Highlights of Railway Budget 2016-17

Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu on Thursday presented railway budget for 2016-17 promising to address the issues concerning all stakeholders. There is no mention of railway fare hike bringing a cheer from the passengers.

*2000 km rail route to be electrified in 2016-17

*Rs 30,000 crore is the loss on subsidising passenger fares

*Railways to shift to completely paperless contract system in 2016-17.

*Railways to get Rs 40,000 Cr budgetary support from the government.

*33 percent reservation to women in reserved quota in Railways will be introduced.

* Social media being increasingly used to ensure transparency

* Online booking of retiring rooms made possible

* 17,000 additional bio-toilets to be provided by the end of current fiscal

* Finalised bids for two new loco factories under Make in India initiative

* WiFi facilities at 100 more stations this year and 400 stations next year

* New R&D organisation to be established

* Rs.50 crore to be provided for start-ups by railway employees

* E-catering to be extended to all stations

* Local cuisine of choice to be made available to rail passengers

* LIC to fund Rs.1.5 lakh crore over five years on favourable terms

* Two elevated tracks envisaged from Churchgate and CST on Mumbai’s suburban railway system

* Specialised teams envisaged in specific areas to improve efficiency

* All-India 24X7 helpline for women

* Fully unreserved trains to be operated on high-density corridors

* Local art to be highlighted at railway stations

* Academic facility at Vadodara being upgraded to university level

* To increase lower berth quota for senior citizens by 50 percent

* Dedicated freight corridors envisaged for North-South, East-West and East Coast alignments

* 2,800 km of broad gauge track conversion envisaged

* Seven km of broad gauge lines to be commissioned every day during 2016-17

* Hope to commission 19 km of new broad gauge track every day by 2018-19

* Rs.8.8 lakh crore to be spent on infrastructure in five years

* Rs.40,000 crore expected from the government as budgetary support

* Budget that reflects the expectations of the entire nation

* Making all-out efforts to translate dream of Prime Minister Narendra Modi into reality

* Aiming to achieve operation ratio of 92 percent

* Saving of Rs.8,720 crore from last year’s estimates

* Outlay for railway electrification increased by 50 percent; 2,000 km route to be electrified in next fiscal.

* Railways to generate 9 crore man-days in the financial year 2017-18 and 14 crore man-days in 2018-19.