New Delhi, Friday 03 July 2009: Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee has begun her speech in the Lok Sabha to present the Railway Budget for 2009.

Banerjee arrived in parliament house Friday morning to present her ministry’s budget for this fiscal, promising to address the demands of the average passenger.

“My budget will be of the people, by the people and for the people,” Banerjee told reporters before leaving for parliament house to present the railway budget in Lok Sabha, the lower house.

“It will be a pro-people budget. A simple budget - people’s budget.” Indian Railways runs the world’s second largest railroad network under a single management, ferrying some 14 million passengers on 7,000 trains daily.

HIGHLIGHTS OF SPEECH

* 50 Railway stations, including CST Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Howrah, Sealdah, will be developed to have world-class facilties.
* Priority areas to be railway catering, punctuality, food, sanity of rail bogeys.
* Banerjee says an expert committee will be set up to advise her on implementation of the so-called economically unviable but socially desired projects.
* Railways to extend helping hand to physically challenged and elderly people by providing ramps, specially designed bogeys.
* Committed for the downtrodden & development of the country.
* One doctor to be posted on long distance trains.
* 50 mobile rail ticket vans to be introduced.
* ATMs on 200 mid and small sized stations.
* Integrated security scheme rolled out for 140 vulnerable stations.
* Cold storages and cargo facilities to eliminate wastage of perishables.
* 309 out of 375 stations will be developed with modern facilities.
* Infotainment services to be provided in major long-distance trains.
* High-capacity, AC double-decker trains to be introduced on selected inter-city routes.
* 50 stations at tourist, religious places to have integrated facilities.
* Passengers can now buy tickets at 5,000 post offices.
* Environment-friendly toilets on trains.
* Air-conditioned double-decker trains for inter-city travel
* Special recruitment drive for the physically challenged, minorities.

* 50 world class stations to be developed on public-private partnership model.
* 200 automatic vending machines at key stations for selling tickets
* Committee under Sam Pitroda to commercialise railways’ optic fibre network
* 3000 new terminals across country
* Private operation of freight terminals to be encouraged
* New factory in West Bengal for making 500 state-of-the-art coaches annually
* Janta khana (peoples’ food) to be provided in railway stations
* Seven nursing colleges to provide employment to railway spouses
* Expert committee to be established to look into economic viability of socially important projects.
* Railways to develop multi-functional complexes with shopping malls, food stalls, medicines and variety stores in different parts of the country.
* SMS updates on wait-listed tickets to be introduced.
* An Integrated Security System is being developed for 130 vulnerable stations to provide security to passengers
* More female commandos to be deployed
* Unreserved ticketing terminals to be expanded from 5000 to 8000
* Focus on cleaner trains, passsenger amenities- food, toilet, water priority
* Development shouldn’t be restricted to a few people
* Mega logistic hubs in Eastern, Western corridors
* An Integrated Security System is being developed for 130 vulnerable stations
* Launch of premium parcel service between 3 stations
* 18,000 wagons to be acquired during the current year
* 800 new locations for ticket reservations; 3000 new un-reserved ticket counters
* Discount for press correspondents increased from 30 to 50%
* Discount of 60% on fare if press correspondents travel with spouse
* Infotainment facilities on Rajdhani Express for long distance passengers
* Toilets to be similar to ones in aircrafts; facilities for every journey longer than 2 hours