Focus on consumer: No fare, freight rate hike | 33% sub-quota for women | Baby food on menu | Prabhu chant: Cleaner, easier, faster travel
“We have made the Rail Budget keeping the common people’s interest in mind… We have tried to modernise the system and upgrade safety measures.” — Suresh Prabhu, Railway Minister
Mukesh Ranjan
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, February 25
Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu today desisted from raising fares and freight rates in his second budget but promised to cut cost and exploit new sources of revenue beyond tariff as he announced three new superfast trains and completion of three freight corridors by 2019.“We need to mop up new sources of revenue, expenditure optimisation and new operating structure,” he said.The key announcements in the Rail Budget, in which consumer satisfaction was the operative word, included India’s first rail auto hub in Chennai, boost to e-catering, creation of dedicated north-south, east-west and east coast freight corridors by 2019, connectivity to North-East and Wi-Fi at railway stations.The plan outlay in 2016-17 has been pegged at Rs 1.21 lakh crore, about 20 per cent higher than the current fiscal year’s estimated expenditure. The minister continued his focus on completion of ongoing projects and thus again avoided announcement of new projects.“These are challenging times. We are faced with two headwinds, entirely beyond our control; tepid growth of our economy’s core sectors due to international slowdown and the looming impact of the 7th pay panel and increased productivity bonus payouts,” the minister said.Slowdown in growth of passenger and freight revenues has put pressure on finances and Prabhu said the Railways would need to cut costs, grow its freight business, which provides two-third of its revenue, and target new sources of non-tariff revenue through measures such as redeveloping train stations. Indian Railways has a saving of Rs 8,720 crore from previous budget estimates, Prabhu said, adding: “This year we hope to generate revenues to the order of Rs 1,84,820 crores.” Prabhu announced plans to eliminate all unmanned level crossings by 2020, electrify 2,000-km rail line next year and increase the electrification budget by 50 per cent. The Railways is poised to commission 7 km of broad gauge lines every day in this year against an average of 4.3 km.
Consumer first
- Clean-my-coach service: Send SMS to cleaning staff during journey
- Bar-coded tickets to help tackle ticket-less travel, make journey hassle-free
- Counter tickets can be cancelled on phone quickly by calling 139
For differently abled
- One-time registration
- for availing concessions while booking tickets online
- Online booking of wheelchairs, a disabled-friendly toilet on A1- stations
- Braille-enabled new coaches and all stations under redevelopment to be made disabled friendly
For women and kids
- In all coaches, middle bays will be reserved for women to enhance security
- An all-India 24X7 helpline will be set up specifically for women
For senior citizens
- Quota per coach increased by 50 pc (almost 120 lower berths per train)
Trains on key routes
- Humsafar: AC, optional meals
- Tejas: High-speed (130 kmph)
- Uday: Double-deckerAntyodaya: No reservation
Prabhu retains old fares but sets course for new reforms
RAIL BUDGET Efficiency underlined amid some projects in poll-bound states
NEW DELHI: Railway minister Suresh Prabhu chose gradualism over a big-bang approach on Thursday, fusing entrepreneurship with populism in a ` 1.21 lakh crore investment plan as part of a broad strategy to turn the network into an efficient and profitable organisation.
Prabhu kept fares and freight rates unchanged in the railway budget for 2016-17, but announced new types of trains aimed at catering to the needs of passengers across the income scale. He announced the launch of Antodaya Express, a long-distance, fully unreserved, superfast train service for the common man to be operated on dense routes.
Additionally, the railways will add Deen Dayalu coaches in some long-distance trains for unreserved travel. Another three new services — Humsafar, Tejas and UDAY — are aimed at the relatively well-off passengers.
The second budget of Prabhu, a chartered accountant, had a tinge of political undertone. Two new dedicated freight corridors will connect a crucial industrial town in West Bengal — Kharagapur — to Mumbai and Vijaywada, respectively. The third will run from Delhi to Chennai. A dedicated auto rail hub will also come up in the southern metropolis.
The projects were announced weeks before assembly polls are to be held in both West Bengal and Tamil Nadu. Prabhu, who was hailed for adopting a business-strategy approach to turn around the decrepit 163-year-old network, placed the focus firmly on passengers, announcing a raft of amenities.
These include allowing passengers to cancel tickets by calling in at the dedicated telephone number 139, installing 17,000 hi-tech toilets on trains, rolling out Wi-Fi services in hundreds of stations and professionalising millions of porters or “coolies” by training them in soft skills and renaming them “sahayaks” (helpers). Prabhu, who laid out a ` 8.56 crore five-year turnaround plan last year, had very little room to splurge given a ballooning wage and pension bill on account of the 7th pay commission payouts.
“New revenues, new norms and new structures need to be evolved,” Prabhu said in his hourlong speech.
The minister made it clear he was about to tap earning sources away from passenger fares and goods traffic.
“The business-as-usual approach will have to be abandoned. We need to find new sourcing to fund projects by firming up joint ventures with states, developing new frameworks for PPP, scouting international markets for rupee bonds or by engaging with multilateral and bilateral agencies,” he said.
The railways have targeted to earn R1.84 lakh crore in 2016-17 of which R51,012 crore is expected from passenger fare revenues, a 12.4% rise over last year.
This would imply the railways will have to be able to wean a greater number of passengers from airways, a challenging prospect as low jet fuel prices are expected to keep airfares low.
Against the targeted operating ratio (OR) — the money spent to earn a rupee — of 88.5% this fiscal, the railways are likely to log an OR of 90% while the figure has been pegged even higher at 92% for the next fiscal.
As strategies to yank out the world’s fourth largest rail network from its current state of financial crunch and administrative inertia, the minister is looking at bringing in policy reforms to promote innovative business strategies incorporating opportunities for private and foreign investors as also start-ups to enable the railways to regain the freight market share it has been consistently losing to roads, airlines and pipelines.
Aiming to ramp up non-fare box revenues of the railways from the current levels of around 5% to the global average of approximately 20%, Prabhu elaborated asset-monetisation plans through the launch of schemes such as re-development of stations and opening up of the Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation website to e-commerce activities.
NEW SERVICES
Humsafar — AC3 trains with optional meal service Tejas — Premium super-fast train travelling at 130 kmph UDAY — (Utkrisht Double Decker AC Yatri Express) overnight double-decker train on busy routes Antyodaya Express unreserved superfast trains Deen Dayalu coaches unreserved coaches with potable water and charging points
