2015 Railway budget of India
Bhartiya Janta Party | |
Website | www |
---|---|
‹ 2016 › |
The 2015 Railway Budget of India refers to the
Summary
No new trains were announced. There were no passenger fare hikes announced. Passengers will be allowed to book tickets up to 120 days in advance, an increase from current 2 months. An initiative called the "Operation 5-minute" was announced which would allow ticket bearer passengers to acquire tickets within 5 minutes of entering a station. SMS alerts for the arrival and departure of trains will introduced. More general-class coaches would be added to select trains. A centrally managed "Railway Display Network" will be introduced at 2,000 stations to provide train information.[2][3][4][5][6]
200 stations will be brought under the "Adarsh Station Scheme" and will be given basic amenities like toilets, drinking water, catering services, waiting rooms etc. Under the "Swachh Rail Swachh Bharat" programme professional cleaning agencies will hired to keep trains and stations clean and train staff. 650 stations will be getting new toilets. 17,000 old toilets on trains will be replaced by bio-toilets in 2015, increasing the number of 17,388 existing ones. A 24/7 toll-free system will be introduced, 138 for the helpline and 182 for security issues. Mobile phone charging will be introduced in general-class coaches and the number of charging points in sleeper-classes will be increased.[7][5]
400 railways stations, including B-category stations, will be provided with
1,38,000 km of tracks will be added in the next 5 years, an increase of 10%. 3,000 unmanned railway crossings will be removed and 917 over or under-bridges will be constructed to replace some of them. Four dedicated
Satellite stations will be built around 10 major stations to reduce congestion and serve the suburbs. Four Railway Research Centres will be introduced in select four universities.[5][1]
The Indian Railway will raise
Responses
After Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu presented his maiden budget, Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted: "Rail budget 2015 is a forward looking, futuristic and passenger centric budget, combining a clear vision and a definite plan to achieve it." Nitin Gadkari, the Transport Minister called the budget reformative. Smriti Irani, Human Resource Minister, praised the budget for considering women's safety.[16][17]
Rajeev Gowda, spokesperson of the Indian National Congress (INC) said the budget was leaning towards elites. Mallikarjun Kharge of INC said that budget did not clarify how revenues will generated to pay for the promises.[18]
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said the budget had many lofty ideas but no action plan. He said that fares should have been cut due to fall in international oil prices.[19] Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik expressed disappointment due to lack of any special package towards his state and pointed out that Odisha had a much lower rail density than the national average. He said his state was committed on providing free land and 50% of expenses towards railway projects.[20]
India's stock index
See also
- 2014 Railway Budget
- 2015 Union budget of India
References
- ^ a b c "As it happened: Railway Budget 2015". The Hindu. 26 February 2015.
- ^ a b c "Key features of Railway Budget 2015". The Indian Express. 26 February 2015. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
- ^ "Railway Officials Laud 'Humanistic' Side of Budget". The New Indian Express. 27 February 2015. Archived from the original on 27 February 2015. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
- ^ "Railway Budget 2015: No new trains, no hike in passenger fares, freight hiked". Business Standard. 26 February 2015. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
- ^ Live Mint. 27 February 2015. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
- ^ "Cleanliness, amenities top list as govt says fare enough". The Financial Express (India). 27 February 2015. Archived from the original on 27 February 2015. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
- IBNLive. 26 February 2015. Archived from the originalon 1 March 2015. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
- ^ a b "Technology to be tapped for better services". The Hindu. 27 February 2015. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
- ^ "Thumbs-up for CCTV cameras in women's coaches". The Times of India. 27 February 2015. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
- ^ "Benefits for disabled, but some unhappy". The Telegraph (India). 27 February 2015. Archived from the original on 27 February 2015. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
- ^ "Rail Budget 2015: Railways to build 200-kmph train coaches indigenously". Zee News. 8 February 2015. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
- ^ "Rail Budget 2015: Travel at 200 kmph in a cleaner train". Deccan Chronicle. 27 February 2015. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
- ^ "Freight rate hike to hit key commodities". The Telegraph (India). 27 February 2015. Archived from the original on 27 February 2015. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
- ^ "Railways to raise Rs.17,655 crore from borrowing". The Hindu. 26 February 2015. Retrieved 1 March 2015.
- DNA India. 27 February 2015. Retrieved 1 March 2015.
- ^ "Prime minister's reaction on Railway budget 2015". India Today. 26 February 2015. Retrieved 26 February 2015.
- ^ "Rail Budget reformative, will change face of railways: Nitin Gadkari". The Economic Times. 26 February 2015. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
- ^ "Rail Budget: Panned by rivals, Prabhu gets pat from his party". Hindustan Times. 27 February 2015. Archived from the original on 26 February 2015. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
- ^ "Rail budget 2015 full of lofty ideas but no action plan: Nitish Kumar". The Economic Times. 26 February 2015. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
- ^ "Patnaik rues no special package for Odisha". The Hindu. 27 February 2015. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
- ^ "Rail Budget disappoints markets; Sensex drops over 261 points". The Hindu. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
- ^ "India aims to invest $137 billion in railways in next 5 years". Reuters. 26 February 2015. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
Further reading
- "Highlights of the Railway Budget 2015 - 16" (PDF). Press Information Bureau. February 2015.