Railway Budget Highlights - 6 last

* New governance structure required; more decentralisation and deregulation; accounting system to be revamped * Resources to be generated through public-private-partnerships * Suburban network in Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai to be augmented * Assets to be monetised rather than sold; land records being digitised * Products made by self-help groups to be encouraged * Railways cannot function in business-as-usual mode, have to keep up with changing times * Announcement on new trains/frequencies to be made during current parliament session * Speed of trains running at 110-130 kmph to be increased to 160-20 kmph * Green technology locomotives to be introduced * 10 cities identified for creating fully-functional satellite terminals to reduce congestion * Two dedicated freight corridors gathering steam * Innovation Council and Technology Portal to be set up to invite suggestions on improvements * All newly-manufactured coaches to be braille-enabled * Online booking for wheel chairs to be enabled * MPs urged to use part of their funds for improving rail facilities * Over 17,00 toilets on trains already replaced, another 17,000 to be replaced * Wi-Fi facility to be extended to category B stations * Open bids to be invited from private parties to develop railway stations * Operational ratio of 88.5 percent targetted * Defence travel system developed to eliminate system warrants * SMS alerts to be introduced * Paperless ticketing system to be developed * New department to keep stations clean * Waste to energy conversion plants to be created * Toilets at stations need improvement; 650 additional toilets to be created in addition to 120 last year * Investment of Rs.8.5 lakh crore in next five years * Over 20,000 suggestions received on improving facilities * Four goals: Deliver sustained improvement in customer facilities, Make railways safer means of travel, expand substantially, make Indian Railways self-sustainable * Budget part of trilogy: White paper already tabled, this budget, vision document soon * Railways backbone of national connectivity * Will partner with private sector to improve last mile connectivity * Railways unique integrator of modern India * Facilities not improved substantially over past few decades * Vicious cycle of under-investment must end * 1,219 sections on network - most of them overworked * In next five years, intention to substantially augment capacity