| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| irse |
Posted - 07/03/2009 : 03:27:12
http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=49641
Summary: Highlights of Railway Budget – 2009-2010
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13:45 IST
Ø NO INCREASE IN PASSENGER FARE AND FREIGHT TARIFF
Ø BUDGET TO HAVE INCLUSIVE GROWTH AND EXPANSION OF RAILWAY NETWORK TO
EVERY CORNER OF THE COUNTRY
Ø PLAN OUTLAY OF RS.40,745 CR. PROPOSED FOR 2009-2010,
Ø PASSENGER AMENITIES GET HIGH PRIORITY, TO GET 119% INCREASE
Ø TRAFFIC RECEIPTS DURING 2008-09 INCREASE BY 11.4 % WHILE FREIGHT
LOADING GREW @ 5%
Ø SPECIAL TRAINS FOR PERISHABLE FARM PRODUCE, FACILITIES FOR
TRANSPORTATION OF RURAL CRAFT
Ø WORKS FOR 7 NEW LINES, GAUGE CONVERSION OF 17 LINES AND DOUBLING OF 13
LINES TO BE TAKEN UP
Ø FASTER PARCEL SERVICES PROPOSED ON THREE ROUTS
Ø TATKAL SCHEME TO BE MADE PASSENGER FRIENDLY
Ø RAILWAY TICKETS TO BE MADE AVAILABLE THROUGH POST OFFICES AND
‘MUSHKIL AASAAN’ MOBILE VANS
Ø CONCESSION FOR PRESS PERSONS INCREASED TO 50%
Ø MONTHLY TICKET OF RS. 25/- FOR UNORGANIZED SECTOR/POOR UNDER
‘IZZAT’ SCHEME
Ø “ONLY LADIES’ EMU TRAINS AT DELHI, KOLKATA AND CHENNAI
Ø ‘YUVA TRAINS’ FROM RURAL HINTERLAND TO METROS AT CONCESSIONAL FARE
Ø 12 NEW POINT-TO-POINT ‘DURANTO’ TRAINS
Ø 57 NEW TRAINS, EXTENSION OF 27 TRAINS AND INCREASE IN FREQUENCY OF 13
TRAINS AND AIR-CONDITIONED DOUBLE-DECKER TRAINS PROPOSED
Ø 50 STATIONS TO BE UPGRADED TO WORLD CLASS STATIONS
Ø LONG DISTANCE TRAINS TO HAVE ON-BOARD DOCTORS AND INFOTAINMENT SERVICES
Ø HANDICAPPED AND AGED PERSONS TO HAVE MORE AMENITIES
Ø SPECIAL TRAINS TO FERRY PERISHABLE AGRO PRODUCTS AND RURAL HANDICRAFTS
Ø SPECIAL FUND FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF NORTH EAST RAILWAY
Ø QUAZIGUND-ANANTNAG LINE TO BE COMPLETED BY NEXT MONTH
Ø 6560 RAILWAY STAFF QUARTERS TO BE CONSTRUCTED AND GROUP ‘D’
EMPLOYEES TO GET SCHOLARSHIPS FOR THEIR GIRL CHILD
Ø RAILWAYS TO COME OUT WITH WHILE PAPER ON FINANCIAL STATUS AND
VISION-2020 DOCUMENT
Presenting the Railway Budget for 2009-10 in Parliament today, Minister of
Railways Kumari Mamata Banerjee announced that there will be no increase in
passenger fare and freight tariff. She said that the budget will have approach
for ‘inclusive growth’ and expansion of rail network to take development to
every corner of the country.
Presenting the railway budget she proposed an outlay of Rs,.40,745 cr. for
2009-10. Out of this, Rs.2,921 cr. will be spent on new lines, Rs.1,750 cr. on
gauge conversion and Rs.1,102 cr. on passenger amenities, which is 119% more
than the allocation in the interim budget. Rs.424 cr. will also be spent on
railway staff amenities. She proposed freight loading target of 882 MT and
estimated gross freight receipt at Rs.88,419 cr.
Giving an overview of financial performance of the Railways in 2008-09, the
Minister informed that freight loading during the period grew by 5 percent while
traffic receipt increased by 11.4 per cent to reach Rs. 79,862 cr.
The Budget has proposals for 7 new lines, Gauge conversion of 17 lines and
doubling of 13 railway lines. In addition, proposals for 53 new lines, 3 gauge
conversion and doubling of 12 lines will be processed during the year.
Proposing revision in Tatkal Scheme to make it more passenger friendly, the
Railway Minister said that both the advance booking time and minimum charge
will be reduced. She said perceptible improvement will be ensured in passenger
amenities and safety and security will be given utmost importance. Cleanliness
and quality of railway catering will be improved with focus on strict
monitoring. She proposed that ticketing facilities will be taken to the
grassroot level. Under the ‘Maa Mati Manush’ initiative, computerized
tickets will also be made available through Post Offices. Mobile ticketing
vans, ‘Mushkil Aasaan’, will also be introduced to provide services in
remote areas.
Timely track renewal, modernization of signals and use of digital ultrasonic
flaw detectors will be introduced for the safety of the passengers besides
Integrated Security Scheme at 140 vulnerable and sensitive stations. Women RPF
Squads, exclusively for women passengers, will also be introduced.
Kumari Mamata Banerjee announced a new scheme “Izzat” for travel with
dignity. Under this scheme the people in unorganized sector with monthly income
upto Rs.1,500/- can avail concessional monthly season ticket of Rs.25/- for
travel upto 100 k.m.
The existing student concession is to be extended to students of Madrasas
and students in Kolkata will now have the MST facilities for Kolkata Metro
also.
To provide relief to women passengers the Minister proposed ‘only ladies’
EMU trains in Delhi, Chennai and Kolkata suburban during rush hours. She also
announced new ‘Yuva trains’ dedicated to young generation from rural
hinterland to major metros with concessional rail fare but with
air-conditioned facilities.
Now the Press persons will get increased concession of 50% instead of existing
30% . Once in a year their spouse can also travel with 50% concession.
The Railway Minister announced 12 new point to point, non-stop ‘Duronto’
trains, 57 new train services, extension of 27 trains and increase in frequency
of 13 trains. The Minister also proposed introduction of Air-conditioned
double decker coaches for inter-city travel.
Fifty stations will be developed as world class stations and 375 stations as
‘Adarsh Stations’ with improved basic amenties. Multi functional complexes
with shopping facilities, food stalls, budget hotels are to be constructed at
50 railway stations, which serve as centres of pilgrimage, tourist and
industry.
The Minister announced extensive availability of ‘Janata Khana’, in which
national and regional cuisines will be ensured. To improve the cleanliness, the
onboard house keeping scheme (OBHS) will cover 200 additional pairs of trains.
The long distance trains will have onboard availability of doctors and
infotainment services. She also proposed 1000 new passenger reservation
locations and expansion of Unreserved Ticketing System terminal from 5000 to
8000, In addition, automated ticket vending machines will be installed at 200
large and medium size stations.
Stressing on the extension of facilities for handicapped persons, the Railway
Minister said that the Railway will have more ramps, lifts, escalators and
special coaches for physically challenged and aged persons..
Reiterating her priority to extend railway services to farmers, she
announced special trains to ferry perishable agro products like fruits,
vegetables and also village handicrafts, cottage industry and textile products
from production clusters to consumer clusters. She also proposed premium freight
service for container movement with assured transit time and a mega logistic hub
alongside eastern and western dedicated freight corridors. Premium parcel
services with guaranteed transit time on pilot basis will be introduced on three
routes. During 2009-10, Railway would acquire 18,000 new wagons against 11,000
in 2008-09.
The Minister announced creation of North-East Rail Development Fund
for timely completion of national projects in the North Eastern region and said
Quazigund-Anantnag new line in Kashmir will be completed by next month. She also
proposed setting up of a new factory at Kanchrapara-Halisahar for manufacturing
rail coaches and setting up 1000 MW power plant at Adra, in collaboration with
Ministry of Power.
The Railway Minister said that welfare of railway staff will be given high
priority. 6560 staff quarters will be constructed in 2009-10 and indoor stadia
will be developed in major railway divisions and zones. Increased contribution
of Rs.350 per employees to Staff Benefit Fund will continue for a year, with
Rs.100 per employee for women empowerment. Scholarships will be introduced for
the higher education of girl children of Group ‘D’ staff. She proposed
attached medical colleges with railway hospitals at 18 locations and one burn
unit at major hospitals. The Minister said the policy on Railway Recruitment
Boards will be reviewed. Special recruitment drives for filling vacancies of SC
and ST and physically handicapped will also be undertaken.
Emphasizing on review of projects with social perspective, Kumari
Mamata Banerjee said, innovative financing will be adopted. The Railways will
come out with White Paper on organizational, operational and financial status
based on the last five years’ performance and develop Vision-2020 with short
and long term strategy and plan of action. She said that a project monitoring
committee will be set up for developing mechanism to avoid slippage in project
delivery. Special monitoring will be taken up for all National Rail Projects.
She also proposed an expert committee headed by Shri Sam Pitroda to suggest
innovations to utilize optic fibre cable network of Railways and take
information technology to remote areas.
irse |
| 15 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| S.ravi |
Posted - 07/13/2009 : 12:01:12
Parliament passes Railway Budget
PTI 10 July 2009, 04:38pm IST
NEW DELHI: Railway Budget was passed by the Parliament with Rajya Sabha on Friday returning it to the Lok Sabha.
The motion moved by Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee was approved by voice vote in the Upper House.
The Rail Budget was passed by the Lok Sabha on Thursday.
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| S.ravi |
Posted - 07/05/2009 : 19:05:53
http://www.indopia.in/India-usa-uk-news/latest-news/614952/TamilNadu/1/20/1
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| S.ravi |
Posted - 07/05/2009 : 19:04:19
http://e-pao.net/GP.asp?src=15..040709.jul09
New Delhi, July 03 2009: Ten rail projects in the North-East region have been declared as national projects.
These include Bogibeel rail cum road bridge and gauge conversion of
Lumding-Silchar-Jiribam, Rangia-Murkongselek.
To ensure strict adherence to time schedules for completion on these projects, senior officers are being entrusted with their close monitoring.
This was announced by the Union Minister of Railways, Mamata Banerjee in Parliament today.
Presenting the Railway Budget for 2009-10, she said, the North-East Region is very sensitive and its projects are in progress for providing connectivity to State capitals of Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram.
The Minister said, the construction of national project in Sikkim from Sivok to Rangpo is proposed to be entrusted to IRCON for time bound completion.
The surveys for new lines connecting Gangtok and Shillong have been completed and the proposals would be further processed for necessary clearances.
Mamata Banerjee said, a proposal for creation of North-East Region Rail Development Fund has already been initiated to ensure necessary funds for timely completion of National Projects in the region.
The Minister said, the work of Lumding-Silchar gauge conversion is getting adversely affected due to adverse law and order conditions in the area.
She said, the matter has been taken up with the concerned authorities for providing necessary security so that the work could progress smoothly.
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| S.ravi |
Posted - 07/05/2009 : 18:55:14
More efforts to lift sundry earnings
BS Reporter / New Delhi July 04, 2009, 0:26 IST
Non-traditional revenues are expected to fall to Rs 2,760 crore for 2009-10.
- Mamata plans grand schemes on a shaky track
- Marked decline in efficient use of assets
- Infra push on slippery track
- Falls short of taking bold measures
- Slowdown shadow on return to high growth
- More trains, but confusion in skies
Indian Railways intends to make full use of its vast surplus land to generate non-traditional revenues through setting up multi-functional complexes, budget hotels and leasing land along the proposed industrial corridors.
Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee expects such non-traditional revenues, or sundry earnings, to touch Rs 2,760 crore for the current fiscal 2009-10. However, this target comes with an implicit rider: a revival in the real estate sector which has been hit hard by the ongoing financial turmoil.
In the previous fiscal, the railways earned Rs 3,250 crore from sundry earnings as against a much higher Budget estimate of Rs 5,000 crore. The current economic slowdown hitting the realty sector is cited as the reason for missing the target.
The three major proposals are: setting up multi-functional complexes at 50 stations across India in places of pilgrimage, industry and tourist interest, establishing budget hotels on railway land at pilgrim centres and hill stations and leasing out land along the proposed industrial corridors. The Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA) will be in the charge of developing these facilities.
The proposals would help upgrade the public amenities and creating fresh market. But demand of these lands depend upon the location and pricing, said Sanjay Chandra, managing director of Unitech Ltd, one of the countrys leading realtors. However, analysts say market does not exist due to the dearth of buyers as real estate companies are short of funds.
Nearly 10 per cent of railways total land holding of 423,000 hectares are classified as surplus. Around 319,000 hectares is being used by the railways, but the rest is encroached.
Also, the railways plan to sell tickets through the 5,000 post offices across the country. Revenue estimate through this tie-up was not given.
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| S.ravi |
Posted - 07/05/2009 : 18:48:49
Feasibility of railway medical college questioned
Mysore: The Railway Budget for 2009-10 tabled in Parliament on Friday has a mixed bag for Mysore. The railway station here will be upgraded and a railway medical college will be set up here.
The Railway Budget identified Mysore among 50 cities where a Multi-functional Complex (MFC) will be constructed on the station premises for the benefit of commuters and railway passengers. The facilities include shopping complex, food plaza and stalls, restaurants, bookstalls, PCO-ISD fax booths, variety stores besides budget hotels and underground parking facility.
Minister for Railways Mamata Banerjee said in her speech that it was proposed to take up development of the MFCs in different parts of the country at 50 railway stations serving places of pilgrimage, industry and tourist interest in this year.
the proposal to have a Railway Medical College attached to the existing railway hospital through private public partnership to facilitate children of railway employees to pursue higher studies.
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| S.ravi |
Posted - 07/05/2009 : 08:28:59
Railway Budget 2009 presented before parliament
Concerning IR 2009/07/03
Click the links below to view speech of Hon'ble MR on 03 July 2009 before Parliament.
URL link http://www.indianrailways.gov.in/budget_2009-10/Speech_hindi_2009-10.pdf
URL link http://www.indianrailways.gov.in/budget_2009-10/Speech_English_2009-10.pdf
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| S.ravi |
Posted - 07/05/2009 : 08:09:50
Indian PM Manmohan Singh said Banerjee had focused on ''making rail travel a desirable experience''. To ensure this, she had outlined a programme of modernising 50 railway stations to world class standards, he added.
According to Indian Railways minister, 50 Railway stations, including CST Mumbai, Nagpur, Pune, Howrah, Sealdah, Varanasi, New Delhi, Lucknow, Jaipur, Kanpur, Chennai Central, Thiruvananthapuram Central, Secunderabad, Bangalore, Byappanahalli, Ahmedabad, Bhopal, Habibganj, Agra Central, Chandigarh, Kolkata, New Jalpaiguri, Puri and Kochi, will be developed to have world-class facilities.
Railways to develop multi-functional complexes with shopping malls, food stalls, medicines and variety stores in different parts of the country.
One doctor to be posted on long distance trains.
Superfast parcel express trains to be started on a pilot basis between Delhi and Chennai and Delhi and Mumbai.
Railways to extend helping hand to physically challenged and elderly people by providing ramps, specially designed bogeys.
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| S.ravi |
Posted - 07/05/2009 : 07:45:35
Bangalore-Mysore track doubling will take time
Doubling of the rail line between Bangalore and Mysore will take at least another two-and-a-half years because of technical problems. Though the project was completed in a record time between Bangalore and Ramanagaram, at a cost of Rs 80 crore, the remaining part worth Rs 280 crore has been delayed due to problems with land acquisition and construction of bridges across the Cauvery in Srirangapatnam, Muniyappa said.
Commercial complexes in Bangalore
The railways have identified two sites between Bangalore City and Cantonment stations to build commercial complexes. The newly-formed Railway Land Development Authority is in the process of appointing consultants to initiate the projects. "The idea behind this is to earn good revenue for the railways," Muniyappa said.
Panel for medical college in Mysore
An expert committee will be constituted shortly to look into establishment of a medical college in Mysore for railway employees. Based on the report submitted by the committee, appropriate steps will be taken to set up the college near the railway hospital in Mysore.
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| S.ravi |
Posted - 07/05/2009 : 07:40:50
Karnataka - Bangalore
Rs. 346 crore more sanctioned for rail projects: Muniyappa
ON TRACK: K.H. Muniyappa, Minister of State for Railways, addressing a press conference in Bangalore on Saturday. Akhil Agarwal (right), Divisional Railway Manager, and Ravi Valluri (left), Additional Divisional Railway Manager, South Western Railway, are with him.
BANGALORE: The Minister of State for Railways K.H. Muniyappa on Saturday claimed credit for getting Rs. 346-crore more this year for completing the ongoing rail projects such as Talaguppa-Shimoga, Kottur-Harihar, track doubling works on the outskirts of Bangalore and for taking up survey of nine new lines including one electrification project covering a distance of 1,104 km in the State.
Mr. Muniyappa told presspersons that work on the 97-km Shimoga-Talaguppa project would be completed in one year.
The Kottur-Harihar line would be ready by March. For this, the State Government has to give its share of Rs. 100 crore.
The Minister said the Railways was getting an annual income of Rs. 3,035 crore from the State in terms of passenger and freight traffic as against its expenditure of around Rs. 700 crore.
Of Rs. 543.36 crore for the on-going projects, the new lines would get Rs. 202.58 crore, gauge conversion Rs. 98.06 crore, doubling work Rs. 231.24 crore and electrification of Guntakal-Gooty-Bangalore section Rs. 11.48 crore.
The 12.07-km Yeshwantpur-Yelahanka line would be given Rs. 27.23 crore and the 12.89-km Yelahanka-Chennasandra line Rs. 37.82 crore.
Mr. Muniyappa said he was holding discussions with the Union Minister of State for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh for clearance to some projects in the State as the matter was before the high power committee appointed by the Supreme Court.
Mr. Muniyappa said the delay in land acquisition and survey was coming in the way of completing the railway projects and would shortly hold a meeting with Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa.
The Bidar-Gulbarga line is delayed owing to land acquisition.
Terming the criticism by Mr. Yeddyurappa and H.N. Ananth Kumar, MP, that the United Progressive Alliance Government had not favoured the State with more railway projects as politically motivated, Mr. Muniyappa said that for 10 years, Karnataka did not get higher allocation.
It was the Congress-led UPA Government which allocated Rs. 1,026 crore in the budget as compared to Rs. 680 crore last year, he added.
The Minister said that the Bangalore-Mangalore day train could not be started due to road safety problems and it would be introduced within a month.
About the Bangalore-Mysore doubling work, Mr. Muniyappa said that around Rs. 80 crore had been spent on Mysore-Ramanagaram stretch.
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| S.ravi |
Posted - 07/04/2009 : 10:40:22
Indian railway's freight business to increase
New Delhi, July 3 : Presenting the Railway Budget in Parliament today, Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee said that besides improving the loading of coal, iron ore, cement, fertilizers and foodgrain, measures are being taken to increase the share in new traffic streams like automobiles and fly ash.
Banerjee said a premium service for container movement with assured transit time was under consideration for time sensitive cargo.
She said that permission to access private sidings will be given to containers, which will help in attracting piecemeal traffic presently not being carried by Railways.
"The Railway will also encourage private ownership of special purpose rolling stock for commodities and private operation of freight terminals," she added.
The Minister later said, "A new policy would be unveiled to allow construction and operation of private freight terminals and multi-modal logistic parks."
She further added that the Railways are in process of brining together state governments and major logistics players to set up logistics parks co-habited by multiple players through participative funding.
"Mega logistics hubs are also being planned alongside the proposed Eastern and Western Dedicated Freight Corridors," she added.
--- ANI
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| S.ravi |
Posted - 07/04/2009 : 10:26:38
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Mumbai l Delhi l Bangalore l Hyderabad l Chennai l Ahmedabad l Kolkata l Pune l Goa l Chandigarh l Lucknow l Patna l Jaipur l Mamata budget disappointing: Naveen
3 Jul 2009, 2320 hrs IST, Rajaram Satapathy, TNN
BHUBANESWAR: Orissa, which always felt discriminated against by the Railways, voiced loud protest on Friday when Mamata Banerjee presented the budget in the Lok Sabha. Chief minister Naveen Patnaik described the package for the state as "disappointing".
Patnaik's said the budget does not fulfil Orissa's requirements even if the government told the railway minister of the need for more funds and projects for the state. "Funds for railway projects have been reduced considerably for Orissa. It is disappointing," the chief minister said. He pointed out that this year's budget has given only Rs 715.22 crore to the state as against Rs 949.34 crore allocated last year.
The chief minster said in view of the growing Maoist activities, a demand was made a survey for a north-south and east-west rail corridor. "This has not been done," he said. Patnaik said Orissa's demand for a coach factory was ignored.
"In stead a new coach factory is now being set up at Kolkata, which already has many rail facilities. Only six new trains have been sanctioned as against our demand for 14. We wanted three new coaching depots and the introduction of new EMU or DMU trains. But none has been okayed," he added.
Congress, however, described the budget as pro-people. "It has many things for the poor. Orissa has not been ignored either," former Congress minister Ganeswar Behera said.
However, Congress MP Bhakta Charan Das felt that the state has been ignored. Former MP and member of the PAC railway board Bhabani Hota said the budget is "very good" for West Bengal and areas like Amethi and Raibareily, "but is hopeless for Orissa".
"None of the infrastructural problems concerning Orissa has been addressed. The budget is silent on Khurda Road-Bolangir," he pointed out. The so-called non-stop Bhubaneswar-New Delhi train is a non-AC train, which will run once in a week, he pointed out. East Coast Railway sources here, however, maintained the details of the budget allocation for the state are being compiled. "We don't know the exact allocations. The budget papers are yet to reach," said a railway official.
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| S.ravi |
Posted - 07/04/2009 : 10:24:00
Maya slams rly budget, says UP neglected
4 Jul 2009, 0536 hrs IST, TNN
LUCKNOW: Chief minister Mayawati while expressing surprise over the `negligence of a large state like UP' in the Railway Budget-2009 presented in Parliament on Friday said that the Centre should now change its `dual policy'. She alleged that industrial, religious and other important places in UP had been grossly neglected in the budget.
Reacting on the rail budget, Mayawati said that railway minister Mamata Banerjee had referred to the policy of `inclusive development' in her budget speech, but no new initiative had been taken to bring poor people living in remote areas to the mainstream of development.
"The budget, on the one hand, proposes a rebate of only Re 1 in the fare for the poor people while on the other hand, two per cent rebate has been proposed in the fare of higher classes. Besides this, the proposals made in the railway budget indicates that the `inclusive' slogan of the UPA government is hollow and misleading," she remarked adding that the budget proposed for the development of 375 railway stations as ideal stations, but it had just a few stations from UP.
The CM said in the proposal to develop 50 railway stations as `world-level' having international-level facilities, only Lucknow, Varanasi, Kanpur, Agra Cantt and Mathura junctions of UP had been included while Allahabad and Meerut, which had population of more than 10 lakh were left out.
Mayawati said that a proposal had been made to lay down 17 new railway tracks but of these only Shahganj-Unchahar-Sultanpur-Amethi-Salon had been proposed in UP. No provision had been made to lay new railway tracks at other important places in the state, she regretted.
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| S.ravi |
Posted - 07/04/2009 : 10:22:43
Railway budget fails to enthuse Tricity
4 Jul 2009, 0225 hrs IST, Manveer Saini, TNN
CHANDIGARH: While drafting the rail budget, it seems Union minister Mamata Banerjees train of thought did not halt for too long in the Tricity as Friday failed to bring in any new locomotive for its residents. Her only gift came in shape of Yamunanagar-Sadhuara-Chandigarh rail link, apart from the re-inclusion of city in a list of stations to be upgraded to world class levels and a nod to entertainment for passengers on board the Shatabdi Express.
The Yamunanagar link is expected to come as a relief for those trading in steel, plywood and related industries that are found in abundance there. A survey of this link was carried out 15 years ago and were looking forward to getting details about the exact proposal and deadline, said Northern Railways Ambala divisional manager HK Jaggi.
Being a vital link between Punjab, Haryana and HP, the city, however, was expecting some new announcements as far as trains are concerned. Many locals would also be disappointed that the railway budget had no mention about the much-in-demand Anandpur Sahib-Chandigarh-Nanded train, apart from one connecting the city with Rajasthani city Ajmer. However, an Integrated Security System for 38 stations part of Northern Railways costing Rs 64 crore was announced.
Interestingly, this is the third time that Chandigarh station has been chosen for an upgrade. As far as world class facilities are concerned, a deadline should have been announced for that. The first time city was in the list, there were a total of seven stations to be upgraded. This time, however, the number is 50, said president of Panchkula chapter of Haryana Chambers of Commerce and Industry Satish Gupta.
We welcome the Yamunagar link, said Manmohan Singh, president of Chandigarh Tourism Promotion Society.
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| S.ravi |
Posted - 07/04/2009 : 10:21:13
Pune station to get world-class facilities
4 Jul 2009, 0351 hrs IST, TNN
PUNE: City commuters can look forward to world class facilities' at Pune railway Station in the future. In her budget speech on Friday, railway minister Mamata Banerjee said that Pune station would be one among 50 stations to be developed into a world class station with international-level facilities.
The stations are to be developed through innovative financing and in the public-private partnership mode.
The railway administration told TOI on Friday that the Railways have already started work and have initiated major upgradation works at the station.
"Though we have yet to receive details about the plan proposed in this year's budget, we have already undertaken developmental work," said Y K Singh, public relations officer of the Pune railway division.
Welcoming the announcement, representatives of commuters' organisations said that though facilities are being upgraded, these are not enough.
Singh said that the division has so far spent more than Rs 8 crore for upgradation and beautification of the station. Plasma TVs have been installed every 15 metres and inquiry booths are in place for passenger convenience. Services and infrastructure at the waiting rooms and retiring rooms at the station have been upgraded. The station is now well equipped and there are CCTV cameras working round-the-clock.
"Provision for special lighting has been made on the station premises, including the platforms. This lighting arrangement has given the station a fresh look. Passenger amenities like unreserved ticket vending machines and passenger operative enquiry machines have been introduced at the platforms," Singh added.
He said that the entry-exit gates at both ends of the station have been made wider for passenger convenience. This has helped in preventing the chance of a stampede or over-crowding at the entry-exit points. Also, new gates have been opened at platform number one, so that passengers are not forced to take a longer route.
"The railway administration has taken up an exhaustive drive for cleaning activities at the platforms. Mechanised systems have been introduced to clean the platforms as well as the tracks. The contracts have been outsourced to a private firm. Sanitation facilities at the station has also been improved," Singh said.
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| S.ravi |
Posted - 07/04/2009 : 10:17:27
Hubli has only Inter-City to cheer
4 Jul 2009, 0657 hrs IST, M L Kapur, TNN
HUBLI: The Railway budget for 2009-10 has failed to cheer up Karnataka as most of the state's long-standing demands have not been met despite the fact that one of her junior ministers, K H Muniyappa, is from the state.
Karnataka does not feature on the map of 12 non-stop train services being introduced to provide high speed point-to-point connectivity between important cities of the country. The service is billed as an innovative highlight of her budget.
The people of Dharwad have something to cheer about as their long-pending demand for the extension of Bangalore-Hubli Inter-City Express up to their city has been conceded. It may still take some time to create the necessary infrastructure to start the service.
The people of Hubli, the headquarters of South Western Railway zone, have been demanding direct trains to Mumbai and Kochuveli, a day train to Pune and slip-coach facilities to Mangalore via Arsikere. But the budget failed to have any of them.
Other considerations for the state are multi-purpose complexes providing shopping malls and budget hotel facilities at Hubli and Mysore, Adarsh (ideal) station at Londa, and a railway medical college at Mysore.
Apart from extension of the Bangalore-Hubli Inter-City, Tirupati-Mysore Passenger has been extended up to Chamarajanagar and Bangalore-Mangalore Express up to Kannur.
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