Highlights of the Railway Budget 2016 for the Common Man

The Union Railway Budget 2016-17 was indeed a people’s budget which focused on building and improving travel experience through passenger-friendly initiatives and augmenting railway revenues. Here are the highlights of what the budget entailed for the common man:

• For All Types of Passengers – Railway minister proposed no hike in the freight and passenger fares and instead focused on increase in non-fare revenues through monetizing land along tracks, monetizing soft assets, advertising etc. Further, the budget seeks to ease the ticket buying process by proposing sale of tickets through hand held terminals. E- ticketing facility will also be made available through payment via foreign debit/credit cards, while at present, only domestic cards are allowed. Passengers can also request for ‘Clean my Coach’ service through SMS. Indian Railways is also in talks to offer optional travel insurance for rail journeys at the time of booking. Coaches are proposed to be equipped with new amenities including automatic doors, bar-code readers, bio-vacuum toilets, water-level indicators, accessible dustbins, ergonomic seating, improved aesthetics, vending machines, entertainment screens, LED lit boards for advertising and PA system among others.

• For Senior Citizens – The Railway budget has emphasized upon the specific needs of senior citizens by providing portable structures with bio-toilets at all platforms of select stations. Further, the lower berth quota per coach for senior citizens is being increased by 50%, resulting in almost 120 lower berths per train for senior citizens. Further, more escalators and lifts are being added to help senior citizens move across the station.  Indian Railways is expanding Sarathi Seva in Konkan Railway to help old and disabled passengers.

•  For Women – Giving importance to the safety of the women passengers, it has been proposed to provide surveillance cameras on a pilot basis in selected mainline coaches and ladies compartments of suburban coaches without compromising on privacy. Further, Railways would utilize resources from the Nirbhaya Fund for augmenting security of our women passengers. Proposal for installation of CCTV cameras at 1000 stations is already under process. Further, middle bays in coaches are being reserved for women security.

• For Differently Abled – Divyang – The Railway budget has given due weightage to the special needs of differently abled passengers.  In pursuance of the objectives of the Accessible India campaign, Indian Railways are endeavoring to ensure all stations under redevelopment are accessible by Divyang. Efforts shall be made to provide at least one Divyang friendly toilet at each platform in A1 class stations during the next financial year and also ensure availability of wheelchairs in sufficient numbers at these stations. Further, Indian Railways have introduced one-time registration for availing concessions while booking tickets online, online booking of wheelchairs and Braille enabled new coaches.

• For Reserved Passenger – Considering the importance of passengers who seek reservations in advance and hence, securing revenue for Railways, three select train services, Humsafar, Tejas and UDAY have been announced.
  • Humsafar (fully 3AC with optional meals) and Tejas (High Speed Trains) will ensure cost recovery by way of tariff and non-tariff measures. Tejas will showcase the future of train travel in India. Operating at speeds of 130 kmph and above, it will offer onboard services such as entertainment, local cuisine, Wi-Fi, etc. through one service provider for ensuring accountability and improved customer satisfaction.
  • Overnight Utkrisht Double- Decker Air-conditioned Yatri (UDAY) Express trains on the busiest routes shall be started, which have the potential to increase carrying capacity by almost 40%. At present, cancellation of PRS tickets requires a passenger to travel to a booking window to avail the refund, within a prescribed time. Railway Minister proposed to open the facility of cancellation through the 139 helpline post verification using ‘One Time Password’ sent on registered phone number.

• For Unreserved Passenger – Acknowledging Railways as the common man’s chariot, Budget had something for the passengers who can’t book reserved tickets in advance. Antyodaya Express, a long-distance, fully unreserved, superfast train service, for the common man to be operated on dense routes is proposed to be introduced. Further, two to four Deen Dayalu coaches in some long distance trains for unreserved travel shall be added to enhance our carrying capacity for the masses. These coaches will also have facility for potable drinking water and a higher number of mobile charging points.

• For Waitlisted Passengers – In order to augment the revenue stream and to reduce instances of refund to waitlisted passengers, ‘Vikalp’ (Alternative Train Accommodation System) scheme was introduced in October 2015 to provide choice of accommodation in specific trains to wait-listed passengers. This scheme is proposed to be expanded further.
• For the waitlisted/ unreserved passengers, who seek booking through Tatkal quota, it has been proposed to ensure CCTV coverage at tatkal counters along with a system of third party periodic audits and certification of security features of the PRS website.

• For Religious Passengers – Aiming to attract the attention of the tourism industry, the Budget provides to take up on priority the provision of passenger amenities and beautification on stations at pilgrimage centers including Ajmer, Amritsar, Bihar Sharif, Chengannur, Dwarka, Gaya, Haridwar, Mathura, Nagapattinam, Nanded, Nasik, Pali, Parasnath, Puri, Tirupati, Vailankanni, Varanasi and Vasco and to run Aastha circuit trains to connect important pilgrim centers. This is being proposed especially since the great places of pilgrimage in India have a natural attraction for the Indian traveller.

• For Passengers looking for Waiting Rooms – While existing rules call for minimum of 12 hours to book a waiting room, the Budget proposes to commence hourly booking of retiring rooms to be managed by IRCTC to ensure the management in a professional manner.

• For Tech-Friendly Passengers – Promoting ‘Digital India’ movement, Indian Railways intends to integrate all facilities into two mobile apps; one dealing all ticketing issues and the other for receipt and redressal of complaints and suggestions related to all our services. The Ministry of Railways has already implemented interaction and feedback through social media and dedicated IVRS system. In this era of smartphones, trains shall be equipped with mobile phone charging facilities in general class coaches and the number of charging facilities would be increased in sleeper class coaches.Wi-Fi services are being introduced at stations for which the process has already begun. 100 stations are expected to be commissioned with Wi-Fi services and 400 more stations in the next 2 years in partnership with Google.

• For Journalist Friends – The Budget proposes to provide e-booking of tickets on the concessional passes available to the journalists/ media persons.

The Railway Minister has thus presented a budget which is high on hope, but not specific on how these shall be met, but yes, this budget had something for everyone.

Hope for Achche Din for Indian Railways and the Common Man.

Simardeep Singh, is a Chartered Accountant based in Delhi. He loves sharing his knowledge about personal finance and investment. He blogs regularly at  www.simardeep.com.