Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu today announced his second Budget in the Lok Sabha. The Railway budget was a relief for the passengers and goods as no increment was imposed to the tariff, whilst the introduction of three new superfast trains, came as cherry on the cake.
Here are some important highlights from the Railway Budget:
1.The three new superfast trains said to be ‘Humsafar’,’Tejas’ and Uday in which the latter will be an overnight double-decker along with ‘Utkrishit’ double-decker air-conditioned yatri express on the busiest routes would be introduced.
2.Humsafar would be the luxurious one with a fully air-conditioned 3AC service with option of meals.,whereas Tejas will pace up the future of India speeding up to 130 km per hour with onboard services such as entertainment, local cuisine and wifi.
3.To enhance the quality 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 ports would also be introduced.
4.The setting up of RDA(Railway Development Authority) was put forward which would help manage. fair pricing of services, promote competition, protect customer interest .The bill would be ready after stakeholder consulations.
5. Rationalizing of tariff structure via competitive analysis with other modes of transport.
6.With the main focus on capital expenditure with different sources of funding the Budget is sized to be around Rs 1.21 lakh crore.
