Railway budget 2016-17 (Full coverage)
Rail Budget 2016: Focus On
Revenue, Norms & Structure
Presenting the Railway
Budget for 2016-17, Union Minister Suresh Prabhu said that Railways will focus
on 3 pillars to improve the public entity - Revenue, Norms& Structure.
The minister said Railways
would focus on increasing revenues through greater outlay on freight operations
and rationalising expenditure. Railways would also look to improve its quality
norms to ensure the operation will be on par with international standards and
quality of service will be improved. He also said the focus will be on
improving existing rail structure.
The minister also said
around Rs.8720 Crores savings from last budget will be used in FY16.
Rail Budget 2016: 1.21 Lakh
Cr Outlay
- 1.21 lakh crores planned outlay
for 2016-17.
- Minister: Action has been started
on 139 budget announcements made last year.
- LIC to invest Rs.1.5 trillion in
the Railways in the next 5 years.
- 1600 km of track electrification
this year, 2000 km planned for next year.
Rail Budget 2016: Unmanned
Level Crossings to be Stopped
- Union Railway Minister has
announced that all unmanned level crossings in the country will be
eliminated by 2020. It is a welcome move that will save many lives.
- New locomotive factories to be set
up with an order book of Rs.40000 Cr
- Railway to prioritise Rail
Connectivity in North-East, J&K: Agartala has been brought under broad
gauge network, Mizoram and Meghalaya to be brought under the network soon.
Rail Budget 2016: 44 New
Projects
- 44 new projects have been planned
by the Railways in 2016-17 at an estimated cost of Rs.92714 Crores.
- 17000 bio toilets will be
installed in trains before the end of the year. Rajdhani trains to get
bio-vacuum toilets.
- Wi-Fi services
in 100 stations this year, 400 next year.
- All major stations to be brought
under CCTV surveillance in a phased manner.
- 1780 automatic ticket vending
machines to be installed which will accept credit/debit cards. Enhanced
capacity of e-ticketing system from 2,000 tickets per minute to 7,200 per
minute.
Rail Budget 2016: Relief for
Unreserved Passengers
- Deen Dayalu
coaches in long distance trains for unreserved passengers, including
facilities for potable drinking waterand extra mobile charging points.
- Senior Citizen
quota to be increased by 50%. Cancellation of tickets can be done via 139
now.
- Optional travel
insurance to be introduced which can be availed during the time of ticket
booking.
- Measures to help
travelling mothers: baby food, kids menus, baby changing facilities, hot
water and hot milk to be made available.
- Better catering
in trains - local cuisine of choice to be made available.
Rail Budget 2016: High
Speed Corridor in Mumbai - Ahmedabad
- A
high-speed rail corridor planned between Mumbai and Ahmedabad in
partnership with the Government of Japan.
- 2 elevated
suburban rail network in Mumbai planned (Churchgate - Virar and CST -
Panvel). Suburban train networks to be improved in Kolkata, Chennai, Delhi
etc. Ring Railway to be built in Delhi in partnership with Delhi Govt.
- Coolies in
Railway stations will henceforth be known as 'Sahayaks' and they will be
trained in soft skills. They will also be offered group insurance.
- India's first
"Rail Auto" hub to be set in Chennai.
Rail Budget
2016: Focus on e-commerce
- 'Clean my
coach' service to start via SMS on a pan-India basis.
- IRCTC to
provide e-commerce options.
- Freight
trains to get a schedule. Drones and geo-satellite technology to monitor
freight corridors
- Focus on
advertisement potential of Railways.
Rail Budget 2016: Long
Distance Unreserved Trains
- 'Antodaya'
Express - long distance train for unreserved passengers - to be launched.
- New
R&D organisation, called SRESHTHA, to be set up.
- Launch of
'Tejas' Express - Premium superfast train with Wi-Fi, vending machines,
ushers and other entertainment options.
- Launch of
'Hamsafar' Express - Fully air conditioned fast train with optional food
services
- Launch of
UDAY Express - Overnight, double-decker express in busy routes.
- Rail Mitra
Sewa - Services including battery operated cars, porter services, wheel
chairs etc.
Rail Budget 2016: No Hike in
Fares
- Passenger
fares & Freight charges to be untouched, according to Railway minister
Suresh Prabhu.
- Sale of tickets via hand
held terminals for benefit of short-distance travellers.
- 50 crore for internal innovations,
startups to be looked at by a committee headed by Ratan Tata.
- Two
dedicated freight corridors to come up by 2019.
- Focus on safety. Minister
lays out plans for 'Mission Zero Accidents'.
Rail Budget 2016: Round
Up
- Passenger
amenities and operational efficiency was the focus of the Rail Budget
presented today by Union Minister Suresh Prabhu. Let's take a look at the
key points:-
- Railways expects a revenue of
Rs.1,84,820 crore in the next year and has set an ambitious operating
ratio target of 92% in 2016-17 against 90% in 2015-16 with an outlay of
Rs.1.21 Lakh crores.
- Fares have been
left untouched for a 2nd year in a row & 4 new trains were announced -
Tejas, Humsafar, Antyodaya and UDAY. Alternate sources of revenue will be
looked at.
- Passenger
amenities have been prioritised with optional insurance,
Wi-Fi:signa_strength: at stations, e-catering, women & senior citizen
quotas, baby food & hot water for travelling mothers, online booking
of retiring rooms, debit/credit card friendly ticket vending machines and
so on.
- Safety and
connectivity have been focussed upon Railways - unmanned level crossings
to be eliminated & broad-gauge network to be extended in the North
East and J&K.
- Rs.8.5 lakh crore to be spent over
five years for modernisation of railway infrastructure and 2 new loco
factories planned under 'Make in India'. A rail auto hub will be set
up in Chennai.
- Suburban train
networks to be improved in Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi, Bangalore etc. New
Delhi to Chennai, East and West Coast connectivity projects to be
fast-tracked.
- Coolies given a 'make-over' - Will
be known as 'Sahayaks' and trained in soft skills. Group insurance will be
implemented for them.
