India Ink: What the Rail Budget 2013-14 Means for Passengers

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Indian Railways Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal presented the railways budget for the financial year 2013-14 in Parliament in New Delhi on Tuesday.

This was the first time in 17 years that a politician from the Indian National Congress made the railways budget speech, as the ministry has frequently been offered to allies in coalition governments.

The minister did not announce additional unpopular passenger fare hikes, as the fares were hiked last month, but he did announce increases to a score of other charges, which mean the overall price many passengers pay will increase.

Here are some of the measures which could impact the estimated 25 million people who ride the trains every day.

  • Supplementary fare charges will be increased, including ticket cancellation charges, tatkal (or last-minute booking) charges and super fast train reservation charges.
  • 26 new passenger trains will be introduced.
  • 67 new express trains will be introduced.
  • Frequency of 24 trains will be increased.
  • Online railway bookings will now be available nearly round-the-clock on the Indian Railways website, or from 12:30 a.m. until 11:30 p.m.
  • Improved online service support will allow 7,200 tickets to be booked per minute.
  • 120,000 users will be able to access the online system at any one time, an improvement over the existing 40,000 users.
  • Green initiatives on trains, including “bio toilets,” will be introduced.
  • There will be improvements in infrastructure and quality of food. Some trains will have wi-fi facilities.
  • The 152,000 positions now vacant in the railways will be filled.
  • Eight new units of the railway protection force, or R.P.F., will be introduced to improve the safety of women on trains, and 10 percent of the recruits will be women.

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