Highlights of the 2010-11 railway budget

Highlights of the 2010-11 railway budget

presented by Mamata Banerjee in Parliament on Wednesday:

-- No increase in passenger fares

-- Rs.100 reduction in freight per wagon for fertilisers and kerosene

-- Free travel for cancer patients in 3rd AC classes

-- Cost-sharing in public-private-partnership (PPP) mode in some gauge-conversion projects

-- Further extension of Kolkata Metro on priority basis; stations to be named after Bahadur Shah Zafar, Tagore family

-- Karmabhoomi trains to be introduced for migrant labour

-- New Janmabhoomi train between Ahmedabad and Udhampur

-- Special "Bharat Teertha" train to be run around India to commemorate Rabindranath Tagore's 150th birth anniversary

-- Railway line to be extended from Bilaspur in Himachal Pradesh to Leh in Jammu and Kashmir

-- Andaman and Nicobar Islands to get railway line from Port Blair to Diglipur

-- Sikkim capital Gangtok to be connected by rail from Rangpo

-- 2011 being 150th anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore, special train to be run from West Bengal to Bangladesh

-- Impact of Sixth Pay Commission recommendations placed at Rs.55,000 crore

-- Gross earnings in 2009-10 estimated at Rs.88,281 crore

-- Working expenditure in 2009-10 estimated at Rs.83, 440 crore

-- Expenses during 2010-11 estimated at Rs.87, 100 crore

-- Thrust on expansion in 2010-11 with allocation of Rs.4, 411 crore

-- Kashmir rail link to be extended to Sopore in the north of the valley

-- Net profit of Rs.1, 328 crore in 2009-10

-- 10 automobile ancillary hubs to be created

-- Twenty-two million energy saving CFLs for lighting distributed already

-- Policy decision to employ one member of family whose land is requisitioned for railway projects

-- North-south, east-west dedicated freight corridors to be created

-- Construction of high-speed passenger rail corridors envisaged

-- More multi-functional hospitals to be set up

-- Educational facilities to be set up for children of 80,000 women families

-- Special facilities to be established for gangmen

-- Insurance facilities for licensed porters as part of railway's corporate social responsibility

-- Centre for railway research to be established with Indian Institutes of Technology and Defence Research and Development Organization

-- Will involve unions in policy making

-- Integral Coach Factory Chennai to be further modernized

-- New wagon repair shop in Mumbai

-- Design, development and testing centre for railway wheels at Bangalore

-- Within five years, all unmanned level crossings to be manned

-- Construction of more underpasses, besides road overbridges

-- Greater coordination with state governments to protect railway property

-- Security of women passengers to be improved

-- Ex-servicemen to be employed in Railway Protection Force

-- Five sports academies to be set up; astroturf to be provided for development of hockey; employment opportunities for sports persons

-- Railways to be lead partner for Commonwealth Games

-- Special drive to increase passenger amenities

-- Upgradation of 94 stations

-- Six new drinking water bottling plants in PPP mode

-- Modern toilets at railway stations

-- More ticketing centres to help the public

-- Acquisition of cutting edge safety technology

-- 1,000 route km to be created

-- Special task force for clearing investment proposals in 100 days

-- New business model to be created

-- No privatisation; railways will remain with government but with greater participation of business community

-- 117 of 120 new trains for current fiscal to be flagged off
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