Highlights of the railway budget 2011-12

Following are the highlights of the railway budget 2011-12 presented by railway minister Mamata Banerjee in Parliament today.* No hike in passenger fare and freight rates.* Highest ever plan outlay of Rs57,630 crore proposed for railways.* Rs9,583 crore provided for new lines.* 1300km new lines, 867km doubling of lines and 1017km gauge conversion targeted in 2011-12.* 56 new Express Trains, 3 new Shatabdis and 9 Duronto trains to be introduced.* AC Double Decker services on Jaipur-Delhi and Ahmedabad-Mumbai routes.* New Super AC Class to be introduced.* A new portal for e-ticketing to be launched shortly.* Booking charges will be cheaper with a charge of only Rs10 for AC classes and Rs5 for others.* Pan-India multi-purpose smart card 'Go India' to be introduced.* 236 more stations to be upgraded as Adarsh Stations.* 47 additional suburban services in Mumbai and 50 new suburban services proposed for Kolkata.* Two new passenger terminals in Kerala and one each in Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal proposed.* Feasibility study to raise speed of passenger trains to 160-200 kmph to be undertaken.* A special package of two new trains and two projects for the states managing trouble free run of trains through out the year.* Anti Collision Devise (ACD) sanctioned to cover 8 zonal railways.* GPS Based 'Fog Safe' device to be deployed.* All unmanned level crossing up to 3000 to be eliminated.* All India Security Help line on a single number set up.* All state capitals in the Northeast except Sikkim to be connected by rail in next seven years.* A bridge factory in Jammu and Kashmir and a state-of-art Institute for Tunnel and Bridge Engineering is proposed at Jammu. * A Diesel Locomotive Centre will be set-up in Manipur.* A Centre of Excellence in Software at Darjeeling proposed under the aegis of CRIS.* Rail Industrial Parks at Jellingham and New Bongaigaon proposed.* Additional mechanised laundry units to be set up at Nagpur, Chandigarh and Bhopal.* 700 MW gas-based power plant to be set up at Thakurli in Maharashtra.* 18,000 Wagons to be procured during 2011-12.* A scheme for socially desirable projects, 'Pradhan Mantri Rail Vikas Yojana' with non-lapsable fund proposed.* 10,000 shelter units proposed for track side dwellers in Mumbai, Sealdah, Siliguri, Tiruchirapalli on pilot basis.* Concession to physically handicapped persons to be extended on Rajdhani and Shatabdi trains.* Concession of 50 per cent to press correspondents with family increased to twice a year.* Senior citizens concession to be hiked from 30 per cent to 40 per cent.* Medical facilities extended to dependent parents of the Railway employees.* Scholarship for girl child of Group-D railway employees increased to Rs 1200 per month.* 20 additional hostels for children of railway employees to be set up.* Recruitment for 1.75 lakh vacancies of Group 'C' and 'D' including to fill up backlog of SC/ST  initiated, 16,000 ex-servicemen to be inducted by March 2011.* A separate sports cadre to be created.* 2011-12 declared 'Year of Green Energy' for Railways.* Freight loading of 993 MT and passenger growth of 6.4 per cent estimated for 2011-12.* Gross traffic receipts at Rs1,06,239 crore, exceeding one lakh crore mark for the first time estimated.* Ordinary working expenses assessed at Rs73,650 crore.