Railway Budget, Fares etc

Portrait of the Full Indian Railway Budget 2014 -15

Hon. Railway Minister Shri DV Sadananda Gowda has presented his maiden Railway Budget in the Loksabha on the 8th of June 2014. For the first time in many years the budget has some radically different suggestions though these have been in the pipeline for a long time. The focus of the rail budget of the new government is to bring into focus and strengthen railway operations and to raise capital for future projects. With this in mind and the condition of the cash-strapped railways, the minister has not given in to populism and announced any substantial projects as opposed to his predecessors, which is a welcome sign. Here are the highlights of the budget:

Resource Mobilization though PPP model and Foreign Direct Investment in the Railways.

High Speed Trains (Bullet Trains)

Several feasibility studies for running high speed trains in excess of 300 km/hr were carried out previously, but this time the government has officially sanctioned the project to go ahead. Predictably, the Mumbai – Ahmedabad corridor has been selected for the project by building a completely new set of high-speed track. In addition, a Diamond Quadrilateral of high-speed trains will be also developed, connecting major metros and growth centers.

Semi – High Speed Trains (160 – 200 kph)

Our trains are too slow though they are capable of doing speeds upto 160 kph even now. The railways plan to upgrade certain sections of our track and trains to run them at speeds of 160 – 200 kph. The selected corridors are: Delhi – Agra, Delhi – Kanpur, Delhi – Chandigarh, Mysore – Bangalore – Chennai, Nagpur – Bilaspur, Nagpur – Secunderabad, Mumbai – Ahmedabad, Mumbai – Goa, Chennai – Hyderabad.

Digitization of the Railways

Computerization/Digitization of the Railways will be taken further by introducing the following measures:

  • Next generation e-ticketing system capable of handling 7200 ticket reservations a minute.
  • WiFi services in all A and A1 class stations and on board select trains.
  • Expansion of real-time train tracking systems.
  • Mobile based destination arrival and wake up alerts for passengers.
  • Station navigation information systems.
  • Making Indian Railways offices paperless in the next 5 years.
  • Digitization of Indian Railway land holdings through GIS UID mapping.
  • Digital reservation chart display at all stations.
  • Online demand registration for freight wagons.
  • e-Procurement mandatory for procurements exceeding Rs.25 lakhs.
  • Status of ongoing projects will be made available online.
  • Unreserved (general second class) and platform ticketing to be made available online.

PPP (Public Private Partnership) Model Envisaged for (as a start):

  • All future capital intensive investments including the High Speed Rail project.
  • Amenities at Stations including Foot Over Bridges, Escalators, Lifts, Boundary Walls etc.
  • Capacity augmentation projects, connectivity to ports and networks of (private) freight terminals.
  • Development of major stations on the model of the new airports.
  • Harnessing Solar Energy by the way of solar panels in stations and on railway land.

Other Major Developments Announced in the Rail Budget 2014 – 15

  • Projects worth Rs.5116 Crore for the North Eastern states.
  • Intermodal integrated urban transport access model in metros and large cities.
  • Suburban Railway Network for Bangalore including coaching depot at Baiyyappanahalli.
  • 864 new EMUs for the Mumbai suburban system (both Western and Central Railway).
  • Women RPF constables to accompany all ladies coaches.
  • Automatic closing doors on all trains in phases.
  • Zonal Railways will be authorized and empowered to execute PPP projects.
  • More focus on doubling and quadrupling to relieve congestion rather than new lines.
  • Temporary and new stoppages will be allowed strictly on financial basis only.

Statewise List of New Trains Announced in the Railway Budget 2014 – 15

KARNATAKA

  1. Bangalore – Mangalore Daily Express
  2. Bangalore – Shimoga Biweekly Express
  3. Bidar – Mumbai Weekly Express
  4. Dharwad – Dandeli Daily Passenger via Alnavar
  5. Bangalore Yesvantpur – Tumkur Daily Passenger
  6. Byndoor – Kasaragod (Kerala) Daily Passenger via Mangalore
  7. Bangalore – Ramanagaram MEMU 6 days a week
  8. Bangalore – Nelamangala Daily DEMU
  9. Bangalore Yesvantpur – Hosur 6 days a week DEMU

BIHAR/JHARKHAND

  1. Jaynagar – Mumbai Jansadharan Express
  2. Saharasa – Delhi Anand Vihar Jansadharan Express via Motihari
  3. Saharasa  – Amritsar (Punjab) Jansadharan Express
  4. Chhapra – Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) Triweekly Express via Ballia, Ghazipur, Varanasi
  5. Tatanagar – Bangalore Baiyyappanahali (Karnataka) Weekly Express
  6. Hatia – Rourkela Daily Passenger
  7. Chhapra – Manduadih 6 days a week DEMU via Ballia

MUMBAI

  1. Mumbai Central – New Delhi Premium AC Express
  2. Mumbai Lokmanya Tilak Terminus – Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) Weekly AC Express
  3. Mumbai CST – Gorakhpur (Bihar) Jansadharan Express
  4. Mumbai Lokmanya Tilak Terminus – Azamgarh (Uttar Pradesh) Weekly Express
  5. Mumbai CST – Kazipet (Andhra Pradesh) Weekly Express via Balharshah
  6. Mumbai CST – Palitana (Gujarat) Weekly Express
  7. Mumbai Bandra Terminus – Jaipur (Rajasthan) Weekly Express via Nagda, Kota

ASSAM & NORTH EAST

  1. Guwahati Kamakhya – Bengaluru (Karnataka) Premium Express
  2. Naharlagun – New Delhi Weekly Express
  3. Guwahati – Naharlagun Daily Intercity Express
  4. Guwahati – Murkongselek Daily Intercity Express
  5. Guwahati Kamakhya – Katra Weekly Express via Darbhanga
  6. Guwahati – Mendipathar (Meghalaya) Daily Passenger
  7. Rangapara North – Rangiya Daily Passenger

GUJARAT

  1. Ahmedabad – Darbhanga (Bihar) Jansadharan Express via Surat
  2. Ahmedabad – Patna (Bihar) Weekly Express via Varanasi
  3. Ahmedabad – Chennai (Tamil Nadu) Biweekly Express via Vasai Road
  4. Hapa – Bilaspur (Chhattisgarh) Weekly Express via Nagpur
  5. Rajkot – Rewa (Madhya Pradesh) Weekly Express

UTTAR PRADESH/UTTARAKHAND

  1. Gorakhpur – Delhi Anand Vihar Weekly Express
  2. Kanpur – Jammu Tawi (J&K) Biweekly Express
  3. Gorakhpur – Nautanwa Daily Passenger
  4. Ramnagar – Agra Weekly Express
  5. New Delhi  – Varanasi Daily Express

MAHARASHTRA (excl MUMBAI)

  1. Nagpur – Pune Weekly AC Express
  2. Nagpur – Amritsar (Punjab) Weekly AC Express
  3. Delhi Hazrat Nizamuddin – Pune Weekly AC Express
  4. Hazur Saheb Nanded – Bikaner (Rajasthan) Weekly Express

ORISSA

  1. Paradeep – Kolkata Howrah Weekly Express
  2. Paradeep – Visakhapatnam Weekly Express
  3. Sambalpur – Rourkela 6 days a week DEMU

ANDHRA PRADESH/TELANGANA

  1. Secunderabad – Delhi Hazrat Nizamuddin Premium AC Express
  2. Vijayawada – New Delhi Daily AC Express
  3. Visakhapatnam – Chennai (Tamil Nadu) Weekly Express

RAJASTHAN

  1. Jaipur – Madurai (Tamil Nadu) Premium Express
  2. Bikaner – Rewari Daily Passenger

PUNJAB

  1. New Delhi – Bhatinda Biweekly Shatabdi Express
  2. Ferozpur – Chandigarh Express (6 days a week)

MADHYA PRADESH

  1. Indore – Jammu Tawi (J&K) Weekly Express

WEST BENGAL

  1. Shalimar – Chennai (Tamil Nadu) Premium AC Express

HARYANA

  1. Palwal – Delhi – Aligarh Daily MEMU

JAMMU & KASHMIR

  1.  Baramula – Banihal Daily DEMU

NO NEW TRAINS OR PROJECTS FOR THE STATE OF KERALA

Extension of Service Run of Existing Trains

  1. 12001/12002 New Delhi – Bhopal Shatabdi Express extended to Bhopal Habibganj
  2. 22409/22410 Delhi Anand Vihar – Sasaram Garib Rath Express extended to Gaya
  3. 12455/12456 Delhi Sarai Rohilla – Sriganganagar Express extended to Bikaner
  4. 15231/15232 Gondia – Muzaffarpur Express extended to Barauni from Muzaffarpur
  5. 54602 Ludhiana – Hisar Passenger extended to Sadulpur
  6. 55007/55008 Sonpur – Kaptanganj Passenger extended to Gorakhpur
  7. 55072/55073 Gorakhpur – Thawe extended Passenger to Siwan
  8. 63237/63238 Buxar – Mughalsarai MEMU extended to Varanasi
  9. 63208/63211 Jhajha – Patna MEMU extended to Jasidih from Jhajha
  10. 64221/64222 Lucknow – Hardoi MEMU extended to Shahjahanpur
  11. 68002/68007 Howrah – Belda MEMU extended to Jaleswar

Doubling, Third and Fourth Line Surveys

  1. Doubling: Jaipur – Kota (Rajasthan)
  2. Doubling: Chanda Fort (Chandrapur) – Nagbhir
  3. Doubling: Ullal – Mangalore – Surathkal (Part Konkan Railway)
  4. Doubling: Rewari – Mahendergarh
  5. Third Line: Bhusawal- Badnera- Wardha
  6. Third Line: Itarsi – Bhusawal
  7. Fourth Line: Kasara – Igatpuri (Thal/Thul Ghats)
  8. Fourth Line: Karjat – Lonavala (Bhore Ghats)

Full text of Railway Budget 2014 – 15 Speech by Hon. Railway Minister: English Hindi

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Information provided here is only indicative in nature and please always confirm all information with official sources before relying on them (Contact your nearest railway station or call 139 or visit the official website of Indian Railways). This website is not an official website of the Indian Railways but is run by a railway enthusiast. The official website of the railways is http://indianrailways.gov.in.

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