Railway Budget 2010-2011 Highlights

On 24th of Feb 2010 Mamata Banerjee had presented Railway Budget in the Indian Parliament House. These are the some highlits for railway Budget 2010.

·  Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee appeals to business houses to join hands for building partnership with Railways. Presenting Railway Budget for 2010-11, Banerjee says a special task force will be set up for early clearance of projects.

·  No fare hike for passengers.

· Railways not to be privatised; It will remain with the government, says Banerjee. While not privatising, Railways have to develop business models for improving earnings, says Banerjee.

·  Railways 2020 vision document will contain short, medium and long-term goals. Commitments fulfilled to the maximum. Out of 120 trains announced in last budget, only three remain to be flagged off because of lack of broad-gauge lines, says Banerjee.

·  Plans to launch a pilot project for fire detection.The government also plans to construct more underpasses for safety, the minister said while presenting the Railway Budget.

·  Railways to start six water bottling plants in places like Ambala, Thiruvananthapuram, Farakka, Amethi and Nasik to provide clean and cheap drinking water to passengers.

·Indian Railways aims to add 25,000 route kilometers by 2020. The railways currently has 64,015 route kilometers, she said.

· India's railways has set up a special task force to clear investment proposals in 100 days

· Indian Railways plans to keep rail freight rates unchanged, Bloomberg-UTV news channel reported, without saying where it got the information.

· Railways to set up mobile e-ticketing centres at hospitals, universities, courts, IITs, IIMs, district headquarters and village panchayats. All 13,000 unmanned level crossings to be manned in the next five years.

· Railway Protection Force to be strengthened through amendments in RPF Act; women's wing to be formed in RPF to ensure security of women. Ex-servicemen to be inducted in RPF. Railways will be the lead partner in the Commonwealth Games in Delhi.

· Railways to set up Rabindra Museum in Howrah and Geetanjali Museum in Bolpur -- both in West Bengal  to commemorate Rabindranath Tagore's 125th birth anniversary.

· Railways will provide houses to all its employees in the the next 10 years in collaboration with the Urban Development ministry.

·  Railways to enhance contribution to central staff benefit fund. Centre for Railway Research to be set up at IIT-Kharagpur. Chittaranjan Locomotive Works capacity to be augmented from 200 to 275 engines a year.

·  Work on Rae Bareli Coach Factory in Uttar Pradesh to start within a year. Wagon Repair Shop to be set up in Badnera near Amravati in Maharashtra.

· Integral Coach Factory in Chennai to be modernised and a new unit to be set up there. If land is available, Railways willing to set up a Diesel Multiple Unit factory in West Bengal.

· No forcible acquisition of land for freight corridor project. One member of each family of land losers to be given employment in the freight corridor as also in the new projects.

· High-speed dedicated passenger corridors to be constructed; National High Speed Rail Authority to be set up.

· Revenue from non-core business of Railways to go up from Rs 150 crore to Rs 1,000 crore. Indian Railways has set a target to transport 944 million tons of goods in the year beginning April 1.

· Railways expects to increase earnings from non core activities. The government aims to increase non core earnings to Rs10 billion rupees from Rs1.5 billion.

· Railways expects to increase earnings from non core activities. The government aims to increase non core earnings to Rs10 billion rupees from Rs1.5 billion.

· Despite slowdown, Railways to exceed freight loading target by eight million tonnes during 2009-10. Freight loading target for 2010-11 fixed at 944 million tonnes, 54 million tonnes more than the current year's revised target. Gross traffic receipt for 2010-11 pegged at Rs94,765 crore.

·  Allocation for construction of new lines increased from Rs2848 crore to Rs 4411 crore.

· Rs1,302 crore provided for passenger amenities in the 2010-11 railway budget against Rs 923 crore last year.

· Indian Railway Finance Corporation (IRFC)will borrow 91.2 billion rupees ($1.97 billion) from the market in 2010-11.

·  Railways to have master plan for North Eastern region. Special train between India and Bangladesh to be started to commemorate 150th birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore.

· 101 additional services to start on Mumbai suburban railways. Survey will be conducted to connect Sealdah and Howrah stations in West Bengal. To commemorate Rabindranath Tagore's 150th birth anniversary, 'Bharat Teertha' trains to connect several pilgrimage centres across the country.

·  Indian Railway Finance Corporation will borrow Rs91.2 billion ($1.97 billion) from the market in 2010-11.