets to be installed in 2,500 coaches in the next one year.
* Two thousand one hundred specially designed coaches manufactured to meet needs of the differently abled; aim to provide one such coach in each express train.
* Electrification to be undertaken over 6,500 km at an allocation of Rs.8,000 crore during 12th Plan.
* Conversion from DC to AC power supply completed in Western Railway corridor of Mumbai suburban rail system; conversion of Central Railway corridor to be completed in 2012-13.
* Elevated corridor from Churchgate to Virar in Mumbai being firmed up.
* Government should consider dividend payback to railways.
* Thirty-one projects over 5,000 km being implemented with state govenments sharing costs.
* Capacity augmentation to get Rs.4,410 crore during 2012-13.
* Eighty-five new line projects to be taken up during 2012-13.
* One hundred and fourteen new line surveys to be undertaken during 2012-13.
* New line projects to get Rs.6,870 crore in 2012-13.
* Gauge conversion to be undertaken over 800 km with an allocation of Rs.1,950 crore.
* Focus during next five years on five areas: tracks, bridges, signalling, rolling stock and stations.
* Signalling to be improved over 19,000 km.
* Investment of Rs.1.70 lakh crore on rolling stock in next five years.
* Attempt to increase train speeds to 160 kmph; journey time from New Delhi to Kolkata can be brought down to 14 hours from 17 hours.
* Improvements to railway stations can provide employment to 50,000 people.
* Outlay of Rs.60,100 crore during 2012-13, the highest ever.
* Railways will require Rs.14 lakh crore in the next 10 years for modernisation.
* Aim to bring down operating ratio from 90 percent to 84.9 percent in 2012-13 and to 72 percent by 2016-17.
* Time has come for formulating national policy for railways on the lines of that for defence and external affairs.
* Railways should grow at 10 percent annually for sustained GDP growth.
* Railways to invest Rs.7.35 lakh crore during 12th Five Year Plan period (2012-17), a quantum jump from the Rs.1.92 lakh crore invested in previous plan period.
* Railways must attract 10 percent of the Rs.20 lakh crore government expects to spend on infrastructure during 12th Plan.
* Railways expect gross budgetary support of Rs.2.5 lakh crore during 12th Plan.
* Collective challenge to formulate viable funding mechanism for modernisation.
* Railways should contribute 2 percent of GDP from the present 1 percent.
* Stress on strengthening safety. Has to be be benchmarked with the best in the world.
* Target of reducing accidents from 0.55 to 0.17 has been met.
* Special purpose vehicle to be set up on safety protocols.
* Independent railway safety authority to be set up as statutory safety body.
* Investment of Rs.5.60 lakh crore required for modernisation.
