India's first rail auto hub, boost to e-catering, connectivity to North-East and no hike in passenger fares. Here's a quick recap of all major announcements made by Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu.
Key takeaways of Rail Budget 2016
• No hike in passenger fares.
• Action has been initiated on 139 budget announcements made last year.
• Eliminate all unmanned level crossings by 2020.
Swacch Bharat: 17000 biotoilets and additional toilets in 475 stations before the close of this financial year.
• Increased quota for senior citizens and women travellers this year.
• Wifi at 100 stations this year and 400 stations next year.
Upgraded e-ticketing: Enhanced capacity of e-ticketing system from 2,000 tickets/min to 7,200/min. Supporting 1.2 lakh concurrent users now, as opposed to 40,000 earlier.
CCTV Surveillance: All major stations to be brought under CCTV surveillance in a phased manner.
• Deen Dayal coaches for long distance trains for unreserved passengers.
Local cuisine: IRCTC to manage catering service in phased manner. Local cuisine of choice will be made available to passengers.
Toilets cleaning on SMS: Cleaning of toilets by requests through SMS.
Baby Foods: Children's menu, baby foods, baby boards to be made available for travelling mothers.
Digital Display: GPS-based digital display in coaches for showing upcoming stations.
• For the first time in Indian Railways, absolute reductions planned in categories like diesel, electricity.
• 8.5 lakh crore to spent over 5 years for modernization of railway infrastructure.
• All-India 24X7 helpline for women.
• LIC to fund Rs.1.5 lakh crore over five years on favourable terms.
• Fully unreserved trains to be operated on high-density corridors.
• Local art to be highlighted at railway stations.
New projects to be implemented this year
• Overnight double-decker trains to be introduced on business travel routes.
• Broad Gauge Lumding-Silchar section in Assam, connecting Barak Valley with rest of country.
• 1,600 km of electrification this year and 2,000 km proposed for the next year.
• North-East India, especially Mizoram and Manipur, to be connected through broad gauge soon.
• Special purpose vehicle for the Ahmedabad-Mumbai high speech corridor registered this month.
Railway Budget 2016: Live Rail Budget 2015 vs Rail Budget 2016 Current Affairs Round up January, 2016.
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