Railway Budget 2011: No increase in train fares, 56 new trains introduced

New Delhi - 25 Feb 2011: For the third successive year, the Railway Budget for 2011-12 spared the passengers of any increase in fares and proposed no hike in freight rates while introducing 56 new trains, including nine non-stop Duronto trains and three Shatabdis.

Regretting the two incidents of sabotage that led to a large number of deaths last year, Mamata said to avoid such incidents in future, anti-collision devices will be commissioned in three more divisions and all unmanned crossings will be done away with in the next fiscal.

Mamata, however, said rail accident rate has declined from 0.29 per cent last year to 0.17 per cent at present. The states with lowest number of rail accidents will get two new projects and two new trains as an incentive, she said.

The booking charges for A/C as well as non A/C seats have been slashed by 50 per cent and online ticketing is all set to get cheaper.

The minister also extended concession for physically-challenged persons and Kirti and Shaurya Chakra awardees to travel in Rajdhani and Shatabdi trains, besides extending facility of card passes to parents of unmarried posthumous Paramvir Chakra and Ashok Chakra gallantry award winners.

Also, the lower age limit for female senior citizens will be reduced from 60 to 58. Concession for male senior citizens has been increased by 10% to 40%. ( Read: Highlights of Rail Budget 2011 )

One of the highlights of the budget was the introduction of over 200 new routes, especially for the North-East. Another special addition is the introduction of double-decker air-conditioned train service on the Jaipur-Delhi and Ahmedabad-Mumbai routes.

Three new Shatabdi trains will be introduced on Pune-Secunderabad, Jaipur- Agra and Ludhiana-Delhi routes, she said. New Duronto trains will be introduced on Allahabad-Mumbai, Pune-Ahmedabad, Sealdah-Puri, Madurai-Chennai, Chennai- Thiruvananthapuram and Mumbai Central-New Delhi routes.

As many as 47 additional trains will be introduced for the Mumbai suburban section and nine for Chennai, Banerjeee said.

Also, trolleys will be introduced at railway stations, said the minister. The 'Go India' smart card ticket project will be launched this year.

The railways is planning to invest Rs 57630 cr in the 2011-12 fiscal and railway earnings, she said, are set to exceed the Rs 1 lakh crore mark.

As many as 442 stations are to be completed and 584 upgraded by 2012 and new railway line capacities are to be increased to 700 km, she said.

Banerjee announced that the first coach from the new rail factory at Rae Bareli will roll out in the next three months. Also, there is a plan to set up a rail industrial park in Nandigram and a metro coach factory in Kolkata. A coach factory is also planned to come up at Singur as is a track-machine industry in Uluberia.

A locomotive centre is to come up in Manipur's Imphal. Railways is to set up a bridge factory in J&K considering need for large number of bridges on railway projects in the state, Banerjee said.

Enthused by the high number of medals in international sports competitions won by the Railways, a Sports Cadre will be set up in the department.

As many as 16,000 ex-servicemen will be inducted by March in the Railways for the first time. A 700 MW gas-based power plant will be set up at Thakurli in Maharashtra, she said.

Highlights:

* No increase in fares.

* Earnings for 2010-11 set to exceed Rs.1 lakh crore.

* Working expenditure during 2011-12 estimated at Rs.87,000 crore.

* Outlay of Rs.57,630 crore for 2011-12, the highest investment in one year.

* Rs.10,000 crore to be raised through railway bonds.

* Budget combines strong economic focus with inclusion.

* Will develop business-oriented policies to aid industry.

* Happy to announce 85 PPP proposals received; set up single-window system to take these forward.

* Decided to set-up rail-based industries.

* Passing through a difficult phase; 97 percent increase in expenditure in 2010-11 due to implementation of Sixth Pay Commission report.

* Loss of Rs.3,500 crore in 2010-11.

* Ten-year backlog of 1.75 lakh jobs being addressed; 16,000 ex-servicemen to be given jobs in railways.

* Safety first priority; accident rate has come down.

* Anti-collision device, successful in North West Frontier Railway, to be extended to three more zonal railways.

* Railways always been a soft target but law and order a state subject. If railways are blocked in one region, this has a snowballing effect in other parts of the country.

* Will add 180 km of rail lines in 2011-12.

* All-India security helpline set up.

* New Durantos to be run on Allahabad-Mumbai, Pune-Ahmedabad, Sealdah-Puri, Secunderabad-Visakhapatnam, Madurai-Chennai routes, among others.

* Rail linkage to Gujarat from Delhi-Mumbai freight corridor.

* Integrated suburban network to be set up in Mumbai, Chennai, Ahmedabad and other cities; suburban system of Hyderabad to be strengthened.

* Mumbai suburban system's EMU coaches to be increased from nine to 12.

* Pradhan Mantri Rail Vikas Yojna to be launched.

* Industrial park to be set up in Nandigram, West Bengal.

* Railways to set up factory in Jammu and Kashmir.

* To set up Metro coach factory at Singur, West Bengal.

* First coach from Rae Bareli factory to roll out in next three months.

* Work on wagon factory in Orissa to begin after land is acquired.

* Manipur capital Imphal to be soon connected to railway network.

* Centre for excellence in software to be set up at Darjeeling.

* Fund to be created for socially desirable projects.

* Central Organistaion for Project Implemtaiton created; will create accountability for non-performance.

* Work started on two dedicated freight corridors.

* Work on upgrading 442 stations to be completed by March 31.

* Decision to start pilot projects to give shelter to homeless people living along the tracks in Mumbai.

* Multi-purpose smart card to be introduced for all-India travel.

* Airport-like trolleys to be provided at more stations.

* Railways to set up a sports cadre.

* Upgraded class of air conditioned travel to be introduced shortly.

* To adopt modern technology through centres of academic excellence.

* Train to run to Bangladesh to showcase Indian culture.

* Age for senior citizen's concession reduced to 58 from 60.

* Concession for physically handicapped and gallantry award winners for travel in Rajdhani and Shatabdi expresses.

* 50 percent concession for mediapersons with families to be increased from once to twice a year.

Several new trains proposed

As many as nine new Duronto trains, three Shatabdi Express trains and double-decker air conditioned services on two routes were announced by railway minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday.

The new Shatabdi Express would link Pune-Secunderabad, Jaipur-Agra and Ludhiana-Delhi while the AC double-decker services are proposed on Jaipur-Delhi and Ahmedabad-Mumbai routes.

The Duronto trains are Allahabad-Mumbai AC (bi-weekly), Pune-Ahmedabad AC (tri-weekly), Sealdah-Puri non-AC (tri- weekly), Secunderabad-Visakhapatnam AC (tri-weekly), Madurai- Chennai AC (bi-weekly), Chennai-Thiruvananthapuram AC (bi- weekly), Mumbai Central-New Delhi AC (bi-weekly), Nizamuddin- Ajmer non-AC (bi-weekly) and Shalimar-Patna (tri-weekly).

To mark the 150th birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda in 2013, Banerjee in her rail budget proposed introduction of new trains called "Vivek Express".

The first four such trains would be introduced on Dibrugarh -Thiruvantharam-Kanyakumari Express (weekly) via Kokrajhar, Dwarka-Tuticorin Express (weekly) via Wadi, Howrah-Mangalore Express (weekly) via Palghat and Bandra(T)-Jammu Tawi Express (weekly) via Marwar-Degana-Ratangarh-Jakhal-Ludhiana.

Four Kavi Guru Express trains would also proposed to be introduced to mark the 150th birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore.

They will be on the routes of Howrah-Azimganj Express (daily) via Sagardighi, Guwahati-Jaipur Express (weekly) via Kasganj-Faizabad-Gorakhpur-Kokrajhar, Howrah-Bolpur Express (daily) and Howrah-Porbandar Express (weekly).

NEW TRAINS

Following is the list of 56 new express trains proposed to be introduced in Rail Budget 2011:

1. Raebareli-Jaunpur Express (daily)

2. Tirupati-Amravati Express (bi-weekly) via Akola, Nizamabad, Gooty, Dharmavaram

3. Asansol-Gorakhpur Express (weekly) via Chhapra, Siwan

4. Nagpur-Kolhapur Express (bi-weekly) via Kurduwadi, Lathur road, Purna, Akola

5. Malda Town-Digha Express (weekly) via Rampurhat

6. Pune-Nanded Express (weekly) via Latur

7. Visakhapatnam-Koraput Intercity Express (5 days a week) via Vizianagram

8. Howrah-Secunderabad Express (weekly) via Kharagpur

9. Mumbai-Chandigarh Express (weekly) via Phulera-Ringus-Gurgaon-Kurukshetra

10. Bardhaman-Rampurhat Express (tri-weekly)

11. Bikaner-Delhi Superfast Intercity (daily) via Ratangarh

12. Hyderabad-Darbhanga Express (weekly) via Muri-Jharsuguda-Nagpur

13. Howrah-Tirupati Express (weekly)

14. Narsapur-Nagarsol Express (bi-weekly) via Secunderabad, Nizamabad

15. Puri-Shalimar Express (weekly)

16. Ranchi-Pune Express (bi-weekly) via Bilaspur

17. Shalimar-Udaipur Express (weekly) via Katni, Kota

18. Chennai-Shirdi Express (weekly) via Bangalore

19. Coimbatore-Tuticorin Link Express (daily)

20. Howrah-Mysore Express (weekly) via Gondia, Adilabad

21. Yesvantpur-Mysore Express (daily)

22. Digha-Visakhapatnam Express (weekly)

23. Mysore-Chennai Express (weekly)

24. Ahmedabad-Yesvantpur AC Express (weekly) via Hubli, Bijapur

25. Bhavnagar-Kochuvelli Express (weekly) via Panvel, Madgaon

26. Gorakhpur-Yesvantpur Express (weekly) via Faizabad, Kanpur, Bhopal Kacheguda

27. Bhuj-Dadar Express (bi-weekly)

28. Kolkata-Ajmer Express (weekly) via Asansol

29. Jabalpur-Indore Intercity Express (tri-weekly) via Guna, Bina

30. Porbander-Kochuveli Express (weekly) via Panvel, Madgaon

31. Kolkata-Agra Express (weekly) via Kasganj, Mathura

32. Lucknow-Bhopal Express (weekly)

33. Varanasi-Singrauli Intercity Express (daily)

34. Nagpur-Bhusawal Express (tri-weekly) via Itarsi-Khandwa

35. Puri-Gandhidham Express (weekly) via Durg

36. Howarh-Visakhapatnam Express (weekly)

37. Guwahati-Dimapur Express (daily)

38. Howrah-Darbhanga Express (weekly)

39. Vasco-Velankani Express (weekly)

40. Bilaspur-Ernakulam Superfast (weekly)

41. Digha-Puri Express (weekly)

42. Jodhpur-Delhi Express (bi-weekly) via Degana, Ratangarh

43. Kharagpur-Viluppuram Express (weekly) via Vellore

44. Udaipur-Bandra (T) Express (tri-weekly)via Ratlam

45. Purulia-Viluppuram Express (weekly) via Midnapore, Kharagpur, Vellore

46. Asansol-Gonda Express (weekly) via Chhapra, Mau, Shahganj, Ayodhya

47. Delhi-Puducherry Express (weekly)

48. Asansol-Tatanagar Express (tri-weekly) via Purulia

49. Indore-Kota Intercity Express (daily) via Ruthiyai

50. Bhagalpur-Ajmer Express (weekly)

51. Howrah-Jaisalmer Express (weekly) via Rae Bareli, Ratangarh, Lalgarh

52. Ernakulam-Bangalore Express (weekly)

53. Mangalore-Palghat Intercity Express (daily)

54. Varanasi-Ahmedabad Express (weekly) via Ajmer

55. Howrah-Nanded Express (weekly)

56. Hardwar-Ramnagar Link Express (tri-weekly)


Following is the list of 13 new passenger trains proposed:

* Delhi-Garhi Harsaru -Farukhnagar Passenger (daily)

* Kendujhargarh-Bhubaneswr Fast Passenger (5 days a week)

* Koraput - Bolangir - Sambalpur Passenger (daily)

* Barkakhana-Dehri-on-Sone Passenger (daily)

* Jodhpur-Hissar Fast Passenger (daily)

* Tirupati - Guntakal Passenger (daily)

* Coimbatore-Mettupalayam Passenger (6 days a week)

* Bhuj-Palanpur Passenger (daily)

* Silghat-Chaparmukh Passenger (daily)

* Siliguri-Dinhata Passenger (daily)

* Abohar-Fazilka Passenger (daily)

* Bilaspur-Katni Passenger (daily)

* Raipur-Korba Passenger (daily)


Following new diesel-electric multiple unit (DEMU) train services will be introduced:

* Gondia-Ballarshah

* Vasai road-Diva

* Ratlam-Neemuch

* Ratlam-Chittaurgarh

* Sealdah-Jangipur

* Ahmedabad-Patan

* Bangalore Cantt-Bangarpet

* Dharmapuri-Bangalore

* Marikuppam-Bangarpet

* New Jalpaiguri - Balurghat

* Falaknuma-Medchhal

* Mriyalguda-Nadikudi

* Kacheguda-Raichur

* Raichur-Gadwal

* Radhikapur-New Jalpaiguri

* Jalna-Nagarsol

* Nizamabad-Secunderabad

* Kacheguda-Mriyalguda

* Baripada-Bangariposi

* Sealdah-Bhagwangola-Lalgola

* Kolar-Bangalore

* Krishnanagar-Behrampore Court


The following Mainline Electrical Multiple Units (MEMU) train services will be introduced:

* Ranchi-Asansol

* Ernakulam-Kollam (via Alappuzha)

* Vasi Road-Panvel

* Bangarpet-Koppam

* Falaknuma-Bhongir

* Midnapore-Jhargram

* Kollam-Nagercoil

* Jhargram-Purulia

The run of the following trains have been proposed to be extended:

1. Chhindwara-Gwalior Express to Delhi (11101/11102)

2. Jhansi-Chhindwara Express to Delhi (11103/11104)

3. Udaipur-Gwalior Express to Khajuraho (12965/12966)

4. Solapur-Gadag Express to Hubli (11423/11424)

5. Jabalpur-Nagpur Express to Amravati (12159/12160)

6. Nizamuddin-Bapudham Motihari Express to Muzaffarpur (12211/12212)

7. Jammu Tawi-Sonpur Express to Muzaffarpur (12491/12492)

8. Lucknow-Allahabad Express to Vindhyachal (14209/14210)

9. Chandigarh-Jaipur Garib Rath Express to Ajmer (12983/12984)

10. Indore-Ajmer Express to Jaipur (19655/19656)

11. Lucknow-Saharanpur Express to Chandigarh (15011/15012)

12. Chennai Egmore-Nagore Express to Karaikal (16175/16176)

13. Visakhapatnam-Nizamabad Express to Nanded (18509/18510)

14. Sambalpur-Nizamabad Express to Nanded (18309/18310)

15. Mysore-Shimoga Town Express to Talguppa (16205/16206)

16. Valsad-Vadodara Express to Dahod (12929/12930)

17. Surat-Bhavnagar Express to Mahuva (19025.19026)

18. Sultanpur-Ajmer Express to Ahmedabad (19603/19604)

19. Ajmer-Kishanganj Express to New Jalpaiguri (19601/19602)

20. Mumbai-Allahabad Express to Faizabad via Jaunpur, Shahganj (12563/12564)

21. Yesvantapur-Mangalore Express to Karwar (16515/16516)

22. Saharanpur-Delhi to Farukh Nagar (14546/14545)

23. Lucknow-Bhopal Express to Pratapgarh (12183/12184)

24. Delhi-Shahjahanpur Passenger to Sitapur Cantt. (54075/54076)

25. Moradabad-Chandausi Passenger to Bareilly (54311/54312)

26. Hajipur-Phulwaria Passenger to Bathua Bazar (55221/55222)

27. Hajipur-Thawe Passenger to Kaptanganj (55007/55008)

28. Nagercoil-Thiruvanthapuram Passenger to Kochuvelli (56318/56317)

29. Hyderabad-Wadi Passenger to Gulbarga (57135/57136)

30. Hubli-Bijapur Passenger to Solapur (56909/56910)

31. Nagda-Kota Passenger to Ratlam (59803/59802)

32. Ambala-Una DEMU to Amb Andaura (74991/74992)

33. Ambala-Amritsar DEMU to Kurukshetra (74645/74646)

source: TOI