Cheap Fares and Record Cash Surplus” are Core of Railway Budget 2008
The Minister has created a history by announcing a cash surplus of more than Rs 25,000 crore for 2007-08. He also outlined effective strategies by keeping the passenger fares low. He declared a reduction in fares of both AC and 2nd class and the freight rates on petrol and diesel. Fares on AC-I was reduced by 7%, while 4% for AC-II.
Concessions were declared for girl students, lady senior citizens, and AIDS patients.
He assured for a better signaling system, high-density networks, tickets on mobiles, electronic sign boards on trains and electronic display of arrival times inside trains. Major technological advancements were also proposed, which aims at using Information Technology to focus on improvement in operations.







