Railways Budget 2019: Vande Bharat Express, Rs 1.58 Lakh Crore Allocated & Other Highlights

Interim Finance Minister Piyush Goel has presented the interim budget for 2019, which also included budget for Indian Railways.

Since 2016-17, PM Modi led BJP Govt. decided to include Railways Budget into the main Budget, to save time and resources.

We have scooped out the juicy details of Railway Budget, which directly impacts you.

Here are the top highlights:

Budget Allocation: Highest Ever

Govt. has allocated a budget of Rs 1.58 lakh crore for Indian Railways this year. This makes it the highest ever budget for Indian Railways, ever allocated. As per reports coming in, this budget will be mainly used for increasing revenues of Indian Railways, and to introduce better safety measures. More details are awaited.

Vande Bharat Express

In the budget speech, interim Finance Minister, who is also the Railways Minister, announced the success of Train18, which has now been renamed as Vande Bharat Express. 100% Made in India, Train18 or Vande Bharat Express is right now India’s fastest ever train running at 160 km/hr, and will replace the Shatabdi Express. Its debut run happened between Delhi and Varanasi.

Also Read: India’s 1st Engine-Less Train Is Make In India, Costs Rs 100 Crore: 7 Interesting Facts About Train 18

Safest Year for Indian Railways

Minister Piyush Goel announced that 2018 has been the safest year in the entire history of Indian Railways. All unmanned crossings have been removed and converted into manned crossings, on the Broad gauge.

Operating Ratio Improved

Minister also announced that the Operating Ratio has been improved to 96.5% this fiscal year, which will be further improved now. A target of 95% has been announced for 2019-20. Rs 64,587 crore has been announced as outlay for operating expenses this year.

No Fare Hike

There will be no hike in fares of existing trains, for the year 2019-20. Considering that Lok Sabah elections will happen in the next 180 days, this was expected. Besides, no new trains/routes have been announced. If we see the history of BJP Govt., then new trains and routes are generally not announced in the budget. We are expecting that before the election dates are announced, Govt will make a separate announcement for new trains.

Total of 148% hike in planned expenditure has been announced, compared to 2014.

The success of IRCTC website in handling millions of queries and bookings per day was also mentioned in the speech.

We will keep you updated, as we receive more information.