Rail Budget reflects aspirations of common citizens: Suresh Prabhu
25 Feb 2016 7:17 PM IST25 Feb 2016 7:17 PM IST
Prabhu said the India Railways have a saving of Rs. 8,720 crores from the previous budget estimates.
Union Minister Suresh prabhu said jhis ministry is focusing on upgrading facilities for passengers and is set to launch new initiatives that will overhaul the \"ailing\" Indian Railways.- As for Mumbai, the railway minister proposed an elevated rail corridor from Churchgate to Virar and CST to Panvel.
- 'Deen Dayalu' unreserved coaches with portable water and higher number of mobile charging points would also be introduced.
- A sub-quota of 33 per cent has been pitched in for women in the reserved category. There will also be an increase in quota for lower berths for women and senior citizens.
- Prabhu also proposed an increase in seat quota for the current year, which will include 50 per cent more for senior citizens.
- Porters who are known as 'coolies'would henceforth be known as \"sahayaks\", which translates as \"helpers\" in Hindi \"in line with the evolving image of Indian Railways\", Suresh Prabhu said.
- For improving quality of travel for unreserved passenger, a superfast 'Antyodya' express service would be introduced.
- Wi-Fi services will also be introduced in 100 stations by this year and will extend to 400 more stations over the next two years.
- The railway minister also proposed for Swacch Bharat, stating that 17,000 bio-toilets will be deployed by the end of this fiscal year.
- Prabhu said the accident rate had gone down by 20 per cent from last year. However, he said a lot needs to be done still.
- Prabhu introduced three new superfast trains and announced setting up a dedicated north-south, east-west and east coast freight corridors by 2019.
Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu steered away from introducing contentious passenger fare hikes or freight rate increases as he presented the 2016-17 rail budget in parliament.
Prabhu said the India Railways have a saving of Rs. 8,720 crores from the previous budget estimates.
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