Arun Jaitley has shown concern about frequent railway accidents in the recent past. A record allocation of Rs 1.31 lakh crore has been made. A railway safety fund of Rs 1 lakh crore will be built up over a period of five years. The budget projects 8% increase in freight traffic to Rs 1.18 lakh crore but passenger traffic at flat Rs 8.2 million. Online booking of tickets will be cheaper. Rs 71 thousand crore will be on staff cost. Capital expenditure will increase 1.3 lakh crore. Railways’ operating ratio will be 94.6%. All unmanned level crossings will be eliminated over a period of three years. Rs 1.30 lakh crore will be earmarked for capex and development expenditure in 2017-18 against Rs 1.21 crore last year. 3500 km of new railway lines will be laid as against 2800km last year. 25 new stations will be redeveloped. Special attention will be paid to cleanliness at platforms, on trains and toilets.
Railways will start a ‘coach mitra facility.’ A single window will be installed to register all coach related complaints and requirements. Five hundred stations will be made for differently-abled by installing lifts and accessories. The railway budget this year is a landmark event as for the first time it has been merged with the union budget. This is unprecedented as the Indian Railways played an important role in the British colonial days and a separate railway budget was presented even after independence. Arun Jaitley and Suresh Prabhu did a fine job.
