Railway Budget 2011-12

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Highlights of Railway Budget 2011-12

  1. No hike in passenger fare and freight rates.
  2. Highest ever Plan outlay of ` 57, 630 crore proposed for Railways.
  3. ` 9,583 crore provided for new lines.
  4. 1300 km new lines, 867 km doubling of lines and 1017 km gauge conversion targeted in 2011-12.
  5. 56 new Express Trains, 3 new Shatabdis and 9 Duronto trains to be introduced.
  6. AC Double Decker services on Jaipur-Delhi and Ahmedabad-Mumbai routes.
  7. New Super AC Class to be introduced.
  8. A new portal for e-ticketing to be launched shortly. Booking charges will be cheaper with a charge of only ` 10 for AC classes and ` 5 for others.
  9. Pan-India multi-purpose smart card "Go India" to be introduced.
  10. 236 more stations to be upgraded as Adarsh Stations.
  11. 47 additional suburban services in Mumbai and 50 new suburban services proposed for Kolkata.
  12. Two new passenger terminals in Kerala and one each in Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal proposed.
  13. Feasibility study to raise speed of passenger trains to 160-200 kmph to be undertaken.
  14. A special package of two new trains and two projects for the States managing trouble free run of trains through out the year.
  15. Anti Collision Devise (ACD) sanctioned to cover 8 zonal railways.
  16. GPS Based 'Fog Safe' Device to be deployed.
  17. All unmanned level crossing upto 3000 to be eliminated.
  18. All India Security Help line on a single number set up.
  19. All state capitals in the North-East except Sikkim to be connected by Rail in next seven years.
  20. A Bridge Factory in J & K and a state-of-art Institute for Tunnel and Bridge Engineering is proposed at Jammu.
  21. A Diesel Locomotive Centre will be set-up in Manipur.
  22. A Centre of Excellence in Software at Darjeeling proposed under the aegis of CRIS.
  23. Rail Industrial Parks at Jellingham and New Bongaigaon proposed.
  24. Additional mechanized laundry units to be set up at Nagpur, Chandhigarh and Bhopal.
  25. 700 MW gas-based power plant to be set up at Thakurli in Maharashtra.
  26. 18,000 Wagons to be procured during 2011-12.
  27. A scheme for socially desirable projects, 'Pradhan Mantri Rail Vikas Yojana' with Non-lapsable fund proposed.
  28. 10,000 shelter units proposed for track side dwellers in Mumbai, Sealdah, Siliguri, Tiruchirapalli on pilot basis.
  29. Concession to physically handicapped persons to be extended on Rajdhani and Shatabdi trains.
  30. Concession of 50% to press correspondents with family increased to twice a year.
  31. Senior Citizens concession to be hiked from 30 % to 40 %.
  32. Medical facilities extended to dependent parents of the Railway employees.
  33. Scholarship for Girl child of Group-D railway employees increased to ` 1200 per month.
  34. 20 additional hostels for children of railway employees to be set up.
  35. Recruitment for 1.75 lakh vacancies of Group 'C' and 'D' including to fill up backlog of SC/ST initiated, 16,000 ex-servicemen to be inducted by March 2011.
  36. A separate sports cadre to be created.
  37. 2011-12 declared 'Year of Green Energy' for Railways.
  38. Freight loading of 993 MT and passenger growth of 6.4 % estimated for 2011-12.
  39. Gross Traffic Receipts at ` 1,06,239 crore, exceeding one lakh crore mark for the first time estimated.
  40. Ordinary Working Expenses assessed at ` 73,650 crore.
The 2011 -2012 Budget session will begin on February 21. The date for the presentation of the Union Budget is February 28 and the Railway Budget will also be presented soon after that. Usually the railway budget is presented two days before the Union Budget.

The 2011 2012 Budget session will begin with a joint sitting of the two Houses that will be addressed by President Pratibha Patil. This was decided at the CCPA which was attended by ministers such as Minister of Agriculture Sharad Pawar, Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs and Civil Aviation Vayalar Ravi, Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee, Textiles Minister Dayanidhi Maran, Law and Minister Veerappa Moily.

Due to the numerous calamities and mishaps that took place in the year 2010 the railway department is expecting two times the budget allotted in the previous year. Currently the railway budget is undergoing a financial crisis and in order to overcome it; the department would require an increase in the budgetary support from the Finance Ministry of India.

The railway department has requested for Rs 39,600 crore as gross budgetary support in 2011 as compared to the Rs 15,875 crore that it received in the 2010 budget. This whooping expectation is not only to repair the damages but also for the ongoing and upcoming railway projects. The railway department also aims at further expanding and modernizing the railway infrastructure of the country.

The 2011 railway budget aims at increasing the production of wagons, coaches and locos, gauge conversion and doubling of tracks and laying of 1000 km of railway tracks. There will also be an increase in the number of trains and freight carriers.

The target of the department is to increase the number of coaches from 3700 in the previous year to 4000 coaches in 2011-12. In the wagon manufacturing segment the department plans to churn out 18,000 wagons and as far as locomotives are concerned they are expected to increase by another 5000.

The 2011 railway budget will also give importance to safety and security issues like improving the signaling system, train protection warning system (TPWS) and installing safety related technology like Anti-collision devices (ACD)

Last Updated on 05/15/2011