India to spend Rs 3,000 crore on Burma rail link

May 18, 2007 - India will spend about Rs 3,000 crores to construct a rail link with Burma to join the Trans-Asian railway network which will connect countries across Asia.
Indian Minister of State for Railways R Velu informed the lower house of parliament on Thursday that the missing link in India is from Jiribam in northeast India state of Manipur to Tamu in Burma.
"The construction of this missing link, as per the feasibility study conducted by the Ministry of External Affairs through RITES Ltd, is estimated to cost Rs 2,941 crore," Velu said.
Velu added that on this stretch, the Railway Ministry has sanctioned construction of a 97 kilomtere new rail link between Jiribam and Tupul near Imphal at a cost of Rs 727.5 crore.
The Indian government has approved the signing and ratification of the inter-governmental agreement on Trans-Asian Railway that was negotiated under the aegis of UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) and was opened for signature during the ministerial conference on transport at Busan, South Korea, in November 2006.
The agreement defines and lists the railway lines of international importance, including the missing links, and lays down the guiding principles relating to technical characteristics of transport.
The 81,000 kilometre network stretches from Turkey and Iran in the west to Russia, China and South Korea in the north, Kazakstan and Uzbekistan in central Asia, and Vietnam and Thailand in South East Asia.
Velu, however, said, "The agreement does not estimate the total investment required on the network."

Train passengers asked to get out and push

Patna: Hundreds of rail passengers got more than they had bargained for when the driver of their train asked them to get out and push.
It took more than half an hour to move the stalled electric train 12 feet so that it touched live overhead wires and was able to resume its journey, officials said on Wednesday.
The incident occurred in Bihar on Tuesday after a passenger pulled the train's emergency chain and it halted in a "neutral zone," a short length of track where there is no power in the overhead wires.
"In so many years of service in the railways, I have never come across such a bizarre incident," said Deepak Kumar Jha, a spokesman for Indian Railways.
A train's momentum usually allows it to continue moving through neutral zones.
India's rail network carries more than 15 million people daily -- more than the combined population of Norway and Sweden -- but its safety record often comes in for criticism.

RAILWAY BUDGET 2007-08 WEBCAST UPDATE

Suburban rail projects will be completed on priority basis.

Rs 5000cr will be invested in Mumbai Urban Trans Plan.

6000 automatic ticket vending machines in next 2 years.

To expand capacity on 20000km of rail route.

Facilities of hand-held computers for on-spot reservations.

2nd class unreserved coach number will be increased from 4 to 6.

6000 automatic ticket vending machines will be introduced.

Development of 225 stations to be completed by March.

Freight corridor to begin this year, investment Rs 30000cr.

Tariff discount to increase high axle wagon production.

Rail tickets to be available at petrol pumps & ATMs.

Unreserved bogies will be having leather seats.

Construction of dedicated freight corridor to start in 2008.

800 new coaches. The cement freight traffic surged 30 per cent as compared to 25 per cent in the period April-December last fiscal.

Passenger traffic up 14% in Apr-Dec.

The Return on Capital Employed (RoCE) stands at 32 per cent and the interest surplus stands at Rs 10,227 crore.

Facilities of e-tickets will made available. MST tickets will be available through internet with easy recharge system.

Call center and SMS services may start soon.

Women above the age of 45 will get quota sleeper lower birth in A.C. and sleeper class compartments.

Students travelling for exam purpose will get 50% discount in second class sleeper birth.

Special arrangements for handicapped in all trains.

Milkman and other retail businessmen will have separate compartments in passenger trains.

Unreserved compartments will be increased.

Railway made high surplus without burden on common man.

In the current year we have increased 700 compartments to accommodate more passengers.

Railways made Rs.20,000cr profit in FY'07.

Rail budget starts amid chaos in the Parliament.

The outlay for the railways in the year 2006 was Rs 23,700 crore.

In the year 2006 the railways generated Rs 10,794 crore through internal generation.

Last year Shree Yadav declared "that the year 2006 will be the year of passenger service with a smile."

Last year passenger and freight rates were left broadly unchanged.

According to data, Indian Railways runs over 14,000 passenger and freight trains and carries 15 million people every day -- it is more than the population of Sweden and Norway combined.

"I have tried to address the interests of all sections of people. But if there are any shortcomings, people should tell me, I will try to remove them in future," Mr. Yadav said yesterday.

On the eve (Sunday) of the Rail Budget 2007, Lalu Prasad assured that people can expect a "good Railway Budget."

Rail Budget 2007-08 will be Lalu Prasad Yadav’s fourth consecutive Railway Budget.

Railway Budget 2007-08 will be presented by Railway Minister Sri Laloo Prasad Yadav in the Parliament on 26-Feb-07 from 12 PM IST onwards.