New Delhi, February 24: Railway Minister Lalu Prasad is likely to roll out innovative measures in the rail budget on February 26. That may include on-board entertainment and fast food facilities along with other amenities as also strategies for energy conservation and safety steps in the wake of the Samjhauta train blasts recently.

On the lines of entertainment provided by Airlines, Lalu may announce launching of this scheme beginning with Shatabdi Trains, Rail Bhawan sources said.

The Ministry, they said, had already received bids from a number of companies for this, including Reliance Infocomm and Adlabs, Tatas and Sahara TV. The bids are yet to be finalised.

Facing a daunting task of providing safe journey to its passengers in the wake of recent Delhi-Atari train link blasts near Panipat, the Railway Minister may come out with a new comprehensive plan to deal with situation taking also into account the growing threats from naxals and militants in several parts of the country.

Lalu may also outline srategies for greater coordination between states and Railways to deal with the situation.

Travelling could be made pleasant with Railways deciding to rope in fast food chains and install vending machines for beverages and food items.

"Our effort is to turn around the image of the Railways through the food served on trains and services available at the stations", said Chairman IRCTC, P K Goel.

Call centre facilities, SMS alerts, tickets at petrol pumps and ATMs were among the new measures already in place by the Railways to enhance its consumer-friendliness.

"We have entered into a contract with a consortium comprising BSNL among others to launch these 24-hour call centres with the all India number '139'," Goel said.

Other facilities like car rentals and value-added tour packages through websites are also in the pipeline. Food served in trains will be brought at par with the airlines with variable menus and diet food for sick passengers, he added.

The Railway Minister is also likely to come out with a strategy on energy conservation in trains, considering the fact that it has one of the largest energy consumers worth Rs 6,400 crores.

"After achieving an overall turnaround in Railways, we are now looking to achieve a similar breakthroughs in the management of our Energy Bill. We are trying to bring an efficiency in our system by adopting a four-pronged strategy, including introduction of more routes, improving technology as well as setting up a captive power plant", the sources said.

The Ministry may also announce several strategies with regard to the electrification of more tracks, including expediting the work in about 5,000 kms during the 11th plan period.

In order to reduce energy dependency, Lalu may also announce utilising non-conventional sources like bio-gas, bio diesel and wind energy for running train.