Railway minister Suresh Prabhu on Thursday left passenger and freight fares unchanged and announced a number of people-friendly initiatives, including introduction of three new superfast trains, in the Rail Budget 2016.
Prabhu, presenting his second Rail Budget in the Lok Sabha, said this budget reflects the aspirations of the common people.
The three new superfast trains announced by him include 'Humsafar' which will be a fully air-conditioned 3AC service with the option of meals. 'Tejas' will showcase the future of train travel in India with speeds up to 130 km per hour and onboard services such as entertainment, local cuisine and Wi-Fi.
The two trains will ensure cost recovery through tariff and non-tariff measures while 'Uday' - Utkrishit double-decker air-conditioned yatri- will be an overnight double-decker train on the busiest routes.
For improving quality of travel for unreserved passenger, a superfast 'Antyodya' express service would be introduced. 'Deen Dayalu' unreserved coaches with portable water and higher number of mobile charging points would also be introduced.
He also announced setting up of a Rail Development Authority to enable fair pricing of services, promote competition, protect customer interest and determine efficiency standards. The draft Bill in this regard will be ready after holding extensive stakeholder consultations.Outlining the Budget estimates for the coming year, the minister put the plan size at Rs 1.21 lakh crore.
The focus will be on capital expenditure with a mix of various sources of funding in order to ensure the projects are given assured funding.
The core objective of the Rail Budget it to make railways an engine of employment generation and economic growth at national level, Prabhu said.
"Dignity of passengers, speed of trains and progress of nation are main themes of this budget," he added.
Prabhu said the government has in the past one year taken several measures to build the capacity of the organization to ensure readiness for the accelerated growth envisioned for the Indian Railways.
"The outcome of this exercise has resulted in increased absorption of capital expenditure and reduced project sanction cycle," he added.Prabhu said, "Last year I had unveiled a medium term vision for the Railways, which set us this transformational journey for which we need to reorganise, restructure and rejuvenate this institution."
"We will revisit rules to revitalise the structure. We will innovate and optimize the way forward," he added.
Prabhu said the India Railways have a saving of Rs 8,720 crore from the previous budget estimates.
"We hope to generate revenues to the order of Rs 1,84,820 crore," Prabhu said.
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