RAILWAY BUDGET HIGHLIGHTS

++ No increase in passenger fares and freight tariffs

++ Service charges on e-tickets reduced

++ E-ticket vans to be extended to Government Medical College Hospitals , Courts, Universities, IT hubs, IITs and IIMs

++ SMS updates of reservation status and movement of wagons

++ Ticket centres to be opened at district headquarters and village panchayats

++ 100% concession for cancer patients alongwith an escort

++ Modern luggage trolleys with uniformed attendants to assist senior citizens and women passengers

++ Six clean bottling plants to provide cheaper, clean drinking water to passengers

++ 12 companies of women RPF personnel, ‘Mahila Vahini', for the security of women passengers

++ No examination fee for women, minority and economically backward class candidates for Railway Recruitment Boards' exams

++ Question papers now will be made available in local state languages besides Hindi, Urdu and English, examinations will be held on the same day in all regions

++ 117 new train projects to be flagged off by the end of March 2010

++ 52 long distance express trains and 28 passenger trains to be introduced

++ Frequency of 12 trains will be increased and 21 trains will be extended

++ Special trains to mark Rabindranath Tagore's 150 th birth anniversary, for ladies, for uniformed persons and for tourists

++ Double-decker coaches to be introduced in two trains each from Delhi and Kolkata

++ 94 stations to be upgraded as Adarsh Stations, 10 more stations to be upgraded as World Class Stations

++ Automatic fire and smoke detection system to be introduced in 20 trains

++ All the unmanned Level Crossings (LCs) to be manned within five years

++ Rs.41,426 crore outlay proposed, allocation for new lines increased to Rs.2,848 crore from Rs.4,411 crore

++ More money to improve passenger amenities – Rs.1,302 crore in comparision to Rs.923 crore in 2009-10

++ Railway revenue through branding/advertising to go up from Rs.150 crore to Rs.1,000

++ Special Task Force to clear investment proposals within 100 days

++ Concession in freight charges for food-grains and domestic use kerosene

++ Kisan Vision Project for manufacturing refrigerated containers

++ Allotment of iron ore rakes would be accessible through the web. RFID technology to be introduced for tracking of wagons

++ Multi-level parking complexes through PPP route

++ 93 new multi-functional complexes to be developed

++ National High Speed Rail Authority proposed to plan high speed rail corridor

++ Houses for all rail employees in next 10 years

++ 522 hospitals, 50 Kendriya Vidyalayas, 10 residential schools, model degree colleges, technical and management institutes for railway employees