Bengaluru: In the first merged Rail and general Budget for 2017-18 presented by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, a record plan outlay of Rs. 1.31 lakh crore has been announced for the Indian Railways against Rs. 1.21 lakh crore planned for 2016-17 with a lot of emphasis being laid on improving the rail safety and developments.
The South Western Railway (SWR) that was expecting a budgetary allocation of Rs 2900 crore was pleasantly surprised with an allocation of Rs 3,174 crore, which is around 19.17% more compared to the outlay for the SWR for project works in the railway budget 2016-17.
However, SWR officials could not provide details of specific projects mentioned in the budget, since the Pink Book – the official register of the Railways that lays down to the last rupee the money allotted for a project – is yet to be tabled in Parliament.
Speaking to media persons SWR General Manager A K Gupta stated that Bengaluru Cantonment and Yeshwantpur stations are among 25 railway stations which are proposed in the budget to be redeveloped into world class stations in 2017-18. In the funds meant for capital and development works, a major portion for the SWR is expected for doubling of Hubballi-Chikjajur and Hubballi-Hosapete lines.
The budget proposed to equip all trains with bio toilets by 2019,while the SWR has installed around 900 bio toilets, which is 33% of the total requirement, he said.
Among the 2,000 railway stations where solar power is proposed to be generated, 34 stations are in the SWR zone. Among 500 stations which are proposed to be made disabled-friendly by installing lifts, escalators and ramps, two A1 stations, 15 A stations and 17 B stations are in the SWR. The SWR has around 350 unmanned level crossings and an announcement has been made in the budget to eliminate all such gates by 2020, Gupta noted.
Across the country, 3,500 km of railway lines are proposed to be commissioned in 2017-18 as against 2,800 km in 2016-17.In the SWR, 231 km of new line are being commissioned in 2016-17, while the target is to commission 165 km of new lines in 2017-18, Gupta said.
