Bansal heads for Lok Sabha to present Railway Budget, thanks all for best wishes

Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal, who will present the Railway Budget 2013-14 in the Lok Sabha in a couple of hours from now, thanked all his well-wishers.

Bansal, who will present his maiden Railway Budget, earlier held several round of discussions with Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram and the Planning Commission in this regard.

Bansal is likely to announce a number of passenger friendly measures, such as improvement in catering services, development of stations and launching of several new trains.

A majority of the country's population will, however, keep a close eye on whether Bansal yields to pressure of hiking passenger fares yet again or looks at other measures to mobilise resources to offset the burden of the recent diesel price hike.

This will be the first Rail Budget to be presented by a Congress Minister after 17 years.