New Delhi: There will be no increase in rail fare and freight in the Interim Rail Budget for 2014-15 presented in Parliament today by Railway Minister Mallikarjun Kharge.
Kharge had to curtail his speech amidst the din created by anti-Telangana MPs.
Kharge announced 72 new trains, extension of three trains and increase in frequency of three trains.
He announced that there will be no more unmanned crossings. A Rail Tariff Authority has also been announced.
A number of measures for safety and security of passengers like portable fire-extinguishers in coaches and induction based cooking in pantry car have been proposed in the Budget.
The Budget presented today envisages investment of Rs. 64,305 crore as against Revised Estimates for 2013-14 of Rs. 59,359 crore.
Anticipating a healthier growth of economy, the freight traffic target is proposed at 1,101 million tonnes, an increment of 49.7 million tonnes over the current years' revised target of about 1052 million tonnes.
The Gross Traffic Receipts have been projected at Rs. 1,60,775 crore . Working Expenses have been proposed at Rs. 1,10,649 crore, which is Rs. 13,589 crore higher than the Revised Estimates for the current year.
