The Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav has proved once again on Wednesday that he better knows how to control the mood of common public in India. He tabled his fifth and ‘final’ full Rail Budget in Lok Sabha on Feb 26, 2008. Lalu said before tabling the rail budget in Lok Sabha that he wanted to create Indian Railways the best railways in the world.

He said:

I am well on the way to do that. We have created an organization where every child in this country will say chak de Railways. Everybody is happy with the Railways.

He also declared that railway department has made a profit of Rs 25,000 crore in last financial year. He further said that the freight traffic target of 785 million tonnes has been exceeded and it has crossed 790 million tonne-mark and the railway plan size has increased from Rs 11,000 crore to Rs 30,000 crore in past four years.

Here are some of the highlights of the Railway Budget 2008-09:

# New train Amritsar-Kochuveli Express weekly

# Bhubaneswar-New Delhi Rajdhani to run tri-weekly

# New Itarsi-Katni passenger train daily

# New daily Ahmedabad-Patan express

# Chennai-Salem new train daily

# Ranchi-Bhagalpur new train tri-weekly

# Indore-Udaipur via Ratlam new train tri-weekly

# New weekly Puri-Darbhanga express

# Khajuraho-Delhi new train tri-weekly

# New weekly Varanasi-Rameswaram express

# Machhlipatnam-Bangalore new train tri-weekly

# Amravati-Mumbai express new train bi-weekly

# Coolies promoted to gangmen

# 10 new Garib Raths, 53 new trains

# One more rail captive power plant in Bihar

# Divisional railway hospitals in Jaipur, Hubli to be upgraded

# N Railway hospital in Delhi to be fully AC

# New rail coach manufacturing unit in Kerala

# 50% concession for AIDS patients travelling in trains

# Staff benefit fund to be upped 10 times in 2009

# Mother Child Health Express to be started

# Gangmen to man level crossings

# Container train operators to be up to 50-55 trains

# SC,STs given more jobs than quota alloted to them

# Free Rajdhani, Shatabdi travel for Ashok Chakra winners

# Free season tickets for girl students till graduation

# Ticket confirmation via mobiles likely

# 16,548 old rail tracks to be renewed

# All unmanned crossings to be manned now

# Metal detectors, baggage scan at key stations

# NDLS, Mumbai Cent, Patna to become world-class

# Heightened security at sensitive stations

# CCTVs at major railway stations

# Electrification of more routes in North India

# Pvt cos can make terminals on rail land

# New policy for wagon leasing

# Touch screen, colour TVs at railway stations

# No ticket queues in 2 years

# In talks with foreign cos for new wagon design

# Lifts and escalators at 50 stations

# High-level platforms in 135 stations

# Rs 40 bn kept for on discharge-free train toilets

# New coaches in all Rajdhani trains by 2010

# New coaches in Shatabdi trains by 2011

# Plan to provide ticket booking via mobile phone

# Smart card system to all railways

# Electrification of more routes

# Raise platform levels in phased manner

# Railways to issue wait-listed e-tickets

# 50 big stations to have lifts, escalators

# Stainless steel coaches for mail, express trains

# Only stainless steel coaches to be produced after 2010

# To up auto ticket sale machines to 6,000 in 2 yrs

# Automated ticket vending machines at 250 now

# Upgradation of 203 medium-level platforms

# Upgradation of 281 low-level platforms

# 195 stations to get foot overbridge

# Indian Railways employees at 1.4 mln in 2007-08

# Railways planning SMARTCARD-based ticket system

# Go Mumbai’ cards to be sold at bus depots

# 560 platforms to be lengthened for long-distance trains

# Arrival time to be printed on tickets

# Express trains to have public address systems

# Long-distance trains to display next station

# Rajdhani, Shatabdi to get modernised coaches

# E-ticket booking to go up from 1L to 3L annually

# More passenger trains in peak season

# 6,000 automated ticket machines in 2 years

# Modular toilets to be installed in trains

# To link trains via IT, communications by 2009

# Plan size hiked from Rs 11,000 cr to Rs 30,000 cr

# Freight traffic target touches 790 mn tonnes

# Multi-level parking at 30 major stations

# Made a profit of Rs 25,000 cr

# High-level, low-level platforms to be increased

# Rajdhani, Shatabdi maintenance by private agencies

# Touchscreen, colour display boards at stations

# People suspecting us can see records

# Railways will be linked by Mar ‘09 to call centres

# Display boards at railway stations

# Multi-purpose smart Mumbai cards to be introduced

# Ticket reservation possible from anywhere

# Railways profit due to UPA govt policies

# Additional Rs 20 bn earned on freight services

# Achieved 790 tonnes pay-load target

# Sitting companies given railway licences

# Increased passenger train numbers

# We have surcharged only in peak season

# Railways set up new profit records in 2007-08

# Rs 14,000 crore profit in loading

# Turned the Railways around into a profit-making organization

# Rs 49,250 crore invested in new projects.

# Railways to start production of stainless-steel coaches this year

# Steel coaches move to benefit JSW STL, Tata Steel, BEML, Texmacho

# 40 container terminals to be added

# Axel load trains to be started

# 200 mn loading target for cement industry in 2011-12

# Several low and medium level platforms to be upgraded to high level

# To have online control of trains by 2009

# 6000 auto-ticket sale machines by 2009

# See excess freight loading target of 310 mn in next 4 years

# Plans for 20,000 kms high-density network

# Coal freight loading seen at 336 mn tonnes

# To upgrade infrastructure in next 7 years with an investment of Rs 75,000 cr

# 50 big terminals planned in places like Mumbai, Pune, Ghaziabad

# New wagon-leasing policy unveiled

# Automated signaling to get a boost

# 2000 new wagons to be added by 2009

# Delhi-JNPT-North freight corridor announced

# PPT model with Rs 1 lakh cr investment for logistic parts

# CCTV, metal detectors to be put up at railway stations

# Rs 2.5 lakh thousand cr for IT upgradation

# Fire detection systems to be installed on trains in phased manner

# Anti-collision devices to be extended to entire railways

# All busy unmanned level crossings to be manned

# Free MST for girl students upto graduation, boy students upto 12th

# No peak season surcharge on CEM transport

# Titagarh Wagons to gain from 2,000 new wagons

# CCTV, metal detectors to be put up at railway stations

# Multi-level parking at all major stations

# Concession from 30-50% in passenger fares in all classes for woman senior citizen

Image Source: Lok Sabha TV