Union Railway Minister Pawan Bansal presented the Union Railway Budget for 2013-14 in Parliament today. The first Congress minister to present a Railway Budget in 17 years.
The Railway Budget for 2013-14 on Tuesday spared passengers from any further hike in fares but raised various other charges on tickets along with freight tariff of less than 5 per cent.
Highlights of Budget:
1. No hike in passenger fares; 67 new express and 26 passenger trains to be launched.
2. Indian Railways to join 1 billion tonne select club with China.
3. Educational tourist train"Azadi Express" proposed
4. Train Collision Avoidance System to be put to rigorous trials
5. Passenger earning target Rs 32500 crore this year.
6. Freedom fighters to renew their passes only once in 3 yrs.
7. Complementary passes for Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna and Olympic awardees.
8. Coach making facilities at Bhilwara and Raebarelli.
9. Indian Railway Financial Management Institute to be set up at Secunderabad.
10. Coaches to be made wheelchair friendly.
11. Hostel facilities for all single women railway employees at all Div.HQS.
12. Free wi-fi facility at select trains.
13. 1800111321 number for redressing complaints
14. Wagon maintenance workshop in Kalahandi in Odisha.
15. E-ticketing to be made available through mobile phone.
16. Target of investment of 1 lakh crore through PPP mode in 12th FYP.
17. For the first time, Arunachal Pradesh brought under Rail Network.
18. UID-Aadhar to be used for ticket reservation.
19. Freight loading estimated to be 1007 tonnes this year.
20. Railways to fill up 1.52 lakh vacancies.
21. 47000 vacancies reserved for differently abled to be filled.
22. Dronacharya awardees to get Shatabdi and Rajdhani passes.
New Trains Introduced:
Presenting the 2013-14 Railway Budget, Mr. Bansal also said that five Mainline Electrical Multiple Units (MEMUs) are being introduced this year besides 8 DEMUs.
1. Hazrat Nizamuddin-Mumbai AC Express via Bhopal, Khandwa and Bhusawal - weekly service, and a similar venture between Bikaner and Chennai.
2. Vaishnodevi, a New Delhi-Katra AC Express - run six days a week.
3. A Puri-Ajmer Express, which would be a weekly service, is also being introduced so also a weekly Puri-Sai Nagar Shirdi Express.
4. Una-Nangaldam in Himachal Pradesh is being connected to Hazoor Saheb Nanded in Maharashtra through a weekly express train which would travel via Anandpur Saheb.
5. Weekly Ahmedabad-Jodhpur express and a similar venture between Bandra and Haridwar, and Bandra and Jaisalmer.
6. Yesvantpur-Lucknow Express - weekly via Rae Bareli and Pratapgarh.
7. 9 Electric Multiple Unit (EMU) trains to be introduced.
New factories/workshops to be set up:
1. New Forged Wheel Factory at Rae Bareli in collaboration with Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited.
2. A Coach Manufacturing Unit in Sonepat District (Haryana) in collaboration with State Government.
3. A Midlife Rehabilitation Workshop at Kurnool (Andhra Pradesh) in collaboration with the State Government.
4. Bikaner and Pratapgarh workshops to undertake POH of BG wagons.
5. A workshop for repair and rehabilitation of motorized bogies at Misrod (Madhya Pradesh).
6. A new wagon maintenance workshop in Kalahandi (Odisha).
7. A modern signaling equipment facility at Chandigarh through PPP route.
