Rail Budget likely to focus on signalling system upgrading

The Rail Budget will have proposals for state-of-the-art coach manufacturing units in Karnataka, Gujarat

PTI | March 13, 2012



Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi is likely to spell out a blue print for upgrading signalling and telecommunication system to prevent accidents in the upcoming Rail Budget despite financial constraints.

Besides, the Rail Budget will have proposals for state-of-the-art coach manufacturing units in Karnataka and Gujarat.

Railways which has sought Rs 50,000 crore from Finance Ministry as gross budgetary support (GBS), has got only Rs 25,000 crore for the next fiscal from the central kitty.

The multi-crore action plan for upgradation of the system is slated to cover the 19,000 km long major trunk route such as New Delhi-Mumbai and New Delhi-Kolkata and New Delhi Delhi-Chennai corridors.

"The upgradation exercise is a long-term plan to be carried out in a phased manner," said a source in the railways.

In-cab signalling system, similar to the technolgy followed in European countries and already available with Delhi Metro, would be aggressively taken up by the railways, a mention of which is expected in Trivedi's budget speech on March 14.

Keen on introducing high speed trains, Trivedi is also likley to announce a new bullet train corridor for Rajasthan.

The 591-km Delhi-Jaipur-Ajmer-Jodhpur route is slated to be taken up for pre-feasibility study for introducing bullet trains, which run at a speed of 350 km per hour, and an announcement to this effect is likely to be made on March 14.

Trivedi could also announce a proposal for induction of trains sets, which run at 200 km per hour, on the Delhi-Mumbai route.

A train set consists of a high horse power electronic locomotive with about 10 modern coaches and is estimated to cost Rs 200 crore.

Green initiatives are also likely to get a big boost this time as a proposal for manufacturing as many as 2,500 environmental-friendly toilets could be included in the budget.

The Rail Budget 2012-13 is also slated to have measures for improving passenger amenities at stations and trains.

Railway Minister could announce plan for manufacturing 25,00 green toilets in the next fiscal as green intiative.

Comments

 

Other News

Borrowing troubles: How small loans are quietly trapping youth

A silent crisis is playing out in the pocket of young India, not in stock markets or government treasuries, but in smartphones of college students and first-jobbers who clicked on the Apply Now button without reading the small print.  A decade ago, to take a loan, you had to do some paperwor

A 19th-century pilgrim’s progress

The Travels of a Sadhu in the Himalayas By Jaladhar Sen (Translated by Somdatta Mandal) Speaking Tiger Books, 259 pages, ₹499.00  

India faces critical shortage of skin donors amid rising burn cases

India reports nearly 70 lakh burn injury cases every year, resulting in approximately 1.4 lakh deaths annually. Experts estimate that up to 50% of these lives could be saved with adequate access to skin donations.   A significant concern is that around 70% of burn victims fall wi

Not just politics, let`s discuss policies too

Why public policy matters Most days, India`s loudest debates stop at the ballot box. We can name every major leader and recall every campaign slogan. Still, far fewer of us can explain why a widow`s pension is delayed or how a government school`s budget is actually approved. That

When algorithms decide and children die

The images have not left me, of dead and wounded children being carried in the arms of the medics and relatives to the ambulances and hospitals. On February 28, at the start of Operation Epic Fury, cruise missiles struck the Shajareh Tayyebeh school – officially named a girls’ school, in Minab,

The economics of representation: Why women in power matter

India’s democracy has grown in scale, but not quite in balance. Women today are active participants in elections, influencing outcomes in ways that were not as visible earlier. Yet their presence in legislative institutions continues to lag behind. The Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam was meant to addres


Archives

Current Issue

Opinion

Facebook Twitter Google Plus Linkedin Subscribe Newsletter

Twitter