Highlights of the Railway Budget 2011-12

Following are the highlights of the railway budget 2011-12 presented by railway minister Mamata Banerjee in Parliament

* No hike in passenger fare and freight rates.

* Highest ever plan outlay of Rs57,630 crore proposed for railways.

* Rs9,583 crore provided for new lines.

* 1300km new lines, 867km doubling of lines and 1017km gauge conversion targeted in 2011-12.

* 56 new Express Trains, 3 new Shatabdis and 9 Duronto trains to be introduced.

* AC Double Decker services on Jaipur-Delhi and Ahmedabad-Mumbai routes.

* New Super AC Class to be introduced.

* A new portal for e-ticketing to be launched shortly.

* Booking charges will be cheaper with a charge of only Rs10 for AC classes and Rs5 for others.

* Pan-India multi-purpose smart card 'Go India' to be introduced.

* 236 more stations to be upgraded as Adarsh Stations.

* 47 additional suburban services in Mumbai and 50 new suburban services proposed for Kolkata.

* Two new passenger terminals in Kerala and one each in Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal proposed.

* Feasibility study to raise speed of passenger trains to 160-200 kmph to be undertaken.

* A special package of two new trains and two projects for the states managing trouble free run of trains through out the year.

* Anti Collision Devise (ACD) sanctioned to cover 8 zonal railways.

* GPS Based 'Fog Safe' device to be deployed.

* All unmanned level crossing up to 3000 to be eliminated.

* All India Security Help line on a single number set up.

* All state capitals in the Northeast except Sikkim to be connected by rail in next seven years.

* A bridge factory in Jammu and Kashmir and a state-of-art Institute for Tunnel and Bridge Engineering is proposed at Jammu.

* A Diesel Locomotive Centre will be set-up in Manipur.

* A Centre of Excellence in Software at Darjeeling proposed under the aegis of CRIS.

* Rail Industrial Parks at Jellingham and New Bongaigaon proposed.

* Additional mechanised laundry units to be set up at Nagpur, Chandigarh and Bhopal.

* 700 MW gas-based power plant to be set up at Thakurli in Maharashtra.

* 18,000 Wagons to be procured during 2011-12.

* A scheme for socially desirable projects, 'Pradhan Mantri Rail Vikas Yojana' with non-lapsable fund proposed.

* 10,000 shelter units proposed for track side dwellers in Mumbai, Sealdah, Siliguri, Tiruchirapalli on pilot basis.

* Concession to physically handicapped persons to be extended on Rajdhani and Shatabdi trains.

* Concession of 50 per cent to press correspondents with family increased to twice a year.

* Senior citizens concession to be hiked from 30 per cent to 40 per cent.

* Medical facilities extended to dependent parents of the Railway employees.

* Scholarship for girl child of Group-D railway employees increased to Rs 1200 per month.

* 20 additional hostels for children of railway employees to be set up.

* Recruitment for 1.75 lakh vacancies of Group 'C' and 'D' including to fill up backlog of SC/STinitiated, 16,000 ex-servicemen to be inducted by March 2011.

* A separate sports cadre to be created.

* 2011-12 declared 'Year of Green Energy' for Railways.

* Freight loading of 993 MT and passenger growth of 6.4 per cent estimated for 2011-12.

* Gross traffic receipts at Rs1,06,239 crore, exceeding one lakh crore mark for the first time estimated.

* Ordinary working expenses assessed at Rs73,650 crore.