All the zones in Indian Railways have been instructed to ensure availability of
‘Janata Khana’.
Presenting the Railway Budget for 2009-10 in the Lok Sabha today, the Railway Minister, Kumari Mamata Banerjee said that national and regional cuisines would be introduced in the catering by the Railways.
All railway zones have also been instructed to give priority to provision of good quality food, drinking water and toilet facilities and ensure cleanliness on trains and stations.
A comprehensive policy including strict monitoring mechanisms would be developed soon for achieving these objectives.
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Railway Budget 2009-10: 'Only Ladies' suburban trains in metros
NEW DELHI: To facilitate working women facing difficulties in travelling to thier workplaces, Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday
announced introduction of 'Only Ladies' EMU train services.
Presenting the Railway Budget for 2009-10, she said that these train services will be introduced in Delhi, Chennai and Kolkata suburban routes on the pattern of Mumbai suburban lines.
Presenting the Railway Budget for 2009-10, she said that these train services will be introduced in Delhi, Chennai and Kolkata suburban routes on the pattern of Mumbai suburban lines.
Mamata prunes tatkal bookings charges from Rs 150 to Rs 100
NEW DELHI: Railway minister Mamata Banerjee has reduced the Tatkal charges from Rs 150 to Rs 100. The Tatkal fares will be a fixed percentage of
the actual fare.
Earlier, Railway officials had said the tatkal scheme, used by Lalu to earn railways more than Rs 1,000 crore in the past three years, has failed to impress Mamata and she may prune the scheme. But Mamata has let it stay. Originally, tatkal was about allocating a few berths to those who had not booked in advance, but needed to travel even if at a higher cost.
Under Lalu Prasad, the Tatkal scheme took on a big dimension, almost turning into a revenue spinner when the former railway minister, in keeping with his populist leanings, would not touch fares and had to rationalise freight to cope with the competition from truck operators.
Railway officials acknowledge that the scope of tatkal has far exceeded what it was supposed to be and they were dreading losing a source of revenue.
They say that under Lalu's scheme, the revenue shot up remarkably as the number of tatkal berths went up. While the number of berths in tatkal every day in all trains put together was a little over 40,000 in 2005-06, in the past three years, it reached almost a lakh.
During the same period, the revenue earned through tatkal has gone up from over Rs 200 crore in 2006 to over Rs 500 crore in the last fiscal. In 2007-2008, it was over Rs 350 crore. Initially, there would be a single, separate coach for tatkal, but Lalu's brainchild led to introduction of tatkal berths even in regular coaches.
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Earlier, Railway officials had said the tatkal scheme, used by Lalu to earn railways more than Rs 1,000 crore in the past three years, has failed to impress Mamata and she may prune the scheme. But Mamata has let it stay. Originally, tatkal was about allocating a few berths to those who had not booked in advance, but needed to travel even if at a higher cost.
Under Lalu Prasad, the Tatkal scheme took on a big dimension, almost turning into a revenue spinner when the former railway minister, in keeping with his populist leanings, would not touch fares and had to rationalise freight to cope with the competition from truck operators.
Railway officials acknowledge that the scope of tatkal has far exceeded what it was supposed to be and they were dreading losing a source of revenue.
They say that under Lalu's scheme, the revenue shot up remarkably as the number of tatkal berths went up. While the number of berths in tatkal every day in all trains put together was a little over 40,000 in 2005-06, in the past three years, it reached almost a lakh.
During the same period, the revenue earned through tatkal has gone up from over Rs 200 crore in 2006 to over Rs 500 crore in the last fiscal. In 2007-2008, it was over Rs 350 crore. Initially, there would be a single, separate coach for tatkal, but Lalu's brainchild led to introduction of tatkal berths even in regular coaches.
Railway Budget 09-10: Kolkata Port may devise scheme for time-bound container movement
KOLKATA: Kolkata Port may look at devising a scheme based on premium service for container movement with assured transit time for time sensitive
cargo. This service of assured time bound container movement was announced by railway minister Ms Mamata Banerjee on Friday.
"Although we are yet to receive the fine print of the service announced, we may look at devising a scheme on its basis that will offer timebound movement of goods. At present, there is hardly any container movement through railroads in the region. The service may now create demand for container movement through railroads in the region," said a senior Kolkata Port official.
In addition, permission to access private sidings for containers will help attracting piecemeal traffic which at present is not being carried by the railways. This is also likely to create demand for container cargo in the region.
The concept of time bound container service has been welcomed by all segments of the industry. "At present, Container Corporation on India does not offer any time bound services through railroads. If the service is started, it is likely to result in faster turnaround of assets," said P V K Mohan, chairman, Committee of Containerisation, as well as chairman of Sea Way Shipping Ltd told ET.
"At present, one needs to wait indefinitely for railways to move containers since it waits for the entire rake to be loaded. This results in abnormal delays and losses to trade in some cases. We also assume this time bound movement will involve departure and arrival at a pre-defined time. However, the real success of this service will depend on consumer confidence," he added.
President, Indian Shipping Association, Mr Nopany said: "The railways have been introducing so many schemes as well as new trains and services on the existing infrastructure. The question that comes to mind is whether railways would be in a position to properly run these services and schemes. However, the idea of a time-bound programme is excellent specially for perishable cargo. Additionally, turnaround time for containers will be greatly reduced."
cargo. This service of assured time bound container movement was announced by railway minister Ms Mamata Banerjee on Friday.
"Although we are yet to receive the fine print of the service announced, we may look at devising a scheme on its basis that will offer timebound movement of goods. At present, there is hardly any container movement through railroads in the region. The service may now create demand for container movement through railroads in the region," said a senior Kolkata Port official.
In addition, permission to access private sidings for containers will help attracting piecemeal traffic which at present is not being carried by the railways. This is also likely to create demand for container cargo in the region.
The concept of time bound container service has been welcomed by all segments of the industry. "At present, Container Corporation on India does not offer any time bound services through railroads. If the service is started, it is likely to result in faster turnaround of assets," said P V K Mohan, chairman, Committee of Containerisation, as well as chairman of Sea Way Shipping Ltd told ET.
"At present, one needs to wait indefinitely for railways to move containers since it waits for the entire rake to be loaded. This results in abnormal delays and losses to trade in some cases. We also assume this time bound movement will involve departure and arrival at a pre-defined time. However, the real success of this service will depend on consumer confidence," he added.
President, Indian Shipping Association, Mr Nopany said: "The railways have been introducing so many schemes as well as new trains and services on the existing infrastructure. The question that comes to mind is whether railways would be in a position to properly run these services and schemes. However, the idea of a time-bound programme is excellent specially for perishable cargo. Additionally, turnaround time for containers will be greatly reduced."
Railway Budget 09-10: Wagon makers revitalised by Mamata Banerjee
KOLKATA: Wagon makers have been truly revitalised by Railway minister Mamata Banerjee. Compared to 11K wagons per annum, the railway minister on
Friday announced that 18K vehicle units would be manufactured in 2009-10.
"There’s a huge demand for EMU/MEMUs and Metro coaches in the country and capacity addition is an immediate requirement," the railway minister announced on Friday.
What’s more, Indian Railways intends to set up a new coach manufacturing factory in the Kanchrapara-Halisahar Railway complex on existing railway land either through JVor PPP routes.
Railway Budget 2009-10 also stresses on modernisation of rolling stock through induction of high-end technology for new design, higher capacity wagons, higher horse power locos and stainless steel coaches & wagons.
On increased wagon procurement, Texmaco president & CEO Ramesh Maheshwari said: "The railway budget for ‘09-10 augurs well for wagon units with robust infrastructure and technology platform, and those engaged in the manufacture of special purpose, new design, high payload wagons. There will also be a huge requirement of special wagons because of the renewed emphasis on infrastructure development to spur economic growth and the railway’s programme to accelerate dedicated freight corridor."
Echoing similar sentiments, Titagarh Wagons vice-chairman & managing director Umesh Chowdhary said, "By increasing the number of wagons to be purchased, railway minister has ensured that there is adequate capacity available in the railway infrastructure to attract more traffic from the roadways. The emphasis on developing railway infrastructure including the dedicated freight corridor will also woo traffic from road to rail".
"Railway minister has shown commendable vision by putting the public private partnership route in focus. From the proposed EMU coach factory at Kanchrapara to upgradation of important stations to international standards, or developing multi-functional complexes, she has opened a new vista for using the resources and expertise of the private sector. This is going to bring in unprecedented growth in Indian Railways," Mr Pawan K Ruia, chairman, Ruia Group, pointed out.
Mr Maheshwari, however, is of the view that "there is a pressing need for the railways to review and energise the ‘liberalised wagon investment scheme’ to encourage procurement of wagons under the PPP model since the scheme has virtually remained inoperative compared to the earlier ‘wagon investment scheme’. The ‘wagon leasing scheme’ announced by the railways in April 2008 has also remained largely inert and calls for a review to remove a few irritants so that the scheme may take off at the earliest."
Friday announced that 18K vehicle units would be manufactured in 2009-10.
"There’s a huge demand for EMU/MEMUs and Metro coaches in the country and capacity addition is an immediate requirement," the railway minister announced on Friday.
What’s more, Indian Railways intends to set up a new coach manufacturing factory in the Kanchrapara-Halisahar Railway complex on existing railway land either through JVor PPP routes.
Railway Budget 2009-10 also stresses on modernisation of rolling stock through induction of high-end technology for new design, higher capacity wagons, higher horse power locos and stainless steel coaches & wagons.
On increased wagon procurement, Texmaco president & CEO Ramesh Maheshwari said: "The railway budget for ‘09-10 augurs well for wagon units with robust infrastructure and technology platform, and those engaged in the manufacture of special purpose, new design, high payload wagons. There will also be a huge requirement of special wagons because of the renewed emphasis on infrastructure development to spur economic growth and the railway’s programme to accelerate dedicated freight corridor."
Echoing similar sentiments, Titagarh Wagons vice-chairman & managing director Umesh Chowdhary said, "By increasing the number of wagons to be purchased, railway minister has ensured that there is adequate capacity available in the railway infrastructure to attract more traffic from the roadways. The emphasis on developing railway infrastructure including the dedicated freight corridor will also woo traffic from road to rail".
"Railway minister has shown commendable vision by putting the public private partnership route in focus. From the proposed EMU coach factory at Kanchrapara to upgradation of important stations to international standards, or developing multi-functional complexes, she has opened a new vista for using the resources and expertise of the private sector. This is going to bring in unprecedented growth in Indian Railways," Mr Pawan K Ruia, chairman, Ruia Group, pointed out.
Mr Maheshwari, however, is of the view that "there is a pressing need for the railways to review and energise the ‘liberalised wagon investment scheme’ to encourage procurement of wagons under the PPP model since the scheme has virtually remained inoperative compared to the earlier ‘wagon investment scheme’. The ‘wagon leasing scheme’ announced by the railways in April 2008 has also remained largely inert and calls for a review to remove a few irritants so that the scheme may take off at the earliest."
Railway Budget 09-10: Opportunities for cold chain infrastructure in West Bengal
KOLKATA: Mamata Banerjee’s announcement that "the railways will encourage creation of cold storages for perishable goods at certain select
stations in partnership with the private sector" is seen as an opportunity for expanding the cold chain infrastructure in West Bengal. This was indicated by a top official in the state department of food processing industry and horticulture.
If the Railways really take such an initiative, the department in the first place wants creation of such facilities at Howrah, Sealdah, New Jalpaiguri and Siliguri stations, said the official who spoke to ET on the condition of anonymity.
Elaborating on the point, he said even as Howrah and Sealdah are not production centres per se of farm goods, they are important commercial hubs and gateways to multiple consumption centres in adjoining districts of Kolkata. If a cold chain infrastructure can be built near New Jalpaiguri and Siliguri stations, it will immensely improve the farm economy of north Bengal, which is slowly emerging as an important production centre for fruits, vegetables and flowers, he said.
Another official closely linked with the development of a flower hub at Mallickghat said if a cold storage comes up at Howrah, under the sponsorship of the railways, it can be integrated with the upcoming flower auction mart at the Mallickghat, construction of which is underway.
At present, the state has two large sized cold chains for perishable goods. Named as Centre for Perishable Cargo (CPC), one such chain has come up at the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport in Kolkata and another at Bagdogra airport, which have been funded and implemented by the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA).
The railways minister’s announcement of involving the private sector in building cold storages at stations has been welcomed by the West Bengal Cold Storage Association. An official of the association said it will encourage private developers to venture into the cold storage building ventures. Plus, creation of multi-product cold chains, under the railways patronage, at important production centres, as announced by Ms Banerjee, will be of great help to vegetable growers and floriculturists in the state since 80% of the total cold storage capacity here is devoted to preserving potato, he said.
To link production centres with consumer centres through special trains for transporting handloom and handicraft products, as announced by the railways minister in her budget speech, possibilities can be explored linking some SSI clusters in the state, said an official of the MSME Development Institute. Initially, such linkages can be built at few of the state’s important traditional craft hubs like Shantiniketan, Bankura, Purulia and Khagra, he suggested.
However, site selections for setting up cold chains or for creation of new link routes for ferrying handicraft/handloom items rest entirely with the railways. The minister in her 2009-10 railway budget speech has clearly stated that the railways will tie up with professional agencies to identify locations and designing proper services while selecting such sites and routes.
stations in partnership with the private sector" is seen as an opportunity for expanding the cold chain infrastructure in West Bengal. This was indicated by a top official in the state department of food processing industry and horticulture.
If the Railways really take such an initiative, the department in the first place wants creation of such facilities at Howrah, Sealdah, New Jalpaiguri and Siliguri stations, said the official who spoke to ET on the condition of anonymity.
Elaborating on the point, he said even as Howrah and Sealdah are not production centres per se of farm goods, they are important commercial hubs and gateways to multiple consumption centres in adjoining districts of Kolkata. If a cold chain infrastructure can be built near New Jalpaiguri and Siliguri stations, it will immensely improve the farm economy of north Bengal, which is slowly emerging as an important production centre for fruits, vegetables and flowers, he said.
Another official closely linked with the development of a flower hub at Mallickghat said if a cold storage comes up at Howrah, under the sponsorship of the railways, it can be integrated with the upcoming flower auction mart at the Mallickghat, construction of which is underway.
At present, the state has two large sized cold chains for perishable goods. Named as Centre for Perishable Cargo (CPC), one such chain has come up at the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport in Kolkata and another at Bagdogra airport, which have been funded and implemented by the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA).
The railways minister’s announcement of involving the private sector in building cold storages at stations has been welcomed by the West Bengal Cold Storage Association. An official of the association said it will encourage private developers to venture into the cold storage building ventures. Plus, creation of multi-product cold chains, under the railways patronage, at important production centres, as announced by Ms Banerjee, will be of great help to vegetable growers and floriculturists in the state since 80% of the total cold storage capacity here is devoted to preserving potato, he said.
To link production centres with consumer centres through special trains for transporting handloom and handicraft products, as announced by the railways minister in her budget speech, possibilities can be explored linking some SSI clusters in the state, said an official of the MSME Development Institute. Initially, such linkages can be built at few of the state’s important traditional craft hubs like Shantiniketan, Bankura, Purulia and Khagra, he suggested.
However, site selections for setting up cold chains or for creation of new link routes for ferrying handicraft/handloom items rest entirely with the railways. The minister in her 2009-10 railway budget speech has clearly stated that the railways will tie up with professional agencies to identify locations and designing proper services while selecting such sites and routes.
Rail Budget 2009-10: 'Duronto' the non-stop train
KOLKATA: For the first time in the country, the Rail budget has introduced non stoprain services betwen key cities. Named ‘Duronto’, the new
service with AC and Non-AC sleepers will provide 12 new links across the country. These will provide point-to-point services between key cities. Some five out of the 12 links are from the East.
Four of these will be from West Bengal while one is from Orissa to Delhi. Depending on the success of this service, the minister promised to extend it to other cities.
The 12 new non-stop fast trains announced by Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee in her rail budget speech between select cities will take less time than even the Rajdhani Express to complete their journey. The trains will clock maximum speeds of 120 km per hour.
"This has been made possible since these trains, unlike the Rajdhani Express, will have no intermediate stoppages and run in much the same speeds clocked by Rajdhani," Railway Board Member -Traffic, Shri Prakash said.
For example, he said, the new bi-weekly non-stop train between New Delhi and Howrah will take 16 hours to cover the journey, as against 17 hours taken by Rajdhani Express. All 12 trains have been announced between cities where the volume of passenger traffic and demand is high.
"We are targeting long-distance passengers from terminal points like Kolkata and Delhi for instance. On this route, this will lead to higher availability of space for passengers along the intermediate stations like, Dhanbad and Asansol for instance," he explained. "Our aim is also to target higher passenger revenue , apart from higher freight earnings," he said.
"The trains will, however, have technical stoppages at a few stations like Gaya and Kanpur for instance for facilitating staff but the "transit time will come down drastically ", he said. There will be no change in the locomotive.
Railways are in the process of adding more capacity in terms of new lines and also the Dedicated freight corridor which will be able to accomodate these new trains, he said.
Duronto services will run between:
Howrah-Mumbai (AC) Non stop (Bi-weekly)
Howarh-Delhi Non Stop (Bi-weekly)
Sealdah-New Delhi Non Stop (Bi-weekly)
Kolkata-Amritsar Non Stop (Bi-weekly)
Bhubaneswar-Delhi Non Stop (weekly)
service with AC and Non-AC sleepers will provide 12 new links across the country. These will provide point-to-point services between key cities. Some five out of the 12 links are from the East.
Four of these will be from West Bengal while one is from Orissa to Delhi. Depending on the success of this service, the minister promised to extend it to other cities.
The 12 new non-stop fast trains announced by Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee in her rail budget speech between select cities will take less time than even the Rajdhani Express to complete their journey. The trains will clock maximum speeds of 120 km per hour.
"This has been made possible since these trains, unlike the Rajdhani Express, will have no intermediate stoppages and run in much the same speeds clocked by Rajdhani," Railway Board Member -Traffic, Shri Prakash said.
For example, he said, the new bi-weekly non-stop train between New Delhi and Howrah will take 16 hours to cover the journey, as against 17 hours taken by Rajdhani Express. All 12 trains have been announced between cities where the volume of passenger traffic and demand is high.
"We are targeting long-distance passengers from terminal points like Kolkata and Delhi for instance. On this route, this will lead to higher availability of space for passengers along the intermediate stations like, Dhanbad and Asansol for instance," he explained. "Our aim is also to target higher passenger revenue , apart from higher freight earnings," he said.
"The trains will, however, have technical stoppages at a few stations like Gaya and Kanpur for instance for facilitating staff but the "transit time will come down drastically ", he said. There will be no change in the locomotive.
Railways are in the process of adding more capacity in terms of new lines and also the Dedicated freight corridor which will be able to accomodate these new trains, he said.
Duronto services will run between:
Howrah-Mumbai (AC) Non stop (Bi-weekly)
Howarh-Delhi Non Stop (Bi-weekly)
Sealdah-New Delhi Non Stop (Bi-weekly)
Kolkata-Amritsar Non Stop (Bi-weekly)
Bhubaneswar-Delhi Non Stop (weekly)
Railway Budget 09-10: Minorities, women to get better representation in railway jobs
NEW DELHI: Minorities, women and the economically backward can now look forward to "better representation" in railway jobs with Minister Mamata
Banerjee today announcing to develop a new scheme for them.
The Railway Minister said separate special recruitment drives will also be conducted to fill up vacancies of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and physically challenged.
"It is proposed to develop a scheme to give better representation to minorities, women and economically backward classes of society in railway jobs," Banerjee said while presenting the Budget.
Noting that she had received some observations regarding the functioning of Railway Recruitment Boards, Banerjee said the recruitment policy and its functioning will be reviewed shortly.
"Special recruitment drives will be launched to wipe out backlog in filling up the vacancies of SCs/STs...A special recruitment drive will be launched for filling up the vacancies against physically handicapped quota," she said.
Banerjee also said that sports persons will also get "their share" in recruitment.
Banerjee today announcing to develop a new scheme for them.
The Railway Minister said separate special recruitment drives will also be conducted to fill up vacancies of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and physically challenged.
"It is proposed to develop a scheme to give better representation to minorities, women and economically backward classes of society in railway jobs," Banerjee said while presenting the Budget.
Noting that she had received some observations regarding the functioning of Railway Recruitment Boards, Banerjee said the recruitment policy and its functioning will be reviewed shortly.
"Special recruitment drives will be launched to wipe out backlog in filling up the vacancies of SCs/STs...A special recruitment drive will be launched for filling up the vacancies against physically handicapped quota," she said.
Banerjee also said that sports persons will also get "their share" in recruitment.
Railway Budget 09-10: Industry welcomes Mamata's `unique' Railway Budget
NEW DELHI: The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) on Friday welcomed the Railway budget presented by Railways Minister Mamata
Banerjee.
"This budget is unique in the way inclusivity and overall development has been the focus without losing focus on safety, technology adoption and commercialization while providing opportunities for industry though its capacity expansion programme and setting up infrastructure through PPP mode," said Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General, CII.
"The move to not increase fares and yet undertake developmental and capacity expansion plans with revenue coming from commercial use of railway property is an innovative approach," he added.
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"This budget is unique in the way inclusivity and overall development has been the focus without losing focus on safety, technology adoption and commercialization while providing opportunities for industry though its capacity expansion programme and setting up infrastructure through PPP mode," said Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General, CII.
"The move to not increase fares and yet undertake developmental and capacity expansion plans with revenue coming from commercial use of railway property is an innovative approach," he added.
Railway Budget 09-10: Youth and students
KOLKATA: The student and youth brigade gave a big thumbs-up to the Railway Budget 2009-10 on Friday as Mamata Banerjee announced a slew of
initiatives for Gen-Next.
Among the several proposals outlined by the union railway minister, one of the most appreciated was the Yuva air-conditioned (AC) trains dedicated to the young generation where one would have to pay Rs 299 for distances upto 1,500 km and Rs 399 for distances upto 2,500 km.
The new low-priced fast train service will be started to connect youth and low income groups in rural hinterlands to major metros/cities. The train will run from point to point for distances ranging from 1000 km to 2500 km. For starters, a weekly service will be introduced as a pilot service within three months in the Mumbai to Delhi and Delhi to Kolkata sections.
Priyadarshika Das who’s studying architecture in Cuttack, Orissa was all praise for the move. "That’s a huge discount from the current fares. Many students who are studying in other states can’t afford AC fares when they are travelling home. This is great for them," she said. At present, fares in a mail/express train’s AC chaircar for distances around 1500 km hover around the Rs 840 mark, while for distances of 2500 km, they come in at around Rs 1100.
Student concessions too, were aplenty.
The free monthly season tickets for second class travel between school and home for girl students up to graduation and for boy students up to 12th standard is proposed to be extended to students attending madrasa, high madrasa and senior madrasa.
This concessional monthly season ticket scheme has been extended for travel in the Kolkata Metro rail, Kolkata and would also be applicable to students attending recognised vocational institutions. Metro concession would be 60% of the regular fare. Scholarships will be introduced for the higher education of girl children of railways’ Group ‘D’ staff. Salma Khatun is delighted.
"This is a very welcome initiative by the railway minister. I only hope that all the measures are implemented and don’t just remain at the proposal stage."
Rohan Jaikishen, IIM Kozhikode’s Batch of 2010 was gung-ho about the Budget as well. "The initiatives taken by our railway minister are encouraging. While many may dismiss this as a political gimmick, I believe that the youth centric measures taken by Ms. Banerjee will benefit the student community immensely. I am particularly excited about the scholarships for higher education of girl children of group D staff and is a clear indication that the ideal of inclusive growth shall be implemented wherever possible. Even the Yuva trains initiative is very well thought out and will make urban colleges and schools accessible to the youth of rural India thereby providing them better education opportunities."
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Among the several proposals outlined by the union railway minister, one of the most appreciated was the Yuva air-conditioned (AC) trains dedicated to the young generation where one would have to pay Rs 299 for distances upto 1,500 km and Rs 399 for distances upto 2,500 km.
The new low-priced fast train service will be started to connect youth and low income groups in rural hinterlands to major metros/cities. The train will run from point to point for distances ranging from 1000 km to 2500 km. For starters, a weekly service will be introduced as a pilot service within three months in the Mumbai to Delhi and Delhi to Kolkata sections.
Priyadarshika Das who’s studying architecture in Cuttack, Orissa was all praise for the move. "That’s a huge discount from the current fares. Many students who are studying in other states can’t afford AC fares when they are travelling home. This is great for them," she said. At present, fares in a mail/express train’s AC chaircar for distances around 1500 km hover around the Rs 840 mark, while for distances of 2500 km, they come in at around Rs 1100.
Student concessions too, were aplenty.
The free monthly season tickets for second class travel between school and home for girl students up to graduation and for boy students up to 12th standard is proposed to be extended to students attending madrasa, high madrasa and senior madrasa.
This concessional monthly season ticket scheme has been extended for travel in the Kolkata Metro rail, Kolkata and would also be applicable to students attending recognised vocational institutions. Metro concession would be 60% of the regular fare. Scholarships will be introduced for the higher education of girl children of railways’ Group ‘D’ staff. Salma Khatun is delighted.
"This is a very welcome initiative by the railway minister. I only hope that all the measures are implemented and don’t just remain at the proposal stage."
Rohan Jaikishen, IIM Kozhikode’s Batch of 2010 was gung-ho about the Budget as well. "The initiatives taken by our railway minister are encouraging. While many may dismiss this as a political gimmick, I believe that the youth centric measures taken by Ms. Banerjee will benefit the student community immensely. I am particularly excited about the scholarships for higher education of girl children of group D staff and is a clear indication that the ideal of inclusive growth shall be implemented wherever possible. Even the Yuva trains initiative is very well thought out and will make urban colleges and schools accessible to the youth of rural India thereby providing them better education opportunities."
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