Preview of Railway Budget

RAILWAY BUDGET 2004-05

• No hike in freight or passenger fares. Passenger earnings are expected to fall, while freight earnings are expected to go up
• Loading target fixed at 580 million tonnes, 22.7 million tonnes higher than the Railway's loadings in 2003-04
• Freight earnings at Rs 28,745 crore, Rs 1,050 crore higher than the revenue from goods traffic in 2003-04
• Passenger earnings revised upwards from Rs 13,460 crore in 2003-04 to Rs 13,940 crore
• Other coach earnings increased from Rs 930 crore to Rs 1,040 crore, taking into account proposed re-classification of parcel rates
• Target for sundry other earnings estimated at Rs 1,072 crore
• Gross traffic receipts are at Rs 44,902 crore, as against Rs 42,605 crore in the Revised Estimate for the last fiscal
• Ordinary working expenses budgeted at Rs 30,970 crore in the Revised Estimate for 2003-04 have been recast and kept at Rs 32,860 crore for the current fiscal
• Merger of 50 per cent Dearness Allowance with basic pay and increase in diesel prices will be absorbed by stringent measures for expenditure control and zero based budgeting
• Appropriation to the Depreciation Reserve Fund to be maintained at Rs 2,267 crore
• Appropriation to pension fund from revenue at Rs 6,290 crore
• Total working expenses budgeted at Rs 41,417 crore and net traffic receipts at Rs 4,478 crore, up from Rs 4,147 crore in the Revised Estimate
• Current dividend of Rs 3,305 crore and Rs 300 crore towards the deferred dividend liability will be paid
• Annual Plan outlay of Rs 14,498 crore for 2004-05 , of which Rs 7,020 crore will come from exchequer and Rs 401 crore from the Central Road Fund. Internal generation to provide Rs 2,870 crore
• Rs 2,933 crore for the Special Railway Safety Fund , of which Rs 2,075 crore will come from the general exchequer and Rs 858 crore from internal generation
• Rs 300 crore allotment from general exchequer for Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla national project
• Market borrowings of Rs 3,400 crore to be undertaken by IRFC
• Rs 50 crore will come as investment through a BOT project in the Viramgam-Mehsana gauge conversion work
• Rs 947 allotted to new lines, excluding the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla National project, Rs 760 crore for gauge conversion, Rs 479 crore for doubling and Rs 125 crore for electrification
• Outlay on metropolitan transport projects at Rs 385 crore and Rs 717 crore for projects to be executed by the Rashtriya Rail Vikas Nigam
• Inclusive of the Special Railway Safety Fund, Rs 2,570 has been allotted for track renewals, Rs 528 crore for bridges and Rs 813 crore for signalling and telecommunications
• Railway PSUs did well in 2002-03. IRCON earned a net profit of Rs 87 crore, RITES Rs 54.4 crore, CONCOR earned profits of Rs 272.8 crore and IRCTC reported a net profit of Rs 5.5 crore. IRFC raised Rs 2,775 crore from the markets and achieved a net profit of Rs 334.5 crore

PROJECTS

• 273 Km of new lines to be completed
• 17 gauge conversion projects, covering 1,000 km to be completed.
• 1,650 km of broad gauge lines to be added
• Doubling of 381 km of lines
• Electrification of 375 route kms targeted
• Projects in northeastern and southern states expedited
• 72 surveys for new lines, gauge conversion, doubling, including updating of old surveys proposed
• Wagon production to start at the Jamalpur workshop
• Project report to be commissioned on setting up of a new wheel manufacturing plant in Chapra to reduce dependence on imports
• More refrigerated parcel vans to be introduced to encourage movement of perishable commodities

SERVICES

• 15 new express trains to be introduced, in addition to the 17 Sampark Kranti Express trains announced in the interim Budget
• 10 services to be extended
• Frequency of 12 popular trains to be increased
• Railway administration to attempt to increase number of unreserved ordinary class coaches in crowded long distance passenger trains
• Rs 215 crore provided for passenger amenity works like provision of clean drinking water, clean toilets, adequate booking windows, extension of platforms etc in 1100 stations
• Deficiencies in the Minimum Essential Passenger Amenities at all stations to be made good by March 2005
• Special attention to be given to amenities for physically challenged persons
• Additional amenities like snack tables, bottle holders etc for sleeper class passengers in GSCN type coaches
• Deployment of Lady Ticket Checking Squads. Ban on unauthorised vendors entering women's compartments in suburban trains
• 'Village-on-wheels' trains comprising ordinary sleeper class coaches to be introduced to make tourism affordable to the common man

SAFETY

• Rs 10 crore to be spent on setting up the Institute of Rescue and Medical Relief at Bangalore with training modules on disaster management
• Progressive introduction of tightlock centre buffer couplers to prevent coaches from climbing over each other in the case of accidents. Tamil Nadu Express, Andhra Pradesh Express, Godavari Express and Charminar Express to be fitted with them
• 411 old bridges to be rehabilitated this year
• System of 'electronic verification' of arrival of train at stations - block proving by axle counters
• Thrust on development of indigenous digital axle counters
• Provision of anti-collision devices on about 1,700 km of the Northeast Frontier Railways likely to be completed during the year
• Development of field methods to ensure safety on long welded rails
• R&D projects to be undertaken on protection from earthquakes and rehabilitation of bridges, residual life analysis for concrete and masonry bridges, high performance concrete and corrosion protection systems for bridges
• New techniques to be adopted to extend the useful life of bridges by 25 years
• Field trials of stainless steel and aluminium body wagons in order to combat corrosion. Will reduce tare weight and give higher payload per wagon
• Introduction of crew- friendly drivers' cabs and brake vans
• Introduction of a three- phase electric traction system based on insulated gate bipolar transistor technology in Mumbai suburban section to provide higher reliability and improved energy efficiency

IT MEASURES

• Extension of the passenger reservation system to 74 new locations. Currently available at 1,100 locations
• Extension of pilot project on Material Management Information System to all Zonal Railways for effective material management. Will improve material availability and turn over ratio
• Extension of e-procurement to all zonal railways. Will introduce transparency and improve efficiency
• Full computerisation of Claims Offices by the year-end. Will provide on-line information to claimants on unconnected consignments
• Computerised Coaching Refund System to be extended to all zones. Will facilitate refund of unused tickets directly from PRS terminals
• Extension of Unreserved Ticketing System to all zones