Railway Budget 2013

Railway budget for the year 2013 is going to be tabled in the parliament on 26^th February 2013.

Indian Railway Budget 2013 - Highlights (Click to view the slide-show)

Expectations from Railway Budget

Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal is going to present the 2013-14 Rail Budget in Parliament on 26^th February 2013.

Few of the expectations from different states are as follows

1. Odisha has demanded a budgetary allocation of Rs 3050 crore for the 2012-13 fiscal for new lines and other projects and over two dozen new trains including five Durontos in the coming Rail Budget.

2. Singhbhum Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI), has demanded direct train to Jodhpur via Jaipur, train services between Tatanagar and Hyderabad, pantry car for long-distance rides, renovation of Adityapur and Govindpur stations.


3. Industry body Assocham had asked the government to further raise the rail passenger fares of to finance the huge investments required for modernisation and safety of Indian Railways.



4. The chamber also asked for a two-year moratorium on introduction of new trains, besides immediate grant of Rs 20,000 crore to the Indian Railways.


5. In a pre-budget memorandum to Railway Minister P K Bansal, Assocham said these steps would help put the ailing Indian Railways on track again towards total modernisation and capacity augmentation. The chamber asked the government to announce a Rs 10 lakh crore modernisation and expansion programme for the railways "and link it with a fare rise to finance such total change".


6. Plan panel chief Montek Singh Ahluwalia is believed to have discussed with Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal the issue of setting up of a Rail Tariff Authority to align fares and devise ways to infuse greater private investment in projects.


7. Ahluwalia met Bansal at Rail Bhawan to outline the broad strategy for the Rail Budget to be presented in Parliament next month.


8. In a first initiative of its kind, Indian Railways is likely to introduce Braille stickers in trains for visually-challenged passengers to facilitate their travel. The initiative is likely to be announced in the Rail Budget 2013-14.


9. In an effort to check the number of fire accidents on trains, Railways will soon equip pantry and power cars with latest fire suppression system including sprinklers.


10. Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi has asked for implementation of high speed rail (HSR) should reflect in the railway budget and provisions for the same should be there to provide an impetus to the ambitious project. According to Modi HSR corridors identified in India, Ahmedabad-Mumbai-Pune was the most economically viable.


11. Railway is likely to raise catering charges in premier trains like Rajdhani, Duronto and Shatabdi, which will be part of the fare.


12. Railways have identified seven routes for conducting pre-feasibility study for high speed corridors (HSR ) for running bullet trains including Delhi-Agra-Patna, Howrah-Haldia, Chennai-Bangalore-Thiruvanathapuram and Pune-Mumbai-Ahmedabad. Some announcement regarding the same is expected.

Last Updated on 02/27/2013