Railway Budget 2015 Live. Highlights & Key Announcements

Indian Railway Budget will be unveiled by Railway minister, Shri, Suresh Prabhu today. We will be bringing you Highlights and key announcements about this budget live as it happens.

So, what are common man’s expectation from this Railway Budget? Reduction of fares? No Fare hikes? Bullet trains? Internet connectivity on trains? new routes? modernization? Cleanliness? We will find out shortly.

Railway Budget 2015 Live. Highlights & Key Announcements

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– 1000MV Solar plants to be set-up by developers on land and on railway building via private partnerships.

– A full-fledged university will be setup during 2015-16

– Rs. 2000 cr for Coastal Connectivity Program; Rs.2500 cr through BOT/Annuity route. 1000 MWSolar plant; 100DEMUs to dual fuel

– Indian Railways will monetize its assets rather than sell them

– Process & procedures simplified to prevent delays; Internal Audit will be conducted of Railway systems

– Indian Railways will decentralise, deregulate and delegate to make freight business simpler

– Framework to facilitate private investment has been completed; MUTP-III, JV with states and PSUs

– Corporate safety Plans to be introduced; ISRO to be involved, 3438 level crossings to be eliminated, Railway expense will be increased by 2600 %

– The transformation of Railways will have huge opportunities for ‘Make In India’ campaign

– Speedier Railways – 9 hi-speed corridors to be introduced, high speed trains

– Private freight terminals reviewing of WLS, SFTO, PFT schemes under process; automatic freight rebate system launched and to be expanded

– A new State of the art perishable cargo center coming up for farmers.

– 1330% increase in railway electrification over previous year.

– Removing Bottlenecks – 100% more funds allocated for the same.

– To create Fast tracks is highest priority. Budgetary allocation 84% higher; 77 new projects -Doubling, tripling/quadrupling/ electrification

– New Satellite railway terminals in major cities – 10 select stations in 2015-16

– Station to be redeveloped through simpler processes – faster redevelopment. Monitoring cell constitute

– 400 Railway Stations will have Internet WiFi facility

– Now you can book rail tickets 4 months ( 120 days) in advance against current 60 days

– Station redevelopment of select stations to be processed through simpler processors for faster redevelopment

– Request all MPs to use a part of their funds to improve the customer amenities at the platform

– Allocation of 67 percent more funds allotted for passenger amenities

– 120 crore has been provided for new installation of new lifts and escalators to facilitate movements

– Modern trains called “Train sets”, which will save 20% journey time within next 2 years

– 24 to 26 coaches will be introduced in certain identified trains, more general class coaches and existing ladders to be replaced

– Modern facilities for disabled citizens, senior citizens, patients through IRCTC

– Surveillance cameras on select mainline and ladies compartments

– SMS alert on mobile, customer portal promoting digital India campaign –

– Unreserved ticket purchase made simpler through smart phones & debit cards

– All india 24 X 7 helpline number 138 from 1/3/15 ; Toll free No.182 – for security complaints

– Railways has Collaborated with NIFT and NID for better bed rolls, inner coach designs

– New Bio-toilets will replace the existing ones, nearly 18000 of them in this year.

– No increment in Passenger Fares

– It is important to harness the talent of our rail employees through training and development

– To increase track capacity by 14% to 138,000 km:

4 Goals for transformation of Indian Railways #RailBudget2015 Catch it live http://t.co/j59XNxsBc9 pic.twitter.com/j1FNZWQUIf

— Ministry of Railways (@RailMinIndia) February 26, 2015

– Goal 1-Customer experience to receive a huge boost, Goal 2 – Safer Travel, Goal 3 -Modernize infrastructure; Goal 4- Indian Railways- Financially self-sustainable

– Good governance emerges out of participative governance

– People’s involvement very high with railways

– Emphasis on increasing capacity on high density networks.

– 492 section of Railways are running at a capacity of more than 100%; 228 running between 80-100%

– 12:10pm: Budget Starts

– 11:46am:

#RailBudget2015 pic.twitter.com/pmM4t7JMNU — Money Bhaskar (@money_bhaskar) February 26, 2015

– 11:30am: We will update it as it happens.. the budget is yet to start.