Mamata promises better railway amenities

Union Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee presented the Railway Budget for 2009-10 in Parliament on Friday.

Here are some highlights of her Railway Budget speech:

• Banerjee says an expert committee will be set up to advise her on implementation of the so-called economically unviable but socially desired projects.
• "My priorities will include better passenger amenities, safety and security and provision of good quality food and drinking water," says Banerjee.
• Railway ministry has plans to develop important stations through private-public partnership. These include CST Mumbai, Nagpur, Pune, Howrah, Sealdah, Varanasi, New Delhi, Lucknow, Jaipur, Kanpur, Chennai Central, Thiruvananthapuram Central, Secunderabad, Bangalore City, Byappanahalli, Ahmedabad, Bhopal, Habibganj, Agra Central, Chandigarh, Kolkata, New Jalpaiguri, Puri and Kochi.
• Railways to develop multi-functional complexes with shopping malls, food stalls, medicines and variety stores in different parts of the country.
• Infotainment services to be provided in major long-distance trains, Banerjee says.
• Banerjee says an expert committee will be set up to advise her on implementation of the so-called economically unviable but socially desired projects.
• Develop 50 stations as world class stations
• Improvement of trains amenities
• Committed to the cause of the underpreviliged.
• India wants better rail connectivity.
• Book stores, PCOs to be set up across stations
• Infotainment services on Rajdhani and Shatabdi trains
• To take the private-public partnership route to develop stations
• Priority for food and water on trains
• Developing multi-functional complexes at stations
• Priority to passenger amenities
• Rail projects shouldn't be gauged by economic viability but governed by social viability: Mamata
• To set up panel for financing unvaiilable rail projects
• SMS updates on wait-listed tickets to be introduced.
• Auto-vending machines to be installed in large and medium stations.
• High-capacity air-conditioned double-decker trains to be introduced on select inter-city routes.
• Unreserved ticketing terminals to be expanded from 5,000 to 8,000. Automatic ticket vending machines to be increased.
• Arrangement with Department of Posts for issuance of tickets.
• An Integrated Security System is being developed for 130 vulnerable stations to provide security to passengers.
• Seven nursing colleges to be set up on railway land in places including Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai.
• Railway medical colleges to be developed along with rail hospitals on public-private partnership.
• Better representation to be given to minorities, women and the economically backward in railway recruitment. Special recruitment drive to be launched to fill vacancies in physically-handicapped category.
• 18,000 wagons to be acquired during the current year.
• Railways making efforts with Department of Heavy Industries for takeover of ailing wagon manufacturing units like Burn Standards.
• New policy to be launched for construction and operation of private freight terminals.
• Railways to develop cold storages for farmers to store vegetables and fruits.
• Superfast parcel express trains to be started on a pilot basis between Delhi and Chennai and Delhi and Mumbai.
• Railways to set up Land Banks to be used for industry.
• A new coach factory with state-of-the-art facilities, exclusively for manufacturing 500 coaches per annum to be set up at Kanchrapara in West Bengal. Work on coach factory in Rae Bareli to be speeded up.
• Railways to set up a 1,000 MW power plant.
• Freight loading target for 2009-10 set at 882 million tonnes, an increase of 39 million tonnes.
• New scheme 'Izzat' (respect) to be introduced under which monthly season ticket of Rs 25 for up to 100 kilometers could be availed by unorganised sector passengers.
• Photo-ID cards-cum-credit cards to be given to accredited journalists. Travel concession has been increased from 30 to 50 per cent for them.
• Ladies' specials to be introduced in suburban trains during peak hours.