Highlights of the Railway Budget 2015-16

b)  
Building Partnerships:

This will require partnering with key
stakeholders: States, PSU’s, partner with multilateral and bi-lateral
organizations & other governments to gain access to long term financing and
technology from overseas, the private sector to improve last mile connectivity,
expand fleet of rolling stock and modernize our station infrastructure.

c)   
Leveraging additional resources:

IR envisages investment of Rs. 8.5 lakh crore in next
five years to be mobilized from multiple sources to cater to funding i.e
Multilateral development banks, pension funds.

d)   Revamping
management practices, systems, processes, and re-tooling of human resources:

Targeted operating ratio for 2015-16 at 88.5%
against 91.8%in 2014-15: best in the last 9 years.

IR to speed up
decision making, tighten accountability, improve management information
systems: training and development of human resource.

e)   
To set standards for Governance and Transparency

Eleven
major thrust areas of Action Plan: 
Quality of life in journeys:

Cleanliness:-Swachh
Rail Swachh Bharat, new department for cleanliness, integrated cleaning by engaging
professional agencies and training our staff, ‘waste to energy’ conversion
plants, new toilets covering 650 additional stations compared to 120 stations
last year. Bio-toilets.

Bed linen: NIFT to design;
online booking of disposable bed rolls:

Help-line:
24X7
helpline number 138;toll-free number 182 for security related complaints.

Ticketing:
operation five minutes for issuing unreserved tickets, hot buttons, coin
vending machines, single destination teller, concessional e-tickets for
differently abled travelers, developing a multi-lingual e-portal, crediting of
refunds through banks, unreserved tickets on Smart phones, proliferation of
automatic ticket vending machines with smart cards and currency options,
integrated ticketing system on the lines of rail-cum-road tickets, Defence
Travel System developed for elimination of Warrants .

Catering:
e-catering
to select meals from an array of choices. Ordering food through IRCTC website
at the time of booking of tickets; integrating best food chains into
this project; setting up of Base Kitchens in specified Divisions to be run by
reputed agencies for serving quality food; expansion of water vending machines.

Leveraging
technology: Hand-held terminals to Travelling Ticket
Examiners (TTEs) for verification of passengers and downloading charts;
possibility of extending facility of SMS on mobiles as a valid proof of travel
for PRS tickets; integrated customer portal as a single interface to access
different services; Introduction of a centrally managed Railway Display Network
in over 2000 stations in next two years; “SMS Alert” service to inform
passengers in advance of the updated arrival/departure time of trains at
starting or destination stations.

Surveillance: surveillance
cameras provided on a pilot basis in selected mainline coaches and ladies’ compartments
of suburban coaches without intruding into privacy.

Entertainment:
project
for introducing on-board entertainment on select Shatabdi trains on license fee
basis launched; Mobile phone charging facilities to be provided in general
class coaches & increased in sleeper class coaches.

Station facilities: 200
more stations to come under Adarsh Station scheme; Wi – Fi to be provided at B
category stations ; facility of self-operated lockers to be made available
at stations; provision of concierge services through IRCTC at major stations;
online booking of wheel chair on payment basis for senior citizens, patients and
the differently-abled passengers through IRCTC on select stations.

Train capacity: capacity
in identified trains be augmented to run with 26 coaches; more General class
coaches be added in identified trains;

Comfortable
travel: NID approached to design user friendly ladders for
climbing upper berths; increasing quota of lower berths for senior
citizens; TTEs be instructed to help senior citizens, pregnant women and
differently-abled persons in obtaining lower berths; middle bay of coaches to
be reserved for women and senior citizen; NID to develop ergonomically designed
seats; introduction of train sets; Provision of Rs. 120 crore for Lifts and
escalator which is 76% higher; newly manufactured coaches will be Braille
enabled; building wider entrances for the ease of differently-abled passengers;
allocation for passenger amenities up by 67% Y-O-Y. Corporate houses & MPs
to be requested to invest in improving passenger amenities at Railway stations
through CSR & MPLAD funds; Divisional Committees in each Railway to be
chaired by Members of Parliament.

Station
Redevelopment

Station
redevelopment policy to be revamped and processes simplified by inviting open
bids; present stations be available for development on “as is where is” basis,
to exploit the space and air rights on concession basis; Zonal and Divisional
offices be empowered for quicker decision making;Land will not be sold;
Development of 10 Satellite Railway terminals in major cities with twin purpose
of decongesting the city and providing service to n suburban passengers.

Capacity
Augmentation

Network expansion:

Decongesting networks
with basket of traffic generating projects priority; priority to last mile
connectivity projects ; fast track sanctioned works on 7,000 kms of
double/third/fourth lines and commission 1200 km in 2015-16 at an investment of
Rs. 8686 crore, 84% higher Y-O-Y.

Commissioning
800 km of gauge conversion targeted in current fiscal.

77 projects covering
9,400 km of doubling/tripling/quadrupling works along with electrification,
covering almost all States, at a cost of Rs. 96,182 crore which is over 2700%
higher in terms of amount sanctioned.

Traffic
facility works a top priority with outlay of Rs. 2374 crore .

In the North East
States, Meghalaya brought on the Railway map of India and direct connectivity
to Delhi provided. Barak Valley to be connected on BG .

Award of 750 km of
civil contracts and 1300 km of system contracts in 2015-16 on Dedicated Freight
Corridor; 55 km section of Eastern DFC to be completed in the current year.
Preliminary Engineering cum Traffic Survey (PETS) for four other DFCs in
progress.

Acceleration of pace
of Railway electrification: 6,608 route kilometers sanctioned for 2015-16 ,an
increase of 1330% over the previous year.

Expansion of freight
handling capacity

Transport Logistics Corporation of India
(TRANSLOC), to be set up for developing common user facilities with handling
and value-added services to provide end-to-end logistics solution at select
Railway terminals through Public Private Partnerships.

For the benefit of our
farmers, a state of the art Perishable Cargo Centre under completion at the
Azadpur Mandi with a scientific banana-ripening Centre; air cargo sector to be
developed to facilitate and integrate the movement of air cargo between ICDs
and the gateway airports.

Policy
for Private Freight Terminals (PFT) to be revised.

Automatic
Freight Rebate Scheme for traffic to be expanded

Long haul freight operations to be used
extensively; construction of long loop lines to be expedited. Distributed power
system for multi-loco haulage to be accelerated.

Improving train speed

Speed of 9 railway corridors to be increased
from existing 110 and 130 kmph to 160 and 200 kmph respectively so that
inter-metro journeys like Delhi-Kolkotta and Delhi-Mumbai can be completed
overnight.

Average speed of freight trains in empty and
loaded conditions, will be enhanced to 100 kmph for empty freight trains and 75
kmph for loaded trains; loading density on all major freight bearing routes to
be upgraded to 22.82 tonne axle loads.

Bullet train

Feasibility study for
High Speed Rail between Mumbai-Ahmadabad is in advanced stage and report
expected by the mid of this year. For other high speed routes on the diamond
quadrilateral, studies are being commissioned.

Upgrading
manufacturing capability

Creation
of job opportunities by upgrading the manufacturing capability.

Functioning of Indian Railways Production
Units and Workshops would be reviewed to provide them a cutting edge; measures
for technological upgradation and enhancing productivity be undertaken to make
them self-sustaining.

Safety

Action plan being
prepared for areas where accidents occur: five-year corporate safety plan by
June 2015 indicating annual quantifiable targets; Pending recommendations made
by High Level Safety Review Committee headed by Dr. Kakodkar Committee to be
examined by April 2015.

RDSO to develop a
suitable device with reliable power supply system based on theft-proof
panels/batteries in consultation with Indian Space Research Organization, using
geo-spatial technology for providing audio-visual warning to road users at
unmanned level crossings; radio based signal design project been taken up with
IIT Kanpur for warnings at unmanned level crossing.

970 ROB/RUBs and other safety-related works
to eliminate 3438 level crossings at a total Railway expense of Rs. 6,581 crore
have been sanctioned which is 2600% higher than the previous year covering most
States.

Train Protection Warning System and Train
Collision Avoidance System to be installed on select routes at the earliest.

Modern track structure consisting of sleepers
and heavier rails being used while carrying out primary track renewals. Better
welding techniques being promoted; digital type machines to replace analogue
type machines.

Technology upgradation

Constituting an innovation council called “Kayakalp”
for business re-engineering and introducing a spirit of innovation in Railways.

Technology
portal being constituted to invite innovative technological solutions.

Strengthening of RDSO
into an organization of excellence for applied research; four Railway

Research
Centers to be set up in select universities for fundamental research; ‘Malaviya
Chair’ for Railway Technology at IIT (BHU), Varanasi to be set up.

Consortium of Ministry
of Railways, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Ministry of Science And
Technology and Industries on to take up identified Railway projects for
research.

IT vision to be unveiled: information on
latest berth availability station navigation system, bar coded/RFID tracking of
parcels and freight wagons, automated parcel warehouses. Integration of train
control and asset management applications.

Mechanize
integrated track maintenance.

Partnerships
for development

PPP
cell to be revamped to make it result oriented.

Projects for rail
connectivity to many ports and mines being developed under participative
models; simplification of procedures and consistency of policy to be ensured.

“Foreign
Rail Technology Cooperation scheme” to be launched. MUTP III for Mumbai to be
taken up.

Joint ventures to be
set up with States for focused project development, resource mobilization, land
acquisition, project implementation and monitoring of critical rail projects.

JVs
to be set up with major public sector customers for meeting requirements of new
lines.

Improvements
to Management Processes and Systems

Delegate,
de-centralize, de-regulate & simplify to be the new mantra.

Systems
audit to be conducted for review of all processes and procedures. Global
benchmarks for key operating and maintenance activities.

Improve appraisal
mechanism for the selection of projects and introduce simulation tools for
project planning and decision-making; introducing EPC system of contracting.

Constitution of a working group to modify
present system of accounting, to ensure tracking of expenditure to desired
outcomes.

Train
operations to be audited.

Paperless working in material management
system to be expanded; Vendors to be integrated through Vendor Interface
Management System to provide single window interface to vendors.

Resource
Mobilisation

Plan Budget up by 52%
from Rs. 65,798 crore to Rs. 1,00,011 crore in 2015-16. Support from the

Central
Government 41.6% of the Plan and Internal generation 17.8 %; setting up of a
Financing Cell in the Railway Board.

Setting
up an infrastructure fund, a holding company and a JV with an existing NBFC of
a PSU with IRFC, for raising long term debt from domestic as well as overseas
sources, including multilateral and bilateral financial institutions.
Monetisation of assets rather than selling them.

Digitized
mapping of land records and responsibility fixing for encroachments.

New strategy to tap latent advertising
potential, including offering stations and trains for corporate branding.

Coastal Connectivity Program. Railways in
partnership with ports will deliver rail connectivity to Nargol, Chharra,
Dighi, Rewas and Tuna.

Projects worth Rs 2500
crore through BOT/ Annuity route. These include Wardha- Nagpur 3rd line,
Kazipet-Vijaywada 3rd line, Bhadrak –Nargundi 3rd line and Bhuj- Nalia Gauge
Conversion.

Scrap
disposal policy to be reviewed for speedier scrap disposal.

Human
Resources

Human Resource Audit to be undertaken.
Focused Human Resource strategy to raise employee productivity in line with
global standards. Separate accounting head for HRD. ERP based Human Resource
Management System.

Special training module on soft skills for frontline
staff so that our customers feel welcomed. Training in yoga.

Setting
up a full-fledged University during 2015-16.

Improved
delivery of health services to employees: Upgradation of four Holiday Homes.

Energy
and sustainability

Environment Directorate to be constituted in
Railway Board to give increased focus and thrust on environment management.

Detailed
energy audit for energy saving.

Procure power through the bidding process at
economical tariff from generating companies, power exchanges, and bilateral
arrangements. Initiative likely to save at least Rs. 3,000 crore in next few
years.

Solar Power as part
of the Solar Mission of Railways. 1000 MW solar plants will be set up by the
developers on Railway/private land and Railway buildings with subsidy/viability
gap funding support of Ministry of Non-Renewable Energy in next five years.

Water conservation
mission including water audit and expansion of water harvesting systems.

Accreditation
for environment management to be extended.

100 DEMUs to be enabled for dual fuel – CNG
and diesel. Locomotives running on LNG are also currently under development.

Noise levels of locos
to be at par with international norms; concerns related to wildlife to be
addressed.

Investing in Indian
Railways necessary for our ecological sustenance mainly due to efficiencies of
fuel consumption.

Transparency and Governance initiatives

System of on-line
applications introduced for two categories of recruitment as a pilot project-
to be extended.

All
possible solutions be explored to address menace of corruption. E-procurement
value chain being expanded.

Constituting a
mechanism for making regulations, setting performance standards, determining
tariffs & adjudicating disputes among licensees/private partners and the
Ministry, subject to review in appeal.

Social
initiatives

Infrastructure like
stations and training centers to be made available for skill development.
Indian Railways personnel and their services also available for this national
cause.

Promotion of products
made by Self Help Groups, consisting mainly of women and youth on the model of
Konkan Railway.

Tourism

Incredible Rail for Incredible India to be
launched; Promotion of training of auto-rickshaw and taxi-operators as
tourist-guides on the model of Konkan Railway.

Coaches in select
trains connecting major tourist destinations to travel agencies may be offered
on a revenue sharing model.

IRCTC to work on
promoting the Gandhi circuit to attract tourists to mark the occasion of 100
years of the return of Mahatma Gandhi to India from South Africa; IRCTC will
work on Kisan Yatra, a special travel scheme for farmers for farming &
marketing technique centres.

FINANCIAL
PERFORMANCE 2014-15:

     Net reduction in Gross Traffic Receipts by Rs 917 crore
compared to the BE of Rs 1,60,165 crore.

Growth in Ordinary
Working Expenses (O.W.E) scaled down to 11.7% as against BE of 15.5% y-o-y.
Taking into account the likely savings accruing from drop in prices of HSD
(high speed diesel) for traction partly offset by higher requirements under
certain heads for maintenance, safety and cleanliness activities, the budgeted
O. W. E. of Rs 1,12,649 crore decreased in the RE 2014-15 to Rs. 1,08,970 crore
i.e. by Rs 3,679 crore.

Appropriation
to the Pension Fund has been increased to Rs. 29,540 crore in RE.

Internal resource generation also improved and
accordingly the appropriation to DRF has been scaled up to Rs 7,975 crore in RE
from the BE 2014-15 provision of Rs 7,050 crore.

After taking into account the above, “Excess”
of receipts over expenditure stands at Rs 7,278 crore in RE 2014-15 reflecting
better financial management.

Plan size for 2014-15
increased from Rs 65,445 crore in the B.E to Rs 65,798 crore in the Revised
Estimates i.e. by Rs 353 crore with higher provisions under internal resource
component and market borrowings for rolling stock requirement.