New Delhi, February 24: Following are the highlights of the Railway Budget presented by Laloo Prasad Yadav.
*No increase in passenger fares
*No increase in freight rates
*55 New trains, 37 trains extended
*550 km of new lines to be added in 2006-07
*Number of coaches in 190 trains to be increased
*1,100 km of gauge conversion, 435 km of doubling
*’A’ & ‘B’ category stations to be made model stations
*Fare cut in 1st class AC passenger by 18%
*Fare cut in 2nd class AC passenger by 10%
*Fare cut in 3rd class AC passenger by 25%
*Fully AC 'Garib Rath' to run on a pilot project basis
*Fares in 'Garib Rath' to be 25% lower than AC-III tier.
*Charges leviable on issue of E-tickets reduced
*50% concession in fares to farmers, milk producers
*50% concession to handicapped people
*Rs 22,000 crore for dedicated freight corridor
*Double stack container train to be launched in March
*Private container trains to be allowed by March 31
*Diesel, petrol freight charges down by 8 per cent
*Dynamic pricing policy for freight introduced
*30% discount during non-peak, 20% in peak season on incremental freight
*Freight loading target for 2006-07 at 726 million tonnes
*Freight revenues to be Rs 40,320 crore in 2006-07
*Journey time of Rajdhani, Shatabdi to be reduced
*Upgradation of lower class passengers to higher class
*’Jansadharan ticket booking scheme’ to be launched
*’Gramin ticket booking service’ for rural youth
*200 Mail/Express trains to be made Superfast
*ATMs, cyber cafes to be provided at major stations
*All-India rail timetable to be reworked
*200 automatic ticket vending machines in Mumbai to be set up
*Railway protection force for the security of women
*Passenger revenues to be Rs 16,800 crore in 2006-07
*Largest ever plan outlay of Rs 23,475 crore
*Outlay includes Rs 7,511 cr from central exchequer
*Outlay includes Rs 10,794 crore from internal resources
*Outlay includes Rs 5,170 crore from extra budgetary funds
*Rationalisation of goods tariff to continue
*Number of commodity groups to be reduced from 80 to 28
*Fund Balance increases to Rs 11,000 cr
