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| Train to Kashmir will get priority | | Rail budget 2007 presented in Parliament | | BL KAK
New Delhi, Feb 26 Presenting the 2007-08 railway budget in the Lok Sabha on Monday, Lalu Prasad Yadav, Minister for Railways, announced that passenger fares would be slashed across the board. He also announced reduction of three per cent in fares for AC first class in busy season and six per cent in lean season.
Lalu Prasad Yadav, in his populist tune, reduced second clas fares by Re 1 in non-suburban ordinary pasenger and non-superfast mail and express trains. He anounced that for AC two-tier the busy season reduction is two per cent and lean season four per cent. He also lowered fares for all classes of high capacity new design reserved coaches which would be four per cent for AC three-tier and AC chair car in busy season and eight per cent in lean season. In sleeper class, the reduction would be four per cent in all seasons.
The Railway Minister announced that discounts for the busy season shall be applicable in popular trains throughout the year. Superfast charge on second class tickets has been reduced by 20 per cent from Rs 10 to Rs 8. He also announced introduction of tourist ticket in Mumbai suburban services with facility for unlimited travel. He brought down charges for e-tickets booked on the internet.
Yet another anouncement by Lalu Yadav: There will be no wooden seats and the existing will be replaced by cushioned ones in ordinary class passenger trains from next fiscal. Unreserved compartments in new trains will be increased from four to six to help ordinary passengers.
As he gave details in relation to the new trains being introduced in the country, Lalu Prasad Yadav said that efforts would continue with vigour to take train service to the Kashmir Valley. Train to Kashmir, he emphasised in his budget speech, would get priority. And his assurance: Railway Ministry will continue to put in place more measures to take the much-needed train to Kashmir.
Lalu Yadav announced that ticket bookings and hotel bookings can be done through railway call centres to be set up. Talking about the ticketing vending machines, he said that 6,000 automatic ticket vending machines would be wet up in the next two years. Number of berths will be increased from 72 to 84 in sleeper coaches and new telephone number '139' for railway inquiry will be provided across India.
About Mumbai Urban Transport Project, he said that the project would be speeded up to help suburban commuters. A sum of Rs 5,000 crore will be allocated during the next Five-Year Plan for the purpose. He also announced that Railways will set up 300 new model stations, some stations to have CCTVs and all TTEs to be provided palm tops.
With Cabinet approving the Rs 28,000 crore investment in the Mumbai-Delhi, Ludhiana-Kolkata high-speed freight corridors, the railways have drawn up a Rs 250,000 crore investment plan for the next five years, four times as large as in the plan that is just ending. A third of this investment will come through public private partnership. Railways, Lalu Yadav said, had made a profit of Rs 20,000 crore versus Rs 14,700 crore, the previous year. Railways, he added, had recorded high surplus without any burden on the common man.
Lalu Yadav said that while 500 kms of new rail lane wereenvisaged, smart rail travel cards will be introduced. Besides, 23 train routes are to be extended, 800 new wagons to be introduced, 20,000 km of high-density network to be laid and new trains for cement transportation. He voiced opposition to privatisation in Railways and made it plain that he was for private partnership on his terms.
Lalu Yadav said that while rail electrification would be done across the country right from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, rail locomotive production would be increased and 32 new trains and 8 new Garib Raths will be introduced this year.
Good news for senior citizen and ladies above 45 years of age: They will have greater quota in AC and second class sleeper coaches. Lalu Yadav's one more anouncement: Efforts will be made to increase container traffic five-fold to 100 million tones by 2001-12. H claimd that container train experiment had been successful. |
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