Mamata presents "Bengal poll " rail budget

New Delhi, Feb 24 : Walking the expected path, Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday presented a populist rail budget showering West Bengal with projects and trains keeping an eye on the 2011 state elections while announcing dedicated passenger corridor and ruling out forcible land acquisition.

There is not increase in freight tariff and passenger fares while she announced some cuts too and she focused on public private partnership. Service charges on Sleeper and AC classes would be cut, she said.

Presenting her second consecutive rail budget, she announced 10 more Duronto trains, modern loco training centres, acquirement of 80,000 new wagons, integral coach factory upgradation in Chennai, new tourist trains and put a strong emphasis on Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model of development while ruling out any privatization of Railway.

She said 117 trains will be flagged off by March 31 and that railway exams can be taken in regional languagues. Mamata highlighted on Vision 2020 ten year plan for railway upgradation and announced special drives on cleanliness.

Railway to complete 1000 km of tracks in one year, she said, adding that plans are in place to raise Rs 10,000 to 20,000 crore by next year.

Mamata Banerjee, whose political comeback was on the Singur-Nandigram land seizure issue, said no land would be acquired forcibly.

With a clear reference to the Singur incident, Mamata said the railways would not forcibly acquire land. She assured jobs in the railways for one member of each family who give their land to the railways.

She wooed the business community to join hands with railways to set up projects while promising to expedite clearance of schemes admitting that procedural delays hold up projects.

She announced safety measures for women and railway safety on the whole promising to man all the 17,000 unmanned level crossing. She said there would be houses for all railway employees, choosing to keep her own employees happy. She announced sops for 80,000 women employees of railway too.

She announced allocation of Rs 13000 for passenger amenities and 54 new trains in 2011

Mobile eticketing centres at IIMs, IITs, universities, etc were announced too besides introduction of double decker trains on pilot basis.

She announced 101 new suburban trains in Mumbai and said 93 railway stations would be modernized.


She announced several new trains to West Bengal, among several other sops for the state.

Opposition MPs protested and that she was ignoring other parts of the country.

"I cannot satisfy all of you," thundered Didi to the protesting MPs.

In West Bengal, the minister promised new trains and tracks in the Dankuni-Kharagpur, Katwa-Ramnagar, Phulbahari-Behrampur, Hasnabad-Pratapadityanagar and Haldibari-Mekhgunj-Changrabanda routes.

She also proposed a new line in the Digha-Ballychowk route.

Mamata announced large scale expansion of the Kolkata Metro, which would be done on a priority basis. Several existing metro stations would also be renamed.

New coach factories would be built in Kharagpur and Kanchrapara in West Bengal.

A coach repair centre would be built at New Jalpaiguri.

A cold storage would also be built in the state's Budgebudge as part of the Kisan Vision programme.

Didi also proposed the setting up of a Rabindra Museum in Howrah and a Gitanjali Museum in Bolpur.