Home» Indian Budget » Budget 2004-2005 » Rail Budget 2004-2005 » Railway Minister's Budget Speech

Speech of Shri Lalu Prasad
Introducing the Railway Budget 2004-05
On 6 th July, 2004

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Mr. Speaker Sir,

I rise to present the Budget Estimates for 2004-05 for the Indian Railways. The previous Government had presented an interim budget on 30 th January, 2004 when approval for ‘Vote-on-Account’ for the first four months of this financial year for railways’ expenditure was obtained.

2. Sir, this is the first Railway Budget of the United Progressive Alliance Government, which assumed office on 22 nd May, 2004. Within the short time available to me, I have made an attempt to identify the challenges and difficulties faced by the Railways and outline measures to overcome the same apart from taking note of thrust areas of the Common Minimum Programme. In this regard I look forward to the valuable inputs of the Hon’ble members of this august House. In fact, to start with, I have already written to all the members of this and the Upper House indicating the on going projects and important works in their respective areas and inviting their suggestions for further improvement in the facilities. Special attention will be given to these suggestions and appropriate decision will be taken on the proposals relating to projects after carrying out surveys wherever necessary, giving primacy to the more neglected areas.

3. Indian Railways, the prime movers of the nation, have the distinction of being one of the largest railway systems in the world under a single management. Its contribution to the nation’s progress is immeasurable and it has a dual role to play as a commercial organization as well as a vehicle for fulfillment of aspirations of the society at large. It is an important catalyst to growth of trade, industry and the economy as a whole, with immense potential for providing indirect employment. Considering this, the United Progressive Alliance Government attaches the highest priority to the development and expansion of railway infrastructure as mentioned in the Common Minimum Programme. The travails suffered by the Railways in the last few years, particularly on the safety front, need to be overcome. President’s address to the joint session of Parliament emphasizes the Government’s intention to modernize the railway network keeping both the economic and social dimension in mind.

4. Railways have initiated many policy changes to meet the requirements of its customers, be it freight or passenger services. While continuing the process of reforms, the modernization of the Railways, replacement and renewal of assets, particularly, the track renewal and safety of passengers will be the thrust areas for the Railways. Other priority areas will be cleanliness of coaches and railway premises, particularly the stations and improvement in passenger amenities. Yet another thrust area will be control over expenditure and stepping up of measures to prevent leakage of revenue.

5. There has been a shortage of resources for investment on Railways, which needs to be enhanced substantially to take care of the priority areas, viz., safety, development and expansion of the system. Railways will continue to strive to effect improvements wherever needed. I have had deliberations with the Hon’ble Prime Minister and Hon’ble Finance Minister who have been kind enough to assure that requisite funds will be made available in the course of this year for Railway safety.

6. Indian Railways is committed to improve its internal resources. For this, we will strictly implement a two-pronged strategy with full sincerity. On the one hand, aggressive marketing efforts will be launched to enhance the earnings and leakage of revenue will be arrested at all identified points, e.g., ticket less travel and other malpractices, etc. On the other hand, operating expenses will in no way be allowed to exceed the barest minimum requirement. Optimum utilization of human resources and cost-effective use of other assets will be ensured. Utmost economy will be maintained in general expenditure.

Review of Performance in 2003-04.

7. I am glad to report that in the financial year 2003-04 that has just ended, the Railways have moved 557.39 million tonnes of originating revenue earning traffic, against the target of 550 million tonnes and 38.65 million tonnes higher than the previous year’s loading. This is the second successive year when Indian Railways have registered around 20 million tonnes or more of incremental revenue loading. Passenger traffic registered a growth of about 3% during the year. There has been an increase of Rs. 240 crore over the earnings projected in the Revised Estimates and a savings of Rs. 491 crore in the Ordinary Working Expenses. The Operating Ratio of the Railways as per approximate actuals is likely to improve to 92.1 percent as against 94.1 percent budgeted for the year. The final accounts for the year are under compilation and indications through approximate figures are that there may be only a marginal variation. Plan expenditure is expected to be around Rs. 13,311 crore. Despite the improved performance of the Railways I would not like to remain contented. Rather I would be striving to improve upon this performance further. With a commercial orientation, aggressive marketing and economy measures, the Railways would be continuously working towards further improving their financial performance.

Safety

8. Sir, the biggest challenge that Indian Railways face today is ensuring safe transit of passengers. I would like to assure the Hon'ble Members that safety in rail operations would be accorded the highest priority.

9. As a result of various safety measures and sustained efforts, the number of consequential train accidents has come down from 473 in 2000-01 to 414 in 2001-02, 351 in 2002-03 and further 325 in 2003-04. This has been the lowest number of accidents ever, reflecting a considerable reduction in the year 2003-04 over 2000- 01. The number of consequential train accidents per million train kilometres has also come down to 0.39 against the figure of 0.44 during the preceding year. The effort will be to bring this down even further.

10. Special Railway Safety Fund (SRSF) of Rs. 17,000 crore was created w.e.f. 1.10.2001 to wipe out arrears in renewal of overaged assets viz., track, bridges, rolling stock & signalling gears besides safety enhancement works over a six-year period. Considerable progress has been made in the execution of works sanctioned under this fund. 8938 kilometres of track have been renewed up to 31.3.2004 out of the total target of 16,538 kilometres to be covered up to 31.3.2007. The work of replacement of over-aged signalling systems with modern systems has been completed at 441 stations. The work is in progress at 1053 other stations. Interlocking at level crossings with signals has been completed at 387 gates during 2003-04, bringing the total of inter-locked level crossings to 7095 out of 16549 manned level crossings. With a view to reducing accidents at level crossings, provision of Train Actuated Warning Device (TAWD) has been undertaken at selected 90 level crossings. The device will warn road users and gatemen of the approaching train by emitting a siren and through flashing lights. Under SRSF, track circuiting works are in progress at about 5300 locations. Work has so far been completed at about 1700 locations.

11. Railways have given very high priority to the work of rehabilitation and strengthening of old bridges. Of the 2700 bridges to be rehabilitated or rebuilt through Special Railway Safety Fund, 1306 bridges have been completed upto 31-3-2004. In the current year, 411 bridges are to be rehabilitated.

12. Indian Railways have finalized a rational criteria for manning of unmanned level crossings based on the volume and nature of road and rail traffic at the level crossing and visibility conditions. It is planned to man over 1280 unmanned level crossings over a period of time, with the more vulnerable level crossings being given priority.

New Measures for Safety

Block Proving by Axle Counters, Train Protection and Warning System and Anti-Collision Device.

13. Fresh initiative has been taken to introduce a system of ‘electronic verification’ of complete arrival of train at stations by means of ‘Block Proving’ by Axle Counters along with a major thrust for development of indigenous Digital Axle Counters for the first time in the country. The latter has been developed under a joint research project of the Ministry of Railways and Department of Science and Technology. Railways have taken the initiative for provision of Train Protection and Warning System (TPWS) for providing an aid to driver to prevent him from passing signals at danger as a safety measure. The system provides a warning to the driver of approaching a signal at danger and if the driver fails to react the system will apply brakes automatically. This proven and failsafe system is being provided on Southern & North Central Railways on approximately 280 Track Kilometres. Provision of Anti-Collision Devices (ACDs) on about 1700 Route Kms. of Northeast Frontier Railway has been taken in hand and is likely to be completed during 2004-05.

Safety on long welded rails

14. Indian Railways have a substantial length of long and continuous welded rails. With a view to ascertain actual forces in them, it is proposed to develop field methods to measure actual forces occurring in rails so that necessary remedial action may be taken before unsafe conditions develop. Transportation of Explosives and inflammable materials in the trains

15. Incidents of fire in the coaches and luggage vans of passenger carrying trains during the recent past have caused serious concern. Prohibition on carriage of any type of explosives and inflammable materials including LPG cylinders, kerosene stoves, etc., other than those required for security purposes or by the armed forces, by any passenger carrying train will be strictly enforced. Institute of Rescue and Medical Relief

16. Disaster Management has been recognized as a priority area on the Indian Railways. To strengthen the system, a number of initiatives are being taken. These include setting up of an “Institute of Rescue and Medical Relief” at Bangalore. It is proposed to set up a project at a cost of Rs. 10 crores to give a fillip to the training activities. This institute shall act as a repository for all modern extrication and medical relief techniques to ensure quicker rescue and provide prompt medical relief, comparable to international standards.

Security

17. Consequent upon the recent amendments to the Railways Act, 1989 & RPF Act, 1957, Railway Protection Force (RPF) has been entrusted with additional responsibilities for escorting passenger trains in vulnerable areas and to have control on access and regulation and general security at platforms to supplement the efforts of state police/GRP for enhanced security of the passengers. Both the amended Acts have come into force with effect from 1 st July, 2004. To start with, manpower has been withdrawn from certain less important activities so that passenger security takes precedence over protection of property. Accordingly, escorting of trains will be shared with GRP in the initial stages. Zonal General Managers have been directed to chalk out the plans in this regard.

18. To address the problem of shortage of personnel in the Force to carry out the new duties, and to speed up the process of filling up of vacancies, it has been decided to restore the earlier procedure of direct recruitment by the Security department itself instead of through Railway Recruitment Boards. This will expedite the availability of manpower and strengthen the Force.

19. Skills of the existing personnel of R.P.F. have been upgraded by giving them intensive re-orientation training at zonal training schools and RPF Academy. This training capsule is comprehensive and consists of legal provisions regarding arrest, seizure, personal attendance, summons, warrants, handling of prisoners, human rights violations, custodial care, gender justice, juvenile offenders, etc.

20. Concern has been expressed about the cases of drugging of unwary passengers on the trains and robbing them of their belongings. Railways have taken certain measures to combat this menace by educating the public. In this connection I have instructed the RPF that they should try to identify the criminal gangs engaged in the crime of drugging and hand them over to the GRP.

Modernisation

Research Projects in Bridge Engineering

21. Indian Railways are interacting with various Indian Institutes of Technology and premier research institutes in India and abroad and Advanced Railway Systems in the field of Bridge Engineering. It is proposed to take up research and development projects in areas of protection from earthquake and rehabilitation of bridges, residual life analysis for concrete and masonry bridges, high performance concrete and corrosion protection systems for bridges. Rehabilitation of Arch Bridges

22. There are a large number of arch bridges on Indian Railways. A number of bridge improvement and rehabilitation measures have already been undertaken in the recent past. In addition, it is proposed to extend the useful life of a large number of arch bridges by about 25 years by adopting techniques in collaboration with International Union of Railways (UIC).

Corrosion Resistant Wagons

23. Corrosion in conventional wagons affects their availability and productivity and reduces their life. In order to overcome this problem, field trials of stainless wagons are in progress. In addition, it has been proposed to introduce aluminium body wagons and conduct field trials. This would result in reduced tare weight and higher payload per wagon as compared to the conventional wagons.

Crew Friendly Driver's Cab and Brake Van

24. Fatigue enhances vulnerability of Drivers and Guards to cause accidents. Improvement in the working conditions of such staff with a view to reduce their fatigue level on run is, therefore, a priority area for Indian Railways. A number of improvements have been standardized and are being incorporated in a phased manner in driver's cab and guard's brake van to make the working environment of crew better and improving efficiency. The new diesel locos and guards’ brake vans will be provided with these features.

Modernisation of EMUs & Electric Locos

25. Three phase electric traction system based on most advanced Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor (IGBT) Technology is proposed to be introduced for EMU trains in Mumbai suburban section. This system provides higher reliability and improved energy efficiency. Progressively this technology is also proposed to be developed for high horse power three phase electric locomotives.

Strategic Management Institute

26. There is a need to prepare Railway Managers to meet the future challenges in rail operations. This necessitates pooling of training resources available world over. It is, therefore, proposed to set up an International Railway Strategic Management Institute under the aegis of International Union of Railways (UIC).

Computer based Centralised Traffic Control

27. Under a project funded by German Development Bank (KfW) modern computer based Centralised Traffic Control (CTC) System is planned to be introduced for the first time on Ghaziabad-Kanpur high speed, high density route to improve safety and operation.

Material Management Information System (MMIS)

28. A pilot project on Material Management Information System (MMIS) incorporating the on line exchange of information on material management has been successfully developed and implemented by Central Railway. Now this system is proposed to be extended to all other Zonal Railways for effective material management, which will improve material availability and turn over ratio.

29. Introduction of Information Technology for Permanent Way Materials Management System has been done on 21 divisions so far. Setting up of infrastructure on balance 46 divisions is in advanced stages and is targeted for completion during the year. The system provides for proper and concurrent accountal of materials and facilitates accurate verification of physical stock including released material. Thus, the system improves efficiency and arrests leakage of revenue through theft, pilferage etc.

E-procurement

30. Railways are working towards adoption of E-procurement. A pilot project on Northern Railway envisages putting all purchase activities on the internet, wherein issue of tenders, receipt of bids, issue of contracts etc. would be done online. The introduction of this system will bring transparency and improve efficiency by way of reduced procurement time cycle and expeditious payment to suppliers. After successful completion of the pilot project on Northern Railway, E-procurement will be extended to other zonal Railways.

Improvements to Claims Management

31. Railways have embarked on a programme of computerization of ‘Claim Offices’ so as to provide on line information to claimants about the status of claims. This will help the customers to find unconnected consignments and will also be a powerful tool in reducing the duplication of claims. Computerized registration of claims in Zonal Railway Headquarters has already been started from April 2004 and it is expected that full computerization of claim offices will be completed during the current financial year.

32. In order to help the rail users, the rules & procedures in connection with compensation claims in respect of both “accident” and “loss/damage of goods” have been incorporated in the Indian Railways website.

Simplification of refund procedure

33. Under the normal rules, refund of unused tickets is admissible upto a maximum of 12 hours after departure of the train. In order to facilitate refund thereafter directly from the PRS terminals, a Computerised Coaching Refund System has been started. Under the revised rules, refund shall be admissible on unused reserved and RAC tickets upto five days from the scheduled departure of the train from its originating station. Some zonal railways have started granting refund under this scheme. The project will be fully implemented during the current year.

Unreserved Ticketing System

34. About 92 percent of the railway passengers travel without reservation in unreserved coaches in trains in the country. To help these railway passengers, Indian Railways have developed Unreserved Ticketing System (UTS). This system facilitates a passenger to buy a traveling ticket for any station from any of the selected railway stations three days in advance of the required date of journey. This system is proposed to be extended progressively on all zonal railways. I am very happy to share with this august House the news that the UTS has also won a prestigious award from a reputed international forum for using information technology to take great strides towards remarkable social achievement in transportation.

Passenger Reservation System

35. Expansion of the Passenger Reservation System (PRS) available at nearly 1100 locations in the country, will also be continued to help the passengers traveling by reserved compartments. Another 74 locations will be added this year.

Parcel Services

36. In order to improve the management of the Parcel traffic, which generates earnings of about Rs. 500 crore annually, it is necessary to computerize the working of the entire parcel system. To start with, a pilot project is being proposed this year at an estimated cost of Rs. 2.00 crores, linking Howrah and Delhi area in the major parcel traffic corridor of New Delhi – Howrah – Guwahati. This will result in better planning, expeditious clearance, easy tracing of parcels and thereby result in reduced over carriage and claims. Computerised parcel way bills and accurate calculation of charges will also be possible from the system.

Freight Operations Information System

37. Enthused by the success of the phase-I (Rake Management System) of the Freight Operations Information System (FOIS) which has helped in better operation and wagon availability, it is proposed to cover commercial aspects of freight business this year by computerizing the working of about 300 goods sheds and sidings. In this, the Railways’ receipts will be computerised which will benefit merchants and industry in a big way as individual wagon tracking and electronic payments etc. will become possible.

Coaching Operations Information System

38. To improve the passenger traffic operations, the Coaching Stock Management module (covering passenger coaches and parcel vans) of Coaching Operation Information System (COIS) is proposed to be implemented this year. Punctuality module for better train monitoring and analysis of delay has already been implemented last year.

Catering

39. Railways are making all out efforts to improve the catering services by serving cleaner, healthier and tastier food to the passengers both at stations and on trains. Railways will also endeavour to make available wholesome milk and milk products at all catering outlets towards which a beginning has been made by serving “mattha” and “lassi”. With a view to provide pure and wholesome products to the passengers and to give employment opportunities to dairy producers, as far as possible, these will be purchased from dairy units of co-operative sector. As far as other eatables are concerned, with a view to increase the earnings from the catering contracts, complete transparency and competitiveness will be ensured in the award of contracts.

Improving Cleanliness

40. To improve cleanliness at stations and in trains, General Managers of all the zonal railways have been directed to take special steps. A nationwide cleanliness drive has also been launched. In order to infuse a spirit of excellence, it has been decided to hold inter-divisional competition in which all the railway divisions will be evaluated by the Headquarters’ Committees comprising of senior officers of concerned departments. The best divisions will be given the Cleanliness Efficiency Shield. Best stations will also be selected and awarded. Where the cleanliness level is found to be unsatisfactory, responsibility will be fixed on the concerned officers and employees.