Railway Minister Sadananda Gowda presented his maiden Railway Budget in parliament today. Here are quick highlights of the Budget.
1) Government to make e-procurement compulsory for procurements over Rs 25 lakh.
2) Bangalore to get suburban trains.
3) Monitoring of Eastern & Western Dedicated Freight Corridor Projects; Target of nearly 1000 kms of construction contracts.
4) Projects worth over Rs 20,000 at various stages in Telangana and AP.
5) 23 projects underway in the North-East, 11 of them national projects.
6) Future e-Ticketing to support 7200 tickets per minute and to allow 120,000 simultaneous users.
7) Parcel traffic to be segregated, to have separate terminals.
8) Diamond Quadrilateral Network for High-speed Trains.
9) Mobile based wake-up call & updates for all passengers, wi-fi on major stations.
10) Women RPF constables to oversee women-only coaches to make travel for women safer. Security at trains will be increased by introducing 17,000 constables.
11) Online booking facility of railway retiring rooms will be extended to all stations. Coin-operated automatic ticket vending machines will be experimented.
12) Ready-to-eat meals from reputed brands to be served in trains.
13) Amenities like water supply, shelter, toilets and escalators for senior citizens to be provided.
14) First Bullet train from Mumbai to Ahmedabad.
15) FY 2015 total expenditure at Rs 1.49 lakh crore.
16) Freight traffic growth of 4.9% seen in FY 2015.
17) FDI in Railways except operations likely. Proposal likely before cabinet.
18) Railways need Rs 5 lakh crore to finish 359 unfinished projects.
19) 676 projects sanctioned, but only 317 projects completed.
20) Railway FY 2014 operating ratio at 94%
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