Railway Minister Lalu Prasad is likely to roll out innovative measures in the Rail Budget on February 26. These might include on-board entertainment and fast food facilities along with other amenities as also strategies for energy conservation and safety steps in the wake of the Samjhauta train blasts recently.
On the lines of entertainment provided by airlines, Prasad may announce launching of this scheme beginning with Shatabdi trains, Rail Bhawan sources said.
The ministry, they said, had already received bids from a number of companies for this, including Reliance Infocomm and Adlabs, Tatas and Sahara TV. The bids are yet to be finalised.
Facing a daunting task of providing safe journey to its passengers in the wake of recent Delhi-Atari train link blasts near Panipat, the railway minister may come out with a new comprehensive plan to deal with situation taking also into account the growing threats from Naxalites and militants in several parts of the country.
Prasad may also outline strategies for greater coordination between states and Railways to deal with the situation.
Travelling could be made pleasant with Railways deciding to rope in fast food chains and install vending machines for beverages and food items.
"Our effort is to turn around the image of the Railways through the food served on trains and services available at the stations," IRCTC chairman P K Goel told PTI.
Call centre facilities, SMS alerts, tickets at petrol pumps and ATMs were among the new measures already in place by the Railways to enhance its consumer-friendliness.
"We have entered into a contract with a consortium comprising BSNL among others to launch these 24-hour call centres with the all India number '139,'" Goel said.
Other facilities like car rentals and value-added tour packages through websites are also in the pipeline. Food served in trains will be brought at par with the airlines with variable menus and diet food for sick passengers, he added.
The railway minister is also likely to come out with a strategy on energy conservation in trains, considering the fact that it has one of the largest energy consumers worth Rs 6,400 crore (Rs 64 billion).
"After achieving an overall turnaround in Railways, we are now looking to achieve a similar breakthrough in the management of our Energy Bill. We are trying to bring efficiency in to our system by adopting a four-pronged strategy, including introduction of more routes, improving technology as well as setting up a captive power plant," the sources said.
The ministry may also announce several strategies with regard to the electrification of more tracks, including expediting the work in about 5,000 km during the 11th Plan period.
In order to reduce energy dependency, Prasad may also announce utilising non-conventional sources like bio gas, bio diesel and wind energy for running trains.
Prasad may also come out with a comprehensive strategy involving states for rebuilding/repairing ROBs/RUBs, keeping in view that the staggering 51,340 rail bridges are more than 100 years old and many of them in dilapidated condition, putting in question the claims by the minister of giving safety aspects top priority.
Steps will also be taken to reduce accidents resulting from human errors. These will include technological upgradation for averting collisions due to driver's faults, improving asset reliability and using fire-proof coaches to reduce fatalities among others, they said.
Apart from all these measures, the ministry's top priority will be to maximise financials gains which could be gainfully invested in other Railway projects.
The railway minister is expected to announce an outlay of Rs 32,000 crore (Rs 320 billion) for the Railways in the 2007-08 budget, a 36 per cent rise over previous year's outlay of Rs 23,700 crore (Rs 237 billion), the sources said.
According to budget estimates, the Railways will generate over Rs 17,000 crore (Rs 170 billion) through internal generation during 2007-08 as against last year's Rs 10.794 crore (Rs 107.94 million), which represents a 58 per cent increase in mobilisation of internal resources.