Rail Budget'99

Rail Budget'99

HIGHLIGHTS OF RAILWAY BUDGET, 1999-2000 PART - I

Introduction

Challenges before the Indian Railways -- brought out in "Status Paper" and "White Paper" Despite constraint in resources -- most of the announcements made regarding trains in 1998-99 fulfilled

- 440 additional coaches attached in more than 100 trains
- generated additional capacity of 29,000 passengers per day
- 124 new trains introduced, 32 trains extended, frequency of 32 trains increased "1999-2000 Passenger Year"

1999-2000 declared as "Passenger Year" One model station with upgraded terminal facilities to be set up on each Division Improved passenger amenities to be provided on 30 Mail/Express trains apart from Rajdhani/Shatabdi trains Efforts to make Calcutta, Mumbai, Delhi and Chennai free of touts

Passenger Amenities

Customer Care Institute to be opened shortly in Delhi for training of front line staff
PRS Centres of Delhi, Secunderabad, Calcutta and Mumbai already networked - Chennai to be linked by 31.03.99
Computerised monitoring of passenger complaints started on 150 stations
"Interactive Voice Response System" extended to 44 stations
"National Train Enquiry System" to be established for real time information about train running
Pilot Project for Tele-Booking launched
Indian Railways "Web Page" launched
"Tatkal" Scheme extended to hundred trains
Pantry cars to be introduced on eight more trains in 1999-2000
Rail Yatri magazine to be started

Safety

Sitting Judge of Punjab & Haryana High Court, Justice G.C. Garg to head one-man Commission to enquire into Khanna accident
Walkie-Talkie sets for emergency contacts between driver and guard provided on all passenger trains running on 'A' & 'B' routes -- to be provided in goods trains in second phase in 1999-2000
Track Circuiting from "Fouling Mark" to "Fouling Mark" to be completed on all stations of A, B and C routes by 31.03.99
Pilot project of Radio Based Automatic Train Control system to be taken up in Delhi - Mathura section
Rail testing to be intensified. Self Propelled Ultrasonic Rail Testing (SPURT) cars being procured
Stress on manufacture of quality rails
Two chairs set up at Roorkee University for advanced studies in engineering aspects relating to safety
"Railway Safety Review Committee" set up to go into all facets of safety

Accidents at Level Crossings Rs. 2,200 cr needed to convert 24,359 unmanned level crossings into manned gates

Separate Fund proposed for funding construction of ROBs/RUBs and converting unmanned level crossings

A New Plan Head being created to focus attention on safety at level crossings

Assistance sought from Members of Parliament to recommend manning of level crossings through "MPs Local Area Development Scheme". Railways to match with equal number from their own resources

Railway Recruitment Board (RRBs) Functioning of Railway Recruitment Boards streamlined -- recruitment process made more transparent for Group 'C' staff

Interviews after written examinations to be done away with in order to eliminate favouritism and corrupt practices

Group 'D' Recruitment Group 'D' recruitment procedure to be tightened and made more transparent

Selection through objective written test of appropriate standard with physical fitness -- no interviews

Separate Unit under a senior official to be set up in RRBs for the purpose

Upgradation of technology 6,000 HP state-of-art electric loco manufactured at CLW -- unprecedented achievement by any developing country

Contribution to improvement in Environment Ban on sale of cigarettes and bidis on railway platforms and trains from 5th June, 1999 -- the "Environment Day"

Afforestation drive to be intensified -- in future, requirement of wooden sleepers to be met inhouse

Commercial utilisation of land Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation to mobilise resources through commercial utilisation of land/air space Operating and Financial Performance in 1997-98

Railways moved 429.30 million tonnes, almost achieving the target of 430 million tonnes

17.6% growth in Gross Traffic Receipts

Total Working Expenses increased due to implementation of Fifth Pay Commission's recommendations

Dividend of Rs. 1,489 cr paid to General Revenues

Revised Estimates 1998-99 424 mt of loading estimated against Budget target of 450 MT -- due to shortfall in demand from core sector -- reduced earnings of Rs. 1,056 cr projected

Pensionary payment likely to increase by Rs.1530 cr due to impact of Fifth Central Pay Commission's recommendations

Rs. 345 cr saving in non-Plan expenditure -- Plan outlay reassessed at Rs. 8,755 cr from BE outlay of Rs. 9,500 cr

Rs. 1,313 cr to be withdrawn from Railway Fund balances -- market borrowings to go up by Rs. 180 cr

Steps taken by Railways to increase revenues Reduction in classification of some commodities and Volume Discount Scheme to enhance competitiveness

Facility of two-point rake loading provided

Special package for steel sector to attract traffic

Reduced transit time from 95 hours to 48 hours between Delhi and JNPT with new CONCOR wagons -- 40 CONTRACK trains to provide guaranteed transit service for expensive goods

Full powers to General Managers to quote station-to-station rates

Front brakevan of all passenger trains to be leased

Production of parcel vans to recommence

Special parcel trains to be run

Two packet system to be introduced for awarding catering contractsof pantry cars and refreshment rooms -- minimum licence fee to be more than double -- security deposit to be sufficiently increased

Minimum penalty for ticketless travel increased to Rs.250

Rates for commercial advertisements to be increased

Efforts to provide single-window interface to major freight customers

Passenger Services in 1999-2000

New trains to be introduced :- Chennai - Tirupati Shatabdi Express

Shalimar - Haldia Intercity Express

Secunderabad - Machhilipatnam Express

Mumbai - Sawantwadi - Madgaon Intercity Express

Kurla - Patna Superfast Express (Biweekly)

Amritsar - Dharbanga Express via Narkatiaganj (Biweekly)

Jaipur - Bangalore Express via Secunderabad (Biweekly)

Guwahati - Chennai Express (Biweekly)

Delhi - Gandhidham Express (Biweekly)

Delhi - Coimbatore Express (Weekly)

Pune - Ernakulam Express (Weekly)

Raichur - Gulbarga Intercity Service

Kamakhya - New Bongaigaon Passenger

Patna - Mughalsarai Passenger via Gaya

Frequency of following trains to be increased :- 8017/8018 Howrah - Purulia Express from 6 days a week to daily

8463/8464 Bangalore - Visakhapatnam Express from 2 days a week to 4 days a week

1095/1096 Pune - Ahmedabad Ahimsa Express from 3 days a week to 4 days a week

2101/2102 Kurla - Howrah Super Deluxe Express from weekly to 3 days a week

Run of the following trains to be extended :- 4047/4048 Delhi - Gorakhpur Express to Raxaul via Narkatiaganj

5207/5208 Amritsar - Barauni Express to Katihar

4737/4738 Bikaner - Jaipur Express to Ajmer (M.G.)

5741/5742 Alipurduar - Siliguri Intercity Express to New Jalpaiguri (M.G.)

471/472 Vijayawada - Vizianagaram passenger to Rayagada

1555/1556 Guna - Khajuri service to Gwalior

1143/1144 Gwalior - Chhapra Mail to Barauni

8301/8302 Sambalpur - Nizamuddin Hirakud Triweekly Express to Bhubaneswar via Talcher Road

2407/2408 Nizamuddin - Nagpur Gondwana Express on 2 days a week to Bhusaval

6343/6344 Ernakulam - Nizamuddin Swarnajayanti weekly Express to Tiruvananthapuram

2307/2308 Jodhpur-Howrah Express (daily) running via Grand Chord will run via Main Line one day in a week

BG services to be provided on gauge conversion :-

Four pairs of passenger services on Narkatiaganj-Gorakhpur section
Three pairs of passenger services on Indara - Phephna section
Three pairs of passenger services on Lalkuan - Kashipur section

MEMU Services Jhajha - Kiul section

Vijayawada - Kakinada section

Kakinada - Visakhapatnam section

Durg - Raipur- Bilaspur section

DMU Services Anand - Khambat (B.G)

Vijayawada - Bhimavaram - Narsapur (B.G.)

Delhi - Shamli (B.G.)

Mehasana - Tarangahill (M.G.)

Rail Bus Services

Bangarapet - Kolar (B.G.)
Tiruturaipundi - Agastiampalli (M.G.)
Banmankhi - Bihariganj (M.G.)

Security

Efforts made to improve coordination between GRP and RPF
Action initiated to give more investigative powers to RPF
Two battalions of Railway Protection Special Force to be set up - another two planned
Long standing demand of recognition to the Association of Railway Protection Force fulfilled

Annual Plan 1999-2000

Plan outlay proposed at Rs.9,700 cr; to be financed through internal resources : Rs 4,160 cr, Capital from General Exchequer : Rs 2,540 cr and market borrowings of Rs 3,000 cr
Capital from General Exchequer meets 26% of the Plan resources
Rs. 1,000 cr to be withdrawn from Railways' Fund balances
Thrust on safety, Doubling, Traffic Facilities, Track Renewals, Signal & Telecommunications and Passenger Amenities

New Projects

Pending projects costing Rs 34,000 cr including Rs 20,000 cr of New Lines and Rs.9,000 cr of Gauge Conversion projects

Priority of various projects fixed with approval of Cabinet for better investment

Necessary approvals obtained for a large number of projects included in the previous Budgets

New Lines
Approvals obtained Koderma to Giridih

Macherla to Nalgonda

Angamali to Sabarmati via Erumeli

Lalitpur to Satna, Rewa-Singrauli and Khajuraho-Mahoba

Diphu to Karong

Ranchi to Koderma via Hazaribagh

Dharmavaram to Penukonda via Puttaparthy

Chandigarh to Ludhiana

Taran Taran to Goindwal

Kalka to Parvanoo

Bishrampur to Ambikapur

Baramati to Lonand

Bangalore to Satyamangalam

Bidar to Gulbarga

Gadwal to Raichur

Dumka to Baidyanathdham

New Lines completed in 1998-99 174 km of Talcher - Sambalpur line

Panihar - Khajuri section of Guna - Etawah line

New line projects included in 1999-2000 Budget Agra to Etawah via Fatehabad and Bah

Kakinada to Pithapuram

New Lines expected to be completed in 1999-2000 Goalpara - Guwahati

Kashinagar - Kakdweep

Bongaon - Petrapole

Goalpara - Kamakhaya

Peddpally - Karimnagar

Jaruri - Banspani

Kapadvanj - Modasa

Gauge Conversion
Approvals obtained Jaynagar-Darbhanga-Narkatiaganj

Madurai-Rameswaram

Quilon-Tirunelveli-Trichendur-Tenkasi-Virudunagar

Katakhal-Bhairabi

New Jalpaiguri-Siliguri-New Bongaigaon

Bankura-Damodar Railway Line

Gauge Conversion completed in 1998-99 Tambaram-Tiruchchirappalli

Tiruchchirappalli-Dindigul

Shivsagar-Moranhat

Mariani-Jorhat

Gauge Conversion likely to be completed by 31.3.99 Narkatiaganj-Gorakhpur

Babupet-Balarshah

Solapur-Hotgi

Indara-Phephana

Gauge Conversion to be completed in 1999-2000 Pandharpur-Kurduwadi

Nonera-Seoni

Kashipur-Lalkuan

Mudkhed-Adilabad

Arakkonam-Chengalpattu

Yellahanka-Yeshwantpur

Lakshman Tirtha bridge diversion on Mysore-Hassan line

Morbi to Maliya-Miyana and

Dahisara to Navlakhi

Dharangdhara-Kuda
Gandhidham-Bhuj
Projects included in the Budget 1999-2000
Kaptanganj-Thave-Sivan-Chapra
Salem-Viddhachelam-Cuddalore

Doubling
Approval for Yeshwantpur-Tumkur obtained

Projects included in the Budget 1999-2000

Mathura-Bhuteswar (Third line)

Punpun to Taregana

Amroha-Moradabad

Dayabasti, Grade Separator

Chapra-Hajipur

Karpurigram-Siho

Ernakulam Jn-Ernakulam marshalling yard

Rajatgarh to Barang

Diva-Kalyan (Fifth and Sixth line)

Attipattu-Korukakkupettai (Third line)

Railway Electrification
Approvals obtained Lucknow-Kanpur

Kusunda-Jamunia Tand

Ludhiana-Amritsar

Railway Electrification Projects included in the Budget 1999-2000

Ernakulam-Tiruvananthapuram

Mughalsarai-Zafrabad (as the first phase of Mughalsarai-Lucknow via Sultanpur)

Patna-Gaya

Tambaram-Chengalpattu-Villupuram

Chengalpattu-Arakkonam

Suburban Transport Projects

Setting up of Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation approved by Cabinet
Ongoing projects in Mu>
Transfer interrupted!
bling of Belapur-Panvel line; Thane-Turbhe-Nerul-Vashi suburban corridor; Santa Cruz-Borivali fifth line
Extension of Metro Rail from Tollyganj to Garia included in the Budget, 1999-2000
Princep Ghat to Majerhat single line also included in Budget 1999-2000 -- completing full ring of Calcutta Circular Railway and survey for doubling and electrification undertaken
In Chennai, work of MRTS Phase II between Thirumailai and Velacheri progressing well
Delhi Metro Rail Corporation starts work on Phase-I

Surveys
Surveys in the Budget for 1999-2000
New Lines

To bring Talcher station on Cuttack-Talcher-Sambalpur line

Agartala to Akhaura

Almatti to Yadgir

Anupgarh to Bikaner

Badlaghat-Alamnagar-Bhawanipur-Purnea-Dalkhola

Bakreshwar to Siuri

Bisrampur to Jabalpur

Chatra to Tori

Dahanu road to Nasik

Gaya to Daltanganj via Guraru, Gurva, Sherghat and Imamganj

Jabalpur to Panna via Damoh

Jaisalmer to Kandla

Punalur to Erumeli

Khandwa to Nardana via Khargone, Sendhwa

Murshidabad to Kandi via Khagraghat and Behrampur

Nagapattinam to Velankani

Ramganj Mandi to Bhopal via Jhalawar, Aklera, Khilchipur, Rajgarh, Biavra, Narsingarh

Rohtak to Hissar via Meham and Hansi

Tindivanam to Cuddalore via Pondicherry

Patna By-pass line

Kovvur-Bhadrachalam Road

Parli Vaijnath to Ghatandur (for regrading)

Umrer to Nagpur via Khaperkeda and Koradi

Makum to Saikhova Ghat
Gauge Conversion - Surveys

Bardhaman-Katwa

Aunrihar-Jaunpur

Mehasana-Taranga Hill

Pilibhit-Sahajahanpur

Wansjalia-Jetalsar

Tiruchirapalli-Karaikudi-Manamadurai

Doubling - Surveys Lalgola-Krishnanagar with electrification

Renigunta to Tirupati

Baruipur-Lakshmikantpur

Daund-Manmad with electrification

Seoraphuli-Tarakeswar

Konkan Railway Corporation

KRC operating seven pairs of passenger trains and plan to introduce "Konkan Star Service" for passengers and "Roll-on-Roll-off" freight service
Railways' to continue providing operational and financial assistance to KRC

Production Units

All production units achieved their targets in 1997-98

Public Sector Undertakings

All PSUs performed satisfactorily showing net profits

IR received a total dividend of Rs.60 cr in 1997-98 from all its PSUs

Research Designs and Standards Organisation Universal Emergency Communication System (UECS) developed to enhance safety

Developed a dual three-phase EMU design to maintain uninterrupted services in Mumbai during conversion of traction

Medical Facilities Special contributions made towards Pulse Polio Vaccine, AIDS Control and Family Welfare Sports 70% recruitment through open advertisement for greater transparency

5 Gold Medals out of 7 won by Railways in Asian Games

Special Announcements Concessions for handicapped persons with escort extended to AC Chaircar and AC Three-tier (75%) and other AC classes (50%)

Accredited Press Correspondents of Central, State/UTs and District Hqrs. to get 50% concession in all classes upto 30,000 km in a year

30% concessions for recipients of President's Police Medal, in all classes/trains after 60 years of age

Licensed Porters to get one-set of PTO for self and spouse in addition to one second class pass already given for self

Passenger Reservation Terminals PRS terminals to be extended to Rail Agents on experimental basis Highlights of Railway Budget, 1999-2000

PART - II

Budget Estimates 1999-2000

Freight Loading of 450 million tonnes

Growth in Passenger Traffic - 8.5%

Other Coaching and Sundry Other earnings to increase by 5%

Gross Traffic Receipts estimated at Rs.32,411 cr including realisation of outstandings

Ordinary Working Expenses estimated at Rs.25,740 cr - increase of 10.1%

Pensionary Liability estimated at Rs.3,300 cr - Rs.200 cr to be withdrawn from Fund Balance

Appropriation to DRF of Rs.1589 cr; drawdown from Fund Balance of Rs.600 cr.

Total Working Expenses estimated at Rs.30,283 cr.

Net Traffic Receipt at Rs.2,128 cr.

Net Miscellaneous Receipt at Rs.430 cr.

Net Railway Revenue projected at Rs.2558 cr.

Dividend to General Revenues increased to Rs.1,914 cr. as compared to Rs.1,752 cr in Revised Estimates

Excess works out to Rs. 644 cr - falls short of Plan requirement by Rs.1,121 cr

Rs.900 cr to be mobilised additionally; with Rs.221 cr to be met by draw down and interest in the Capital Fund

Proposals regarding freight rates Minor increase of 4% uniformly on freight rate of all commodities

Minor increase in classification of Washed Coal and Caustic Soda Liquor

Concession of 25% in freight rate for traffic upto 50 km

Passenger Tariff Proposals No increase in second class fare of Mail/Express/Ordinary trains and Second Class Season Tickets - special gift to 90% of rail passengers in the "Passenger Year"

Keeping fares of second class Mail/Express trains as base, fares for Air-Conditioned Classes and sleeping accommodation to be rationalised based on comfort levels as under :-

Sleeper Class - 1.55 times;

AC Chair Car - 3 times;

AC 3-tier Sleeper - 4.5 times;

First Class - 5.25 times;

AC-2 tier Sleeper - 7.2 times; and

AC First Class - 14.4 times.

In Ordinary Passenger Trains, Sleeper Class and First Class will be 1.55 times and 5.25 times of the Second Class (ordinary) fare

Fares of Rajdhani/Shatabdi Trains to be revised by making suitable adjustments

Minimum distance for charge to be 100 km for all the Upper Classes

4% increase to be applied on all parcel and luggage scales

Above proposals to yield Rs. 900 cr --- Rs.700 cr - freight; Rs.200 cr - Coaching traffic (Passengers, Parcel and Luggage)