Generally every year Railway Budget was presented ahead of the Union Budget. But from this year Railway Budget is included in the Union Budget. So many missed the allocations in the Railway budget unlike earlier when different states used to analyse what they got from the Railways.
Following are the highlights of the Railway budget 2017 and once again Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, two Telugu states didnot get much allocations, much to their disappointment. It is known that Andhra Pradesh for long has been hoping for separate railway zone for Visakhapatnam and even sent Suresh Prabhu,Railway Minister to Rajya Sabha.
Telangana too expected allocation of functions for the completion of long pending projects.But even it got disappointed from the Railway budget. Railway budget gave importance to passenger safety,new railway lines,re developments, solar power,grievances etc.
Following are the highlights of the Railway Budget 2017.
1. A Rail safety fund with a corpus of Rs 100,000 crore will be created over a period of 5 years
2. The service charge on rail tickets booked through IRCTC will be withdrawn.
3. As many as 500 rail stations will be made differently abled-friendly by providing lifts and escalators.
4. Steps will be taken to launch dedicated trains for pilgrimage and tourism
5. A new metro rail policy will be announced . This is expected to open up new jobs for the youth .
6. At least 25 train stations are expected to be awarded during 2017-18
7. By 2019, all coaches of the Indian Railways will be fitted with bio-toilets
8. Railways will integrate end to end transport solutions for selected commodities through partnerships
9. Unmanned railway level crossings to be eliminated by 2020
10. A 22% rise in the Railways Budget was announced
