Rail Budget 2015-16: No Hike in Passenger Fare , No New Trains announced , But Freight Hike for 12 Commodities
26 Feb, New Delhi
No hike in railway passenger fares, making railways a safer means of travel specially for women, improving passenger amenities including cleanliness, increasing track length by 20 per cent and raising the passenger carrying capacity from 21 to 30 million, making Railways financially self- sustainable are some of the highlights of the Railway budget 2015-16.
No new trains have been announced. Some of the other highlights of the Railway Budget include an all India 24×7 helpline number 138 for passengers-related problems to become functional, proposals for e-catering to select meals, facility to order food through IRCTC website at the time of booking tickets in coming days, WI-FI facility at B class stations and mobile phone-charging facilities will be provided in general class coaches.
Presenting his maiden Rail Budget to the Parliament Thursday , Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu proposed a hike in the freight rates for 12 commodities in the range of 0.8 per cent to 10 per cent. The proposed hike of freight rates for cement is 2.7 per cent, coal 6.3 per cent, iron and steel 0.8 per cent and urea 10 per cent among others.
Proposals to enhance safety of women passengers without compromising on privacy, as well as the introduction of operation five minutes to ensure that a passenger travelling unreserved can purchase a ticket within five minutes are some of the other features of the proposals contained in the Rail Budget.
The Minister said that National Institute of Design approached to design user-friendly ladders for climbing upper berths, increasing quota of lower berths for senior citizens and middle bay of coaches to be reserved for women and senior citizens. The Railway Minister said newly-manufactured coaches will be Braille-enabled and entrances will be widened for the ease of differently-abled passengers.
On the bullet train issue, the Minister said feasibility study for High Speed Rail between Mumbai and Ahmedabad is in an advanced stage and a report on it is expected by mid-2015.
Prabhu also said there will be more job opportunities by upgrading the manufacturing capability. The Minister also said that the system of on-line applications introduced for two categories of recruitment as a pilot project. This project will be extended and all possible solutions will be explored to bring in transparency and address the menace of corruption. The railway minister said that many measures have been proposed to promote tourism.
Referring to safety measures, Prabhu said that the modern track structure consisting of sleepers and heavier rails being used while carrying out primary track renewals and train protection warning system and train collision avoidance system will be installed on select routes at the earliest.
Prabhu said his ministry will give top priority to deliver a sustained and measurable improvement in customer experience. He said initiatives are being launched that will systematically address customer concerns about cleanliness, comfort, accessibility, service quality and speed of trains. Saying the initiative to connect directly with the users through social media, Prabhu said over 20, 000 suggestions were received and his ministry has started working on the feasible ones.
Before commending the Railway Budget, the Minister invoked a quote of Swami Vivekananda, “Take up one idea. Make that idea your life – think of it, dream of it, live on that idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to success”. The Minister said that for him, that idea is the transformation of Indian railways.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi described the 2015 rail budget as a watershed moment for Indian Railways. Modi said that the Rail budget 2015 is a forward-looking, futuristic and passenger-centric budget, combining a clear vision and a definite plan to achieve it. He said, it marks a paradigm shift from discussing coaches and trains to comprehensive railway reform.
Modi appreciated the rail budget, saying that it focused on the needs of common man, as passenger fares have been kept unchanged.
Expressing happiness, Modi said that for the first time, there is a concrete vision for technology upgradation and modernisation of the railways. He said the rail budget stands out for its focus on the common man, putting speed, scale, service and safety, all on one track.
Modi also said that the rail budget lays out a clear roadmap to make the railways the key driver of India’s economic growth and playing a key role in India’s progress.