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HIGHLIGHTS OF RAILWAY BUDGET,
1998-99
[ Part - I | Part - II ]
 | Introduction
 | Some issues and problems confronting the Railways and their
possible solutions |
| Need for massive investments in Railways |
|
| Economy and Austerity Measures
| Austerity in areas of hospitality, publicity, advertisements,
inaugurations, ceremonies etc |
| Renewed emphasis on prevention of wastages and leakage of resources |
| Monitoring procedures to be put to fullest use and improved
wherever required |
|
| Railway Recruitment Boards (RRBs)
| Administrative set up and procedure for recruitment by the RRBs
thoroughly revamped |
| Railway Recruitment Control Board (RRCB) set up in Railway Board |
| RRCB to control all RRBs and issue policy instructions relating to
recruitment |
|
| Performance in 1997-98
| Railways lift 429.30 million tonnes as against the target of 430
million tonnes |
| Higher by 20 mllion tonnes than 1996-97 |
| Over 64 million tonnes of incremental loading achieved in the past
three years |
| 5 per cent growth recorded in passenger traffic |
| Revised estimate target of 'Excess' of Rs 1,470 cr likely to be
achieved, with marginal variation |
| Plan expenditure expected to be at Revised estimate level of Rs
8,403 cr |
|
| Passenger Services
| New trains to be introduced in 1998-99
 | Bhopal-Hazrat Nizamuddin Express |
| Varanasi-Kurla Express |
| Bhagalpur-Patna Intercity Express |
| Madurai-Coimbatore Express(MG) |
| Guntur-Secunderabad Express |
| Mangalore-Kurla Express (via Konkan Railway) |
| Tiruchchirappalli-Howrah Express (tri-weekly) |
| New Delhi-Muzaffarpur Swatantrata Senani Express via Ballia
and Ghazipur (bi-weekly) |
| Sealdah-New Coochbehar Uttar Banga Express (bi- weekly) |
| Bangalore-Visakhapatnam Express via Guntakal (weekly) |
| Kurla-Howrah Super Deluxe AC Express (weekly) |
| Kurla-Nagpur Super Deluxe AC Express (weekly) |
|
| Increase in frequency of trains :-
| 7029/7030 Hyderabad-Cochin Express from 3 days a week to
daily |
| 4863/4864 Marudhar Express from 4 days a week to daily- on
additional three days train to be routed via Faizabad |
| 5209/5210 Amritsar-Barauni Janseva Express from 3 days to 5
days a week |
| 2715/2716 Nanded-Amritsar Express from 3 days to 5 days a
week |
| 8603/8604 - 8605/8606 Ranchi-Delhi Swarna Jayanti Express
from 2 days to 4 days a week |
| 6339/6340 Mumbai-Nagercoil Express from 3 days to 4 days a
week |
| 8403/8404 Puri-Ahmedabad Express from 3 days to 4 daysa week |
| 5219/5220 Kurla-Darbhanga Express from 2 days to 3 days a
week |
| 9047/9048 Surat-Patna Express from 1 day to 2 days a week |
| 1031/1032 Pune-Varanasi Express from 1 day to 2 days a week |
| 1029/1030 Pune-Howrah Express from 1 day to 2 days a week |
|
| Extension of run of trains :-
| 6683/6684 Mangalore-Palghat Express to Tiruchchirappalli |
| 9759/9760 Delhi-Jaipur Intercity Express to Jodhpur |
| 3447/3448 Dadar-Bhagalpur Express (four days a week) to
Guwahati once a week |
|
| Improved BG services to be introduced after completion of gauge
conversion :-
| Bandra-Bikaner Express |
| Jorhat-Guwahati Express |
| Jodhpur-Ahmedabad intercity Express |
| Tiruchirappalli-Chennai Pallavan Express |
| Chennai-Tiruchchirappalli Rockfort Express |
| Bijapur-Hotgi Passenger (3 pairs of Push-pull services) |
| Express train between Secunderabad-Hubli |
| Villupuram-Tiruchchirappalli Passengers (3 pairs) |
| Tiruchchirappalli-Lalgudi Passenger |
| Extension of 523/524 Kacheguda-Mahbubnagar Passenger to
Dronachelam |
| Extension of 535/536 Secunderabad-MahbubnagarPassenger to
Kurnool Town |
| Extension of 7607 / 7608 Secunderabad-Mahbubnagar
Tungabhadra Express to Kurnool Town |
| Extension of Purna-Mudkhed Passenger to Adilabad |
|
| Services to be introduced after completion of New Lines :-
| Bhubaneswar-Rourkela Express via Sambalpur |
| Talcher-Sambalpur Passenger |
|
| Main line EMU services :-
| Kanpur-Shikohabad |
| Durg-Bilaspur |
| Asansol-Jhajha |
| Purulia-Barddhaman |
|
| DMU services :-
| Daund-Pune |
| Tiruchchirappalli-Karur |
| Buxar-Danapur-Patna |
| Mhow-Indore(MG) |
| Patna-Rajgir |
|
| Rail Bus services :-
| Tumsar Road-Tirodi |
| Silchar-Jiribam(MG) |
| Junagarh-Dhari(MG) |
|
| Trains to be diverted via the Konkan Railway:-
| 2617/2618 Hazrat Nizamuddin-Mangalore Mangala Express |
| 6333/6334 Thiruvanthapuram-Rajkot Express (weekly) |
| 6337/6338 Cochin-Rajkot Express (weekly) |
| 6335/6336 Nagercoil-Gandhidham Express (weekly) |
|
| Load of existing popular trains to be increased to 24 coaches on
selected routes |
| First class accommodation to be revived in limited manner |
| Swarn Shatabdi Express to replace New Delhi-Amritsar-Shatabdi |
| Tatkal scheme to be extended to all super fast trains during
1998-99 |
| Concession to senior citizens enhanced from 25% to 30%; now
extended to all upper classes as well; available in all trains including Rajdhanis and
Shatabdis |
| Candidates attending interviews for Central Government jobs to get
full concession in Second class |
| Facility of advancement or postponement of date of journey extended
to wait listed/RAC passengers |
| To facilitate wait listed passengers, reservation charges to be
collected along with fare |
| Refund now possible at all Zonal Railway headquarters in addition
to ticket issuing stations |
| Licenced shoe-shine boys to get facility of outpatient treatment in
Railway hospitals |
| Two tourist trains planned in collaboration with private sector |
| "Fairy Queen" tourist train finds its name in Guinness
Book of Records |
| Pantry car services to be provided on additional eight trains |
|
| Computerisation of Passenger Services
| Provided at 339 locations covering 95% of total reservations |
| Networking of computer systems established between New
Delhi-Secunderabad extended to Mumbai, Calcutta and Chennai soon |
| Provision of computerised reservation being extended to stations
with 200 reservations per day, instead of 300 as at present. |
|
| Freight Traffic
| Thrust to winning back non-bulk, less than trainload traffic |
| MOUs signed to introduce innovative transportation packages in
collaboration with private sector enterprises in the form of road-railers and
roll-on-roll-off services |
|
| Konkan Railway Corporation
| Konkan Railway line become fully operational |
|
| Annual Plan 1998-99
| Plan size increased to Rs 9,500 cr from Rs 8,300 cr in the interim
Budget; to be financed through internal resources : Rs 4,400 cr,Capital from General
Exchequer : Rs 2,200 cr and market borrowings of Rs 2,900 cr |
| Emphasis on New Lines, Doubling, Traffic Facilities, Track
Renewals, Signal & Telecommunications, and Passenger Amenities |
|
| New Lines
| Lines completed during 1997-98
| Jogighopa- Goalpara - to provide vital rail link between the
north and south banks of the Brahmaputra |
| Nischintapur to Kasinagar |
|
| During 1998-99, Railways to complete
| Angul-Maneswar portion of Talcher-Sambalpur new line
Goalpara-Guwahati |
| Panihar-Khajuri sector of Guna-Etawah line, thus connecting
Guna and Gwalior. |
|
| New Line projects included in the Budget
| Ranchi to Koderma via Hazaribagh and Barkakhana |
| Deoghar to Dumka |
| Raichur to Gadwal |
| Rajgir to Tilaya via Hisua |
| Restoration of Fatuah - Islampur railway line |
|
|
| Gauge Conversion
| Sections to be converted to BG in 1998-99 :-
| Mudkhed-Adilabad (BOLT) |
| Narkatiaganj-Gorakhpur |
| Tambaram-Tiruchirappalli |
| Tiruchirappalli-Dindigul |
| Bayyappanahalli-Yesvantpur |
| Babupeth-Balharshah |
| Solapur-Hotgi |
| Sheosagar-Moranhat |
| Mariani-Jorhat |
|
| Gauge Conversion works included in the Budget
| Gandhidham-Palanpur |
| Thanjavur-Villupuram mainline |
| Bankura-Damodar river railway line |
|
|
| Doubling
| In 1997-98, 160 km of doubling projects completed |
| In 1998-99, 284 km to be doubled, including Diva-Panvel section |
| Doubling of Korba-Gevra Road, Lucknow-Sultanpur and 5th & 6th
lines of New Delhi-Tilak Bridge included in Budget |
|
| Electrification
| Total electrified route -13962 km |
| 445 route km electrified during 1997-98 |
| 500 route km to be electrified during 1998-99 |
| Ninth Plan target kept at 2300 km |
|
| Track Renewals
| Rs 1,425 cr provided at during 1998-99 |
| Emphasis on track renewal on important routes carrying fast or
heavy traffic |
| Effort to eliminate overdue renewals in A, B and C routes on
priority in IX Plan |
|
| Suburban Transport System
| Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu Governments to participate in
development of suburban systems in Mumbai and Chennai respectively |
| Barasat-Hasnabad section to be electrified |
| MRTS from Chennai Beach to Luz fully operational |
| Quadrupling of Borivali-Virar section to be funded through
budgetary resources |
| Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation (MRVC) to be set up |
|
| Surveys
| Surveys in the Budget for 1998-99 |
| For suburban section
| Study of an Inter-modal transport system for Bangalore |
| Techno-Economic study for identifying inputs required for
Commuter traffic in Delhi and National Capital Region |
|
| New Line
| Deoghar-Sultanganj |
| Ghuguli-Pharenda via Maharajganj |
| Agartala-Sabroom |
| Ujjain-Ramganj Mandi via Ghatia, Ghonsala, Agar and Susner |
| Madurai-Kottayam |
| Hyderabad-Raichur |
| Kaithal-Yamuna Nagar via Karnal
Rajanandgaon-Jabalpur |
| Extension of Etah-Baran line up to Shahjahanpur |
| Updating survey for linking Hastinapur |
| Urai-Mahoba/Harpalpur via Rath |
| Tohana-Abohar via Bhuna and Fatehabad |
| Hamirpur-Hamirpur Road |
| Daniawan-Shekhpura via Chandi, Biharsharif and Barbigha |
| Rail linking of Tonk |
| Merta Road-Ajmer |
| Rail linking of Pushkar |
|
| Gauge Conversion
| Kalol-Kadi-Kotasan |
| Chickaballapur-Kolar |
| Bodinayakkanur-Madurai |
| Madurai-Coimbatore |
|
| Doubling
| Gaya-Kiul |
| Delhi-Ahmedabad |
| Bandel-Katwa |
| Hasnabad-Barasat |
|
| Production Units
| All production units achieve production targets and almost
all record best ever performance in 1997-98 |
| "Golden Peacock Award" for quality won by WAP |
| 5 out of 6 Production Units secure ISO 9001 & 9002
certification |
|
| Welfare of Other Backward Classes
| Railways to facilitate formation of association for other
backward classes at the Railway Board's level |
| OBCs Association at Divisional, Zonal and Railway Board's
levels to get the same facility as all India SC/ST Railway Employees Associations |
|
| Sports
| 30 out of 37 national titles won during 1997-98, an all time
high by any sport organisation in the country |
| Two sportspersons win Arjuna award |
| Railway Sports Control Board to be renamed as Railway Sports
Promotion Board |
|
|
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