Measures proposed to take for railway staff

• Expand the scope of Liberalized Active Retirement Scheme for Guaranteed Employment for safety category staff by enhancing the existing criteria of grade pay from Rs.1,800/- to Rs. 1,900/-.
• Considering the Indian family structure and values, extending medical facilities to both dependent father and mother of railway employees.
• Increasing the scholarship for the girl child of gangmen and group ‘D’ employees to `1,200 per month for higher education.
• Setting up of a Railway Vidyalaya Prabandhan Board (RVPB) to improve quality of education to children studying in 269 railway schools. The Board will draw up a plan for improving the physical and educational infrastructure of these schools to be implemented in a time frame of three years.
• In order to provide easy access to medical facilities in remote and inaccessible areas for our employees, it is proposed to provide 20 Medical Road Medical Vans at different locations to begin with.
• I am happy to report that all the proposed 20 hostels for children of railway employees have been commissioned and another 20 would be set up next year.

Source: http://www.indianrailways.gov.in/railwayboard/uploads/directorate/finance_budget/RailBudget_11-12/RailBudget_2011-12.pdf

Measures taken/proposed to be taken to improve passenger amenities

Some of the measures taken/proposed to be taken to improve passenger amenities are:-

• Introduction of a pan-India, multi-purpose “Go-India” smart card on a pilot basis. This will be one single window package for the passenger to
• seamlessly pay for tickets for long distance, suburban, metro etc. journeys. The card can be used in booking counters, vending machines, internet etc.;
• Two new coaching terminals at Nemam and Kottayam in Kerala, one in Mau Nath Bhanjan in Uttar Pradesh and another in Dankuni, West
• Bengal;
• Better accessibility at stations for physically challenged customers;
• Extension of Rail Yatri Sevaks with modern trolleys to six more stations: New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru and Thiruvananthapuram;
• A new portal for e-ticketing by Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS) is ready and will be launched shortly. Booking of tickets
• through this portal would be cheaper with a charge of only ` 10 for AC classes and ` 5 for others;
• Provision of internet access on Howrah-Rajdhani Express as a pilot project;
• Extension of Train Management System to New Delhi, Bangalore, Secunderabad, Ahmedabad and Lucknow stations to provide information
• on running of trains,
• Introduction of advance booking of retiring rooms.

Source: http://www.indianrailways.gov.in/railwayboard/uploads/directorate/finance_budget/RailBudget_11-12/RailBudget_2011-12.pdf

Thrust of Railway Budget this year is on modernisation

Some of these steps for improving the efficiency of the system that will ultimately benefit railway customers are:-

• Based on the success of the pilot project of SIMRAN, jointly developed by IIT, Kanpur and RDSO, a Real Time Train Information System (RTIS) will provide reliable information on train running.
• Collaboration with Bengal Engineering and Science University, Shibpur for using jute geo-textiles in embankment design.
• A project with IIT, Chennai on prototype manufacture of ultrasonic systems.
• Partnership with Jadavpur University for development of new designs for rail steel bridges.
• A collaborative study with IIT, Mumbai on the problem of corrosion of rails.
• The Centre for Railway Research (CRR), collaboration between IIT, Kharagpur and RDSO, has been sanctioned and is under implementation.
• Centres of Excellence for development and prototyping various types of Mechatronics systems at RCF/Kapurthala and DMW/Patiala;
• E-procurement and e-auction to ensure transparency and economy.
• Development of a comprehensive web-based databank for land and asset management database for optimum utilization of our resources.
• Issuing paperless railway receipts.
• Extend web based system of allotment of iron ore rakes to coal traffic.
• Run double-stack container trains from Gujarat ports to the major ICD at Gurgaon.

Source: http://www.indianrailways.gov.in/railwayboard/uploads/directorate/finance_budget/RailBudget_11-12/RailBudget_2011-12.pdf

Highlights of Railway Budget 2011-12

Following are the main Highlights of Railway Budget 2011-12:

• No hike in passenger fare and freight rates.
• Highest ever Plan outlay of Rs. 57, 630 crore proposed for Railways.
• Rs. 9,583 crore provided for new lines.
• 1300 km new lines, 867 km doubling of lines and 1017 km gauge conversion targeted in 2011-12.
• 56 new Express Trains, 3 new Shatabdis and 9 Duronto trains to be introduced.
• AC Double Decker services on Jaipur-Delhi and Ahmedabad-Mumbai routes.
• New Super AC Class to be introduced.
• A new portal for e-ticketing to be launched shortly.  Booking charges will be cheaper with a charge of only Rs. 10 for AC classes and Rs.5 for others.
• Pan-India multi-purpose smart card “Go India” to be introduced.
• 236 more stations to be upgraded as Adarsh Stations.
• 47 additional suburban services in Mumbai and 50 new suburban services proposed for Kolkata.
• Two new passenger terminals in Kerala and one each in Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal proposed.
• Feasibility study to raise speed of passenger trains to 160-200 kmph to be undertaken.
• A special package of two new trains and two projects for the States managing trouble free run of trains through out the year.
• Anti Collision Devise (ACD) sanctioned to cover 8 zonal railways.
• GPS Based ‘Fog Safe’ Device to be deployed.
• All unmanned level crossing upto 3000 to be eliminated.
• All India Security Help line on a single number set up.
• All state capitals in the North-East except Sikkim to be connected by Rail in next seven years.
• A Bridge Factory in J & K and a state-of-art Institute for Tunnel and Bridge Engineering is proposed at Jammu.
• A Diesel Locomotive Centre will be set-up in Manipur.
• A Centre of Excellence in Software at Darjeeling proposed under the aegis of CRIS.
• Rail Industrial Parks at Jellingham and New Bongaigaon proposed.
• Additional mechanized laundry units to be set up at Nagpur, Chandhigarh and Bhopal.
• 700 MW gas-based power plant to be set up at Thakurli in Maharashtra.
• 18,000 Wagons to be procured during 2011-12.
• A scheme for socially desirable projects, ‘Pradhan Mantri Rail Vikas Yojana’ with Non-lapsable fund proposed.
• 10,000 shelter units proposed for track side dwellers in Mumbai, Sealdah, Siliguri, Tiruchirapalli on pilot basis.
• Concession to physically handicapped persons to be extended on Rajdhani and Shatabdi trains.
• Concession of 50% to press correspondents with family increased to twice a year.
• Senior Citizens concession to be hiked from 30 % to 40 %.
• Medical facilities extended to dependent parents of the Railway employees.
• Scholarship for Girl child of Group-D railway employees increased to Rs.1200 per month.
• 20 additional hostels for children of railway employees to be set up.
• Recruitment for 1.75 lakh vacancies of Group ‘C’ and ‘D’ including to fill up backlog of SC/ST  initiated, 16,000 ex-servicemen to be inducted by March 2011.
• A separate sports cadre to be created.
• 2011-12 declared ‘Year of Green Energy’ for Railways.
• Freight loading of 993 MT and passenger growth of 6.4 % estimated for 2011-12.
• Gross Traffic Receipts at Rs.1,06,239 crore, exceeding one lakh crore mark for the first time estimated.
• Ordinary Working Expenses assessed at Rs. 73,650 crore.

Source: http://pib.nic.in/newsite/pmreleases.aspx?mincode=23

Duronto Trains - Non Stop Travel from Source to Destination

Duronto Express service is a set of specialized train service by Indian Railways which promises a splendid way of fast travel in thorough comfort in various parts of the country. Duronto Express train service is a non-stop service with its exclusive feature of point to point pick and drop. This train service was started for the 2^nd time in Indian Railways, Sampark Kranti being the first one.

The super fast trains of the country, Duronto trains covers source to the destination point journey non-stop with only some prime crew and technical stoppages in between. The super fast trains’ service came into existence during 2009-2010 Rail Budgte under the government of Mamta Banerjee.

The facilities and services offered in Duronto trains are simply commendable ones by Indian Railways. The accommodation type is mainly categorized into five types namely, First AC, 3 AC Tier, 2 AC Tier, Sleeper and Economy.

The coaches of Duronto trains are all very well-painted with impressions of beautiful colours and they are usually 24 m in length relative to the other regular coaches which are about 22.3 m of length. The coaches have been made out of very good quality of stainless steel. All the coaches possess a good discharge toilet system, proper thermal insulation, and superior sound system. They also possess well-fitted air springs, thereby offering a wonderful riding experience even at high speed travel.

The passenger services of these non stop trains comprise of a wonderful pantry car that offers meals whose whole cost is included in the train ticket itself. Alongside, the cost is also quite less compared to other express trains plying on the same routes. Few Duronto Express trains also provide Doctors on board to provide assistance in any case of emergency.

In present times, there are about 34 Duronto Trains that runs between main metro railway stations. The famous Sealdah- New Delhi Duronto Express leaves Sealdah at 6: 40 pm on Thursdays and Sundays and reaches New Delhi railway station at 11 am the very next day. The same train leaves New Delhi at 8: 05 pm on Fridays and Mondays, and reaches the next day at about 12:25 pm.

Mumbai CST Howrah Duronto express train is the latest addition of the Indian Railways. This train runs twice in week. It is a super fast non-stop train service and takes very less time than any other express trains. Then Chennai-H Nizamuddin Duronto is another super fast non-stop train service of India. Its fare is also less.  It commences its journey at Chennai Central and terminates it at Hazrat Nizamuddin railway station of New Delhi.

Fast Facts about Indian Railways

Oldest:

• Railways were first introduced to India in 1853.
• The Fairy Queen is the oldest operating locomotive in the world today.
• The Mumbai–Pune Deccan Queen has the oldest running dining car in Indian Railways.

Fastest:

• The Bhopal Shatabdi Express is the fastest train in India today having a maximum speed of 150 km/h (93 mph).

Longest:

• The Maharaha Railways is world's longest narrow gauge railway line of just 0.6m width from Gwalior to Sheopur of 198 km. in length listed in the UNESCO world heritage tentative list.
• Kharagpur railway station is the world's longest railway platform at 1,072 m (3,517 ft).
• The Himsagar Express has the longest run in terms of distance and time between Kanyakumari and Jammu Tawi on Indian Railways network.

Largest:

• Indian Railways is the world's fourth largest railway network.
• It is one of the world's largest commercial or utility employers, with more than 1.6 million employees.