Rail Budget 2015: What you gain

Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu presented his maiden Budget for the 2015-16 financial year on February 26, 2015, outlining a roadmap spanning 5 years to transform the transport service and much more. Check out how you stand to benefit from the announcements-

For a hassle-free ticket-booking experience, the Railway Minister announced introduction of an integrated ticketing syatem with 120-day advance booking. Moreover, keeping in mind the cultural diversity of the country, a multi lingual e-ticketing portal has also been proposed.

Facilitating a smooth and comfortable journey, online booking of bed linen at stations is proposed. The ministry also plans to introduce an e-catering system.

Making stations smart is also on the agenda, with Wi-fi facilities to be introduced at 400 stations.

In order to facilitate senior citizens, the government plans to increase lower berth quota for them and provide wheel-chair facility for them at stations.

For the differently-abled, the new coaches in trains will soon be Braille enabled and wider doors in passenger coaches are also proposed.

A unified toll-free number will be introduced for security and 24x7 helpline numbers will be set up pan-India.

The Indian Railways will alert passengers through SMS regarding updates on trains.

Prabhu has not ignored the suburban or local train network eaither. The proposed plans for suburban trains include - expansion of the network, introduction of AC coaches in Mumbai suburban trains and installation of CCTV cameras in ladies compartments.

While no new trains have been added, the Railway Ministry will add more general class coaches in existing trains.

Of the massive proposed investment in Railways, 67 per cent will go in improving/developing passenger amenities.

A separate department for cleanliness was announced for integrated cleanliness of trains. Vacuum based toilets are also proposed to be implemented.

The railway ministry has planned 970 over bridges across the country.

Rs 120 crore is proposed to be spent on lifts and escalators.

A fire-alert system is also proposed to be put in place for trains.

The ministry has also planned to increase speeds of trains and speed of 9 corridors.