New Delhi, Wednesday 24 February 2010: Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday presented India’s rail budget for the next fiscal with the promise of a new business model that will encourage private investment with social commitment.

Highlights of the 2010-11 railway budget presented by Mamata Banerjee in parliament on Wednesday:

– Special drive to increase passenger amenities

– Upgradation of 94 stations

– Six new drinking water bottling plants in public-private partnership (PPP) mode

– Modern toilets at railway stations

– More ticketing centres to help the public

– Acquisition of cutting edge safety technology

– 1,000 route km to be created

– Special task force for clearing investment proposals in 100 days

– New business model to be created

– No privatisation; railways will remain with government but with greater participation of business community

– 117 of 120 new trains for current fiscal to be flagged off

– Concession for madrassa students, artists and journalists achieved

– World-class stations to start within timeframe

– Lagging in roping in post office

– High-speed rail network a priority

– All commitments have been fulfilled in a span of just 7 months

– Increased financial powers of field officers

– Special drive for passenger amenities and cleanliness

–Introduced ‘janata ahaar’

– Other suggestions regarding food being looked into

–PPP model for multi-layer parking

– Six bottling plants for clean drinking water through PPP model

– SMS reservation, updates, double-deckers implemented

– Attendants for senior citizens, children and women for boarding and alighting

– Safety and security a priority

– To improve technology to reduce incidents of accidents

– Anti-collision devices and fire fighting devices to be put up

– All unmanned crossings to be manned

– Modern trolleys at all important stations

– E-ticket based mobile van to provide reservation at important places like hospitals, court, IT centres

– ACD is functioning in NF railways, to be introduced in 3 more zones

– Automatic train fire detection to be introduced

– More underpasses to be built

– Mamata slams ‘rail roko’ protests as they cause inconvenience

– New signaling system to be installed

– More amendment for RPF reorganisation

– More companies of women RPF personal - to be called as ‘mahila vahini’

– Ex-servicemen to be inducted in RPF

– Five sports academies at Delhi, Secunderabad, Chennai, Kolkata and Mumbai

– Increased employment opportunities for sportsmen

– Railways will be the lead partner of Commonwealth Games

– A special train to commemorate Commonwealth Games

– Law and Order a state subject, not Railways’ responsibility

– 14 lakh employees in Indian Railways

– Rabindra Museum in Howrah

– Anti-collision device on 800 km

– Rail Cultural Board to be set up

– MoU with HRD and Health Ministries to set up 181 diagnostic centres

– 101 secondary hospitals to be set up

– Model degree colleges, technical institutes will be also set up on railway land

– ‘Rashtriya swasthya bima yojna’ to be extended to porters and vendors

– New loco training centre to be set up in Kharagpur

– Track training centre in Belighata, West Bengal

– Multi-Functional health centres in 522 locations

– New housing scheme for railway employees

– No change in freight rates

– Research partnership with premier institutes

–CLW capacity to be increased from 200 to 275 locomotives/per year

– Five new coach factories to be set up

– Rai Bareli, Palakkad, Madherpura coach factories to start functioning this year

– Wagon repair shop in Badnera in Maharashtra

– Design development centre for wheels to be set up in Bangalore

– Chennai coach factory to be modernized; a second factory to be also set up

– Rail Axle Factory in Mumbai, Amravati, Jalpaiguri

– Wagon factory to be set up in – Secunderabad, Bhubaneshwar, Guwahati

– Special freight trains for vegetables, vehicles

– Automobiles hubs in 10 centres

– Roll in and roll off service

– Tatkal service for freight movement

– Ten ecological parks to be set up

– Introduce green toilets in at least 10 trains

– Western corridor agreement to be signed next month

– Employment to one member of the land losing family

– New dedicated freight corridors

– East west corridor to be set up

– South-South corridor also proposed

– 54 new trains to be started in 2011

– Tourist trains to run on 16 routes

– Diesel plant in West Bengal

- Passenger earning impacted due to adverse climatic conditions in North India

– 20 hostels for women and children

– 381 diagnostic centers across country in association with Health Ministry

– Wagon repair factory in Mumbai

– Funding for all Metro projects raised by 55 percent

– Railways to acquire 80,000 new wagons

– To launch Ladies special trains called ‘Matrabhoomi’

– Aim to finish Phase II of Mumbai suburburn expansion by 2014

– Port connectivity via PPP

–To achieve 700 km doubling, 800 gauge conversion in FY 11

– To achieve 1000 km electrification in FY 11

– 1,021 route km doubling to be complete in a year

– States to share burden of doubling, electrification

–Master Pan for Northeastern region

– To route socially desirable projects through plan panel

–Gauge Conversion: Triunalveli-Tensaki, Dindigul-Palakkad, Chintamani-Chikballpur, Katiahar-Tejnaiarnapur, Chidwara-Nainpur-Mandla

– Doubling: Talcher-Sambalpur, Mancheral-Pedampaet

– Third-Line: Durg-Rajnandgaon

–Electrification: Chapra-Varanasi-Allahabad, Bellary-Vasco, Bankura-Rainagar, Secundrabad-Medchal