Introducing the Railway Budget 2008-2009
1. Speaker Sir, I present the Railway Budget for the year 2008-09 with asense of deep pride and satisfaction. Each year we have progressively raised thebar based on our own successes. The cash surplus of the Railways rose steadilyfrom Rs 9000 cr in 2005 to Rs 14000 cr in 2006 to Rs 20000 cr in 2007. Theaugust House would be happy to know that in 2007-08, we will create history onceagain by turning in a cash surplus before Dividend of Rs. 25000 cr. Ouroperating ratio has also improved to 76%. Indian Railways is a GovernmentDepartment. However, we take pride in the fact that our achievement, on thebenchmark of net surplus before Dividend, makes us better than most of theFortune 500 companies in the world. We are taking the Indian Railways tounprecedented heights. On this path of progress, 14 lakh rail employees haveworked shoulder to shoulder with the passenger as a guiding beacon to write astory of success in which several billions have been earned despite reduction infares. It is for this reason that Indian Railways has received acclaim worldover as a unique mega enterprise. This success is the result of out of the boxthinking and a passion to follow the road less traveled.
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Sab kah rahe hain humne gazab kaam kiya hai
Karoron ka munafa har ek shaam diya hai
Phal salon yeh ab dega, paudha jo lagaya hai
Sewa ka, samarpan ka, har farz nibhaya hai.
2. Many are surprised by the successive landmarks set by the Indian Railways.While the common man is happy to see this picture of development, there are somepeople who still view this success with suspicion. I would only like to statethat our achievements are like an open book. In the last four years, we haveturned in a cumulative cash surplus before dividend of Rs. 68,778 cr. Out ofthis Rs. 15,898 cr has been paid as dividend, Rs. 39,215 cr has been invested inrail infrastructure and Rs. 13,665 cr has been added to fund balances to reachRs 20,483 cr.
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3. Sir, the dire straits the Railways were in prior to the UPA Government isnot hidden from anybody. The Railways were battling a deep financial crisis inwhich they defaulted on the dividend payable to Government of India and were notin a position to undertake timely replacement of overage assets. Today, afterthe financial turnaround of the organization, the same people are making tallclaims, trying to take credit for the financial turnaround.
Ujra chaman jo chhod gaye thay, humarey dost,
Ab baat kar rahe hain, wo fuslay bahaar ki.
4. We have not only offered dreams but have also made them a reality. Even aswe improved the railways financial performance, we have offered the masses thenations most economical, efficient and profitable transport system. There is nogreat mystery behind the strategy of this turnaround. It is common knowledgethat the marginal cost in a capital-intensive business like Railways issubstantially less than the average cost of operations. It is for this reasonthat we followed a strategy of playing on volumes, driving down unit cost,reducing tariffs and increasing market share to achieve record profits. Thefocus is on increasing yield per train rather than increasing tariff perpassenger or per ton. Just as ever falling call charges have brought mobilephones within the reach of crores of people, for the first time lakhs of poorpeople have enjoyed the comfort of air-conditioned travel in Garib Rath bypaying a little more than non AC sleeper fares.
5. In the last 4 years, we have achieved incremental loading of 233 MT andhave added Rs 14000 cr of freight earnings by reducing the wagon turnaround timeand increasing payload.
6 Instead of making across the board increases in tariff we undertookrationalization of the freight tariff. While on the one hand we reduced freighttariff for petrol and diesel, on the other we increased the tariff for iron orefor exports. We earned an additional Rs. 2000 cr by giving lean season discountsand levying peak season surcharge.
7. Instead of increasing passenger fares, we concentrated on increasing thelength of passenger trains. During 2004-05 to 2007-08, we added 3000 additionalcoaches thereby earning an additional Rs. 2000 cr.
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8. Earnings from parcel, advertisement, land lease etc. have registered anunprecedented growth. In four years, other coaching and sundry earnings arelikely to increase from Rs 1900 cr to Rs. 4700 cr.
9. Instead of distressing our customers we concentrated on enhancedutilization of our assets and increasing their productivity. The investmentpolicy gave priority to low cost high return projects. This helped indebottlenecking of the network, better utilization of rolling stock, decrease intransit times and increase in throughput.
10. An excellent synergy between investment, commercial, tariff and operatingpolicies helped us achieve spectacular financial results. Railways competitiveedge has been sharpened through strategic alliances. By giving license to runcontainer trains to shipping and road transport companies we have made partnersout of our erstwhile competitors.
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11. We are not idling our surplus but are investing it for augmenting therail capacity to sustain the financial turnaround. In the last four years, theplan size of the Railways has increased from Rs. 13000 cr to Rs. 30000 cr.
In short: Nayee kathni, nayee karni, nayee ek soch laye hain, Tarakki kinayee parasmani hum khoj laye hain.
Current year’s performance
12. Our physical and financial performance in the first nine months of theyear 2007-08 has once again exceeded expectations. Freight loading to end ofDecember 2007 registered a growth of 8.2% and earning from freight was Rs.33,447 cr. Based upon the current trend, we have increased the budgeted targetof freight loading for the year 2007-08 from 785 MT to 790 MT and increased thetarget for Freight Earnings by Rs. 800 cr. Similarly, Passenger Earnings haveregistered an increase of 14% to end of December. Accordingly, the RevisedEstimates for Goods Earnings have been fixed at Rs. 47,743 cr, PassengerEarnings at Rs. 20,075 cr, Sundry other Earnings at Rs. 2,637 cr, Other CoachingEarnings at Rs. 2,200 cr and Gross Traffic Earnings at Rs. 72,655 cr.
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13. Sir, I had made a provision of Rs. 750 cr in Ordinary Working Expensesand Rs. 500 cr in the Pension Fund in anticipation of recommendations of the 6thPay Commission. Implementation of recommendations of the 6th Pay Commission isnot likely in the current year. In view of this and through economy measures,there is likely to be a saving of Rs. 966 cr in Ordinary Working Expenses and Rs.400 cr in the Pension Fund. The Revised Estimates provide for Ordinary WorkingExpenses at Rs. 41,721 cr, appropriation to Pension Fund at Rs. 8250 cr andappropriation to DRF at Rs. 5450 cr. In this manner, Total Working Expenses arelikely to be Rs. 55,421 cr. Cash surplus before Dividend is likely to be Rs.25,065 cr and Net Revenue Rs. 18,416 cr. Besides paying the current Dividend ofRs. 4218 cr, deferred Dividend liability of Rs. 664 cr will also be cleared in2007-08. Railway’s Operating Ratio in the year 2007-08 is likely to be 76.3%.Sir, in the glorious history of the Railways in independent India, it is thefirst occasion when Return on capital invested in railways will reach anhistoric level of 21%.
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Goal par goal daag rahe hain, hum har match mein,
Desh ka bachha bachha bolay, Chak de Railway.
Passenger Amenities
14 Sir, rail passengers are our revered guests. ‘Atithi Devo Bhav’ hasbeen a tradition in our country for centuries. Goddess Lakshmi has beenexceptionally considerate on us during the last four years. We have broughtabout several important changes to make the travel experience of our guestspleasant, comfortable and secure, which I would like to share in brief with theaugust House. Termination of long queues at ticket counters at stations in 2years
15. The train journey begins with the purchase of a rail ticket. We have madea multi pronged strategy using information technology as the lever topermanently terminate these long queues within two years. Passengers would nowbe able to purchase railway tickets sitting at home on their computers, throughmobile phones, through counters in their own neighbourhood or automatic ticketvending machines at stations. In the next two years, the number of UTS counterswill be increased from 3000 to 15000 and automatic ticket vending machines from250 to 6000. The Jansadharan Ticket Booking Seva will be extended to all ZonalRailways. This will provide employment to thousands of unemployed youth besidesfacilitating easy availability of Railway tickets in every neighbourhood.Presently, e-tickets are issued only against confirmed reservation. In line withthe demand of passengers it has now been decided to extend the facility ofe-ticket to waitlisted passengers also. With this the number of passengerstraveling on e-tickets is expected to increase from one lakh to three lakhs inthe next one year.
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Booking of Rail Tickets through Mobile Phone
16. There is a phenomenal growth of mobile phones in our country, andpresently about 30 crore mobile phones are available with the people of India.This number is expected to increase to 50 cr by the year 2010. We are thereforeexploring the option of issuing reserved and unreserved rail tickets throughmobile phones.
Rail ticket on "Go Mumbai Card" in Mumbai Suburban Service
17. The trial run for issuing rail ticket, monthly season ticket and platformticket on Smart Card through Public Private Partnership has started on CentralRailways Mumbai Suburban Service. This scheme will be commissioned by the end ofnext month. This multi-purpose card has been named "Go Mumbai Card" and saleof bus tickets of BEST on this card has already started. These cards will besold at stations, bus depots of BEST and various locations in the city. TheRailways have neither commited capital investment in implementing this schemenor will there be any extra burden on Railways or passengers for buying tickets.Only a marginal fee would be payable upon buying and recharging the card. Thisticket distribution scheme will be extended to Western Railway and othersuburban services after the success of the pilot project. All these measureswill help in ending the long queues at counters. Railway Enquiry Call Centre
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18. Sir, when I had announced the setting up of fully computerised railwayenquiry call centre without any cost to the Railways two years ago, somehonourable Members had likened the proposal to "Mungeri Lal ke hasin sapne."I am happy that the dreams of "Mungeri Lal" have now become a reality. Thisenquiry service is now available in the entire country on Telephone No. 139which can be accessed at local call charge through all mobile and fixed linetelephones. Presently this service is being used daily by 2 lakh persons and itis expected that this number will increase to 5 lakhs in a year’s time.Nonavailability of on-line information on arrival and departure of trains withthese call centers is a cause for considerable inconvenience to the passengers.Therefore, we have decided to use modern IT and telecom technology to link thecall centers with control office and NTES (National Train Enquiry System) on anon-line basis. This work will be completed by March 2009 to disseminate latestupdated information about trains.
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On-line Coach Indication Display Board
19. On board passengers are generally unaware of the timely running andlikely time of arrival of approaching stations whereas this information isavailable continuously on screen in international flights. This is a particularsource of inconvenience to passengers de-boarding the train at night time.Therefore we have decided to install on-line coach indication display boards onover night mail and express trains. These boards will continuously display theremaining distance and likely time of arrival of the next approaching station.This facility will be made available in long distance mail/express trains byMarch 2009.
On-line Train Arrival Departure Information Board
20. Information boards displaying on-line information about trainarrivaldeparture and platform berthing will be installed at railway stations,parking lots and entrance gates. High picture quality coloured LED DisplayBoards will be installed at 100 A & B Category stations by March 2009.
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On-line Reservation Availability Information Board
21. On-line Reservation Availability Information Boards will be installed atreservation offices at all A & B Category Stations dispensing the need forpassengers to seek this information at counters. These high quality LEDinformation boards and touch screens will be provided in sufficient number inreservations offices of A & B Category Stations.
Provision of Discharge-Free Green Toilets in Passenger Trains
22 Discharge from toilets of trains on the run is a primary cause for poorsanitation at stations. Several designs of discharge free Green Toilets were gotdeveloped to address this problem. Results of trials done so far have beenextremely encouraging. Therefore we have decided to put a permanent end to theproblem of discharge from train toilets by providing Green Toilets in all 36000coaches by the end of the 11th Plan period at a cost of Rs.4000 cr.
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Provision of LHB design coaches for Rajdhani and Shatabdi Trains
23. Presently 4 Shatabdi and 4 Rajdhani trains are running with LHB designcoaches. These coaches are equipped with all modern facilities for ensuringcomfort in travel. Therefore it has been decided that by March 2010 all Rajdhanitrains and by March 2011 balance Shatabdi trains will be provided with LHBcoaches. Provision of stainless steel coaches in Mail/Express trains
24. LHB coaches with stainless steel ICF bogies will be provided in Mail andExpress trains besides Rajdhani and Shatabdi trains. These coaches will be morecomfortable and will have a carrying capacity of 10-16% more than the existingcoaches. These coaches have a longer life and require less maintenance.Production of these coaches will commence in 2008-09 and from 2009-2010 onwardsonly stainless steel coaches will be manufactured.
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Provision of Modular Toilets
25. The above mentioned stainless steel coaches will be provided with Modulartoilets. These toilets will be ergonomically designed with attractive interiors.They will have better arrangement for cleanliness and hygiene, water discharge,air circulation and illumination.
On-board cleaning in Passenger Trains
26. Presently cleaning of passenger trains is mostly done at the originatingstation and for long distance trains at one of the intermediate stations.However there is no provision for regular on-board cleaning in coaches andtoilets. We had started a pilot project for on-board cleaning by professionalagencies on some Rajdhani and Shatabdi trains. This new system has yieldedsatisfactory results in cleanliness and hygiene on these trains. Therefore, ithas been decided that on-board cleaning on all Rajdhani, Shatabdi and super-fastMail and Express trains will be carried out through trained manpower ofprofessional agencies using modern machines and material.
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Public address system in passenger coaches
27. Presently, all Rajdhani and Shatabdi have a public address system. It hasbeen decided to extend this facility to select mail/express trains. Increase inthe height of Platforms
28. Sir, Railways have three levels of platforms - high, medium and lowlevel. Aged people, ladies and children find it extremely difficult to climbfrom and disembark on low level platforms. Out of the total of 244 ‘B’Category stations, 109 stations have high level and 135 stations have low ormedium level platforms. We have decided to upgrade all low and medium levelplatforms at the 135 ‘B’ Category stations to high level. Out of the total748 ‘D’ Category stations, 264 stations have high level, 203 stations havemedium level and 281 stations have low level platforms. Low level platforms at281 stations will be upgraded to medium level and medium level platforms at 203stations will be upgraded to high level.
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Provision of Platform Shelter
29. In the absence of platform shelters at ‘D’ class stations passengersare put to great discomfort due to heat, cold and rain. We have thereforedecided to provide platform shelter at every platform of all 748 ‘D’Category stations. Arrangements will be made to provide every platform of‘B’ category stations with platform shelters of size 250 to 500 squaremeters as per requirement. These shelters will be of modern and attractivedesigns developed by professional agencies. Provision of Foot-over Bridges
30. Sir, non availability of foot-over-bridges causes severe inconvenience topassengers and often leads to rail accidents. Presently there are 105 stationswith high level platforms but no foot-over-bridges. Platforms of 90 B & Dcategory stations are being upgraded to high levels but there is no provisionfor foot-over-bridges at these stations. We have therefore decided to providefoot-over-bridges at all 195 stations of B & D category having high levelplatforms.
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Increasing the Length of Platforms
31. We had decided to extend the length of platforms at 560 stations forrunning longer passenger trains. While work at 416 stations has been completed,the work at remaining 144 stations is likely to be completed by September 2008.Platforms at 30 more stations will be extended during the year 2008-09.
32. The work of raising platform levels, providing platform shelters andconstruction of foot-over-bridges will be completed over the next two years atan estimated cost of Rs. 500 cr.
Provisioning of multi-level parking
33. It is proposed to provide multi-level car parking lots at 30 majorstations to modernize car parking facilities.
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Provision of lifts and escalators
34. Aged and lady passengers face considerable difficulty due to lack oflifts and escalators at big stations. Therefore, we have decided to makeprovision for lifts and escalators at 50 major stations.
35. Under the present scheme, coaches carry wooden name plates indicating theoriginating and terminating stations. Now a days, the same rake travels tovarious destinations covered by more than one train. To avoid repeated changingof the wooden name plates, we have decided to install microprocessor controlledLED destination display boards. This will enable change of information on thedestination boards through remote control and there will be clear visibilityeven during night-time.
