HIGHLIGHTS OF RAILWAY BUDGET, 1999-2000 PART - I
Introduction
Challenges before the Indian Railways -- brought out in "Status Paper" and "White Paper" Despite constraint in resources -- most of the announcements made regarding trains in 1998-99 fulfilled
- 440 additional coaches attached in more than 100 trains
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more...

generated additional capacity of 29,000 passengers per day
- 124 new trains introduced, 32 trains extended, frequency of 32 trains increased

"1999-2000 Passenger Year"
1999-2000 declared as "Passenger Year" One model station with upgraded terminal facilities to be set up on each Division Improved passenger amenities to be provided on 30 Mail/Express trains apart from Rajdhani/Shatabdi trains Efforts to make Calcutta, Mumbai, Delhi and Chennai free of touts
Passenger Amenities
Customer Care Institute to be opened shortly in Delhi for training of front line staff
PRS Centres of Delhi, Secunderabad, Calcutta and Mumbai already networked - Chennai to be linked by 31.03.99
Computerised monitoring of passenger complaints started on 150 stations
"Interactive Voice Response System" extended to 44 stations
"National Train Enquiry System" to be established for real time information about train running
Pilot Project for Tele-Booking launched
Indian Railways "Web Page" launched
"Tatkal" Scheme extended to hundred trains
Pantry cars to be introduced on eight more trains in 1999-2000
Rail Yatri magazine to be started

Safety
Sitting Judge of Punjab & Haryana High Court, Justice G.C. Garg to head one-man Commission to enquire into Khanna accident
Walkie-Talkie sets for emergency contacts between driver and guard provided on all passenger trains running on 'A' & 'B' routes -- to be provided in goods trains in second phase in 1999-2000
Track Circuiting from "Fouling Mark" to "Fouling Mark" to be completed on all stations of A, B and C routes by 31.03.99
Pilot project of Radio Based Automatic Train Control system to be taken up in Delhi - Mathura section
Rail testing to be intensified. Self Propelled Ultrasonic Rail Testing (SPURT) cars being procured
Stress on manufacture of quality rails
Two chairs set up at Roorkee University for advanced studies in engineering aspects relating to safety
"Railway Safety Review Committee" set up to go into all facets of safety

Accidents at Level Crossings
Rs. 2,200 cr needed to convert 24,359 unmanned level crossings into manned gates
Separate Fund proposed for funding construction of ROBs/RUBs and converting unmanned level crossings
A New Plan Head being created to focus attention on safety at level crossings
Assistance sought from Members of Parliament to recommend manning of level crossings through "MPs Local Area Development Scheme". Railways to match with equal number from their own resources

Railway Recruitment Board (RRBs)
Functioning of Railway Recruitment Boards streamlined -- recruitment process made more transparent for Group 'C' staff
Interviews after written examinations to be done away with in order to eliminate favouritism and corrupt practices

Group 'D' Recruitment
Group 'D' recruitment procedure to be tightened and made more transparent
Selection through objective written test of appropriate standard with physical fitness -- no interviews
Separate Unit under a senior official to be set up in RRBs for the purpose
Upgradation of technology 6,000 HP state-of-art electric loco manufactured at CLW -- unprecedented achievement by any developing country

Contribution to improvement in Environment
Ban on sale of cigarettes and bidis on railway platforms and trains from 5th June, 1999 -- the "Environment Day"
Afforestation drive to be intensified -- in future, requirement of wooden sleepers to be met inhouse

Commercial utilisation of land
Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation to mobilise resources through commercial utilisation of land/air space

Operating and Financial Performance in 1997-98
Railways moved 429.30 million tonnes, almost achieving the target of 430 million tonnes
17.6% growth in Gross Traffic Receipts
Total Working Expenses increased due to implementation of Fifth Pay Commission's recommendations
Dividend of Rs. 1,489 cr paid to General Revenues

Revised Estimates 1998-99
424 mt of loading estimated against Budget target of 450 MT -- due to shortfall in demand from core sector -- reduced earnings of Rs. 1,056 cr projected
Pensionary payment likely to increase by Rs.1530 cr due to impact of Fifth Central Pay Commission's recommendations
Rs. 345 cr saving in non-Plan expenditure -- Plan outlay reassessed at Rs. 8,755 cr from BE outlay of Rs. 9,500 cr
Rs. 1,313 cr to be withdrawn from Railway Fund balances -- market borrowings to go up by Rs. 180 cr

Steps taken by Railways to increase revenues
Reduction in classification of some commodities and Volume Discount Scheme to enhance competitiveness
Facility of two-point rake loading provided
Special package for steel sector to attract traffic
Reduced transit time from 95 hours to 48 hours between Delhi and JNPT with new CONCOR wagons -- 40 CONTRACK trains to provide guaranteed transit service for expensive goods
Full powers to General Managers to quote station-to-station rates
Front brakevan of all passenger trains to be leased
Production of parcel vans to recommence
Special parcel trains to be run
Two packet system to be introduced for awarding catering contractsof pantry cars and refreshment rooms -- minimum licence fee to be more than double -- security deposit to be sufficiently increased
Minimum penalty for ticketless travel increased to Rs.250
Rates for commercial advertisements to be increased
Efforts to provide single-window interface to major freight customers
Passenger Services in 1999-2000

New trains to be introduced :-
Chennai - Tirupati Shatabdi Express
Shalimar - Haldia Intercity Express
Secunderabad - Machhilipatnam Express
Mumbai - Sawantwadi - Madgaon Intercity Express
Kurla - Patna Superfast Express (Biweekly)
Amritsar - Dharbanga Express via Narkatiaganj (Biweekly)
Jaipur - Bangalore Express via Secunderabad (Biweekly)
Guwahati - Chennai Express (Biweekly)
Delhi - Gandhidham Express (Biweekly)
Delhi - Coimbatore Express (Weekly)
Pune - Ernakulam Express (Weekly)
Raichur - Gulbarga Intercity Service
Kamakhya - New Bongaigaon Passenger
Patna - Mughalsarai Passenger via Gaya

Frequency of following trains to be increased :-
8017/8018 Howrah - Purulia Express from 6 days a week to daily
8463/8464 Bangalore - Visakhapatnam Express from 2 days a week to 4 days a week
1095/1096 Pune - Ahmedabad Ahimsa Express from 3 days a week to 4 days a week
2101/2102 Kurla - Howrah Super Deluxe Express from weekly to 3 days a week


Run of the following trains to be extended :-
4047/4048 Delhi - Gorakhpur Express to Raxaul via Narkatiaganj
5207/5208 Amritsar - Barauni Express to Katihar
4737/4738 Bikaner - Jaipur Express to Ajmer (M.G.)
5741/5742 Alipurduar - Siliguri Intercity Express to New Jalpaiguri (M.G.)
471/472 Vijayawada - Vizianagaram passenger to Rayagada
1555/1556 Guna - Khajuri service to Gwalior
1143/1144 Gwalior - Chhapra Mail to Barauni
8301/8302 Sambalpur - Nizamuddin Hirakud Triweekly Express to Bhubaneswar via Talcher Road
2407/2408 Nizamuddin - Nagpur Gondwana Express on 2 days a week to Bhusaval
6343/6344 Ernakulam - Nizamuddin Swarnajayanti weekly Express to Tiruvananthapuram
2307/2308 Jodhpur-Howrah Express (daily) running via Grand Chord will run via Main Line one day in a week

BG services to be provided on gauge conversion :-
Four pairs of passenger services on Narkatiaganj-Gorakhpur section
Three pairs of passenger services on Indara - Phephna section
Three pairs of passenger services on Lalkuan - Kashipur section

MEMU Services
Jhajha - Kiul section
Vijayawada - Kakinada section
Kakinada - Visakhapatnam section
Durg - Raipur- Bilaspur section

DMU Services
Anand - Khambat (B.G)
Vijayawada - Bhimavaram - Narsapur (B.G.)
Delhi - Shamli (B.G.)
Mehasana - Tarangahill (M.G.)

Rail Bus Services
Bangarapet - Kolar (B.G.)
Tiruturaipundi - Agastiampalli (M.G.)
Banmankhi - Bihariganj (M.G.)
Security
Efforts made to improve coordination between GRP and RPF
Action initiated to give more investigative powers to RPF
Two battalions of Railway Protection Special Force to be set up - another two planned
Long standing demand of recognition to the Association of Railway Protection Force fulfilled

Annual Plan 1999-2000
Plan outlay proposed at Rs.9,700 cr; to be financed through internal resources : Rs 4,160 cr, Capital from General Exchequer : Rs 2,540 cr and market borrowings of Rs 3,000 cr
Capital from General Exchequer meets 26% of the Plan resources
Rs. 1,000 cr to be withdrawn from Railways' Fund balances
Thrust on safety, Doubling, Traffic Facilities, Track Renewals, Signal & Telecommunications and Passenger Amenities
New Projects
Pending projects costing Rs 34,000 cr including Rs 20,000 cr of New Lines and Rs.9,000 cr of Gauge Conversion projects
Priority of various projects fixed with approval of Cabinet for better investment
Necessary approvals obtained for a large number of projects included in the previous Budgets


New Lines
Approvals obtained
Koderma to Giridih
Macherla to Nalgonda
Angamali to Sabarmati via Erumeli
Lalitpur to Satna, Rewa-Singrauli and Khajuraho-Mahoba
Diphu to Karong
Ranchi to Koderma via Hazaribagh
Dharmavaram to Penukonda via Puttaparthy
Chandigarh to Ludhiana
Taran Taran to Goindwal
Kalka to Parvanoo
Bishrampur to Ambikapur
Baramati to Lonand
Bangalore to Satyamangalam
Bidar to Gulbarga
Gadwal to Raichur
Dumka to Baidyanathdham

New Lines completed in 1998-99
174 km of Talcher - Sambalpur line
Panihar - Khajuri section of Guna - Etawah line

New line projects included in 1999-2000 Budget
Agra to Etawah via Fatehabad and Bah
Kakinada to Pithapuram

New Lines expected to be completed in 1999-2000
Goalpara - Guwahati
Kashinagar - Kakdweep
Bongaon - Petrapole
Goalpara - Kamakhaya
Peddpally - Karimnagar
Jaruri - Banspani
Kapadvanj - Modasa

Gauge Conversion
Approvals obtained
Jaynagar-Darbhanga-Narkatiaganj
Madurai-Rameswaram
Quilon-Tirunelveli-Trichendur-Tenkasi-Virudunagar
Katakhal-Bhairabi
New Jalpaiguri-Siliguri-New Bongaigaon
Bankura-Damodar Railway Line

Gauge Conversion completed in 1998-99
Tambaram-Tiruchchirappalli
Tiruchchirappalli-Dindigul
Shivsagar-Moranhat
Mariani-Jorhat

Gauge Conversion likely to be completed by 31.3.99
Narkatiaganj-Gorakhpur
Babupet-Balarshah
Solapur-Hotgi
Indara-Phephana

Gauge Conversion to be completed in 1999-2000
Pandharpur-Kurduwadi
Nonera-Seoni
Kashipur-Lalkuan
Mudkhed-Adilabad
Arakkonam-Chengalpattu
Yellahanka-Yeshwantpur
Lakshman Tirtha bridge diversion on Mysore-Hassan line
Morbi to Maliya-Miyana and

Dahisara to Navlakhi
Dharangdhara-Kuda
Gandhidham-Bhuj
Projects included in the Budget 1999-2000
Kaptanganj-Thave-Sivan-Chapra
Salem-Viddhachelam-Cuddalore
Doubling
Approval for Yeshwantpur-Tumkur obtained
Projects included in the Budget 1999-2000
Mathura-Bhuteswar (Third line)
Punpun to Taregana
Amroha-Moradabad
Dayabasti, Grade Separator
Chapra-Hajipur
Karpurigram-Siho
Ernakulam Jn-Ernakulam marshalling yard
Rajatgarh to Barang
Diva-Kalyan (Fifth and Sixth line)
Attipattu-Korukakkupettai (Third line)

Railway Electrification
Approvals obtained
Lucknow-Kanpur
Kusunda-Jamunia Tand
Ludhiana-Amritsar
Railway Electrification Projects included in the Budget 1999-2000
Ernakulam-Tiruvananthapuram
Mughalsarai-Zafrabad (as the first phase of Mughalsarai-Lucknow via Sultanpur)
Patna-Gaya
Tambaram-Chengalpattu-Villupuram
Chengalpattu-Arakkonam

Suburban Transport Projects
Setting up of Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation approved by Cabinet
Ongoing projects in Mu>
Transfer interrupted!
bling of Belapur-Panvel line; Thane-Turbhe-Nerul-Vashi suburban corridor; Santa Cruz-Borivali fifth line
Extension of Metro Rail from Tollyganj to Garia included in the Budget, 1999-2000
Princep Ghat to Majerhat single line also included in Budget 1999-2000 -- completing full ring of Calcutta Circular Railway and survey for doubling and electrification undertaken
In Chennai, work of MRTS Phase II between Thirumailai and Velacheri progressing well
Delhi Metro Rail Corporation starts work on Phase-I
Surveys
Surveys in the Budget for 1999-2000
New Lines
To bring Talcher station on Cuttack-Talcher-Sambalpur line
Agartala to Akhaura
Almatti to Yadgir
Anupgarh to Bikaner
Badlaghat-Alamnagar-Bhawanipur-Purnea-Dalkhola
Bakreshwar to Siuri
Bisrampur to Jabalpur
Chatra to Tori
Dahanu road to Nasik
Gaya to Daltanganj via Guraru, Gurva, Sherghat and Imamganj
Jabalpur to Panna via Damoh
Jaisalmer to Kandla
Punalur to Erumeli
Khandwa to Nardana via Khargone, Sendhwa
Murshidabad to Kandi via Khagraghat and Behrampur
Nagapattinam to Velankani
Ramganj Mandi to Bhopal via Jhalawar, Aklera, Khilchipur, Rajgarh, Biavra, Narsingarh
Rohtak to Hissar via Meham and Hansi
Tindivanam to Cuddalore via Pondicherry
Patna By-pass line
Kovvur-Bhadrachalam Road
Parli Vaijnath to Ghatandur (for regrading)
Umrer to Nagpur via Khaperkeda and Koradi
Makum to Saikhova Ghat
Gauge Conversion - Surveys
Bardhaman-Katwa
Aunrihar-Jaunpur
Mehasana-Taranga Hill
Pilibhit-Sahajahanpur
Wansjalia-Jetalsar
Tiruchirapalli-Karaikudi-Manamadurai

Doubling - Surveys
Lalgola-Krishnanagar with electrification
Renigunta to Tirupati
Baruipur-Lakshmikantpur
Daund-Manmad with electrification
Seoraphuli-Tarakeswar

Konkan Railway Corporation
KRC operating seven pairs of passenger trains and plan to introduce "Konkan Star Service" for passengers and "Roll-on-Roll-off" freight service
Railways' to continue providing operational and financial assistance to KRC

Production Units
All production units achieved their targets in 1997-98
Public Sector Undertakings
All PSUs performed satisfactorily showing net profits
IR received a total dividend of Rs.60 cr in 1997-98 from all its PSUs

Research Designs and Standards Organisation
Universal Emergency Communication System (UECS) developed to enhance safety
Developed a dual three-phase EMU design to maintain uninterrupted services in Mumbai during conversion of traction

Medical Facilities
Special contributions made towards Pulse Polio Vaccine, AIDS Control and Family Welfare

Sports
70% recruitment through open advertisement for greater transparency
5 Gold Medals out of 7 won by Railways in Asian Games

Special Announcements
Concessions for handicapped persons with escort extended to AC Chaircar and AC Three-tier (75%) and other AC classes (50%)
Accredited Press Correspondents of Central, State/UTs and District Hqrs. to get 50% concession in all classes upto 30,000 km in a year
30% concessions for recipients of President's Police Medal, in all classes/trains after 60 years of age
Licensed Porters to get one-set of PTO for self and spouse in addition to one second class pass already given for self

Passenger Reservation Terminals
PRS terminals to be extended to Rail Agents on experimental basis
Highlights of Railway Budget, 1999-2000


PART - II
Budget Estimates 1999-2000
Freight Loading of 450 million tonnes
Growth in Passenger Traffic - 8.5%
Other Coaching and Sundry Other earnings to increase by 5%
Gross Traffic Receipts estimated at Rs.32,411 cr including realisation of outstandings
Ordinary Working Expenses estimated at Rs.25,740 cr - increase of 10.1%
Pensionary Liability estimated at Rs.3,300 cr - Rs.200 cr to be withdrawn from Fund Balance
Appropriation to DRF of Rs.1589 cr; drawdown from Fund Balance of Rs.600 cr.
Total Working Expenses estimated at Rs.30,283 cr.
Net Traffic Receipt at Rs.2,128 cr.
Net Miscellaneous Receipt at Rs.430 cr.
Net Railway Revenue projected at Rs.2558 cr.
Dividend to General Revenues increased to Rs.1,914 cr. as compared to Rs.1,752 cr in Revised Estimates
Excess works out to Rs. 644 cr - falls short of Plan requirement by Rs.1,121 cr
Rs.900 cr to be mobilised additionally; with Rs.221 cr to be met by draw down and interest in the Capital Fund

Proposals regarding freight rates
Minor increase of 4% uniformly on freight rate of all commodities
Minor increase in classification of Washed Coal and Caustic Soda Liquor
Concession of 25% in freight rate for traffic upto 50 km

Passenger Tariff Proposals
No increase in second class fare of Mail/Express/Ordinary trains and Second Class Season Tickets - special gift to 90% of rail passengers in the "Passenger Year"
Keeping fares of second class Mail/Express trains as base, fares for Air-Conditioned Classes and sleeping accommodation to be rationalised based on comfort levels as under :-

Sleeper Class - 1.55 times;
AC Chair Car - 3 times;
AC 3-tier Sleeper - 4.5 times;
First Class - 5.25 times;
AC-2 tier Sleeper - 7.2 times; and
AC First Class - 14.4 times.


In Ordinary Passenger Trains, Sleeper Class and First Class will be 1.55 times and 5.25 times of the Second Class (ordinary) fare
Fares of Rajdhani/Shatabdi Trains to be revised by making suitable adjustments
Minimum distance for charge to be 100 km for all the Upper Classes
4% increase to be applied on all parcel and luggage scales
Above proposals to yield Rs. 900 cr --- Rs.700 cr - freight; Rs.200 cr - Coaching traffic (Passengers, Parcel and Luggage)