LOK SABHA ___

SYNOPSIS OF DEBATES (Proceedings other than Questions & Answers) ______

Wednesday, March 11, 2015 / Phalguna 20, 1936 (Saka) ______

STATEMENT BY MINISTER

Re: Landing of world’s first solar powered aircraft ‘Solar Impulse-Ii’ In

Ahmedabad on10th March, 2015

THE MINISTER OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY AND

MINISTER OF EARTH SCIENCES (DR. HARSH VARDHAN): Respected

Madam and hon. Members, I seek your attention for only two or three minutes. I wish to bring to the attention of this august House a development in the world of

Science and Technology which is of most profound importance for the future of not only Indian economy and society but also the survival of the human civilization which is threatened by over-exploitation of nature and climate change.

Last night, at 11.24 p.m, witnessed the historic landing of the world’s first solar powered aircraft which began a global tour on Monday, the 11th

March, 2015. The aircraft is named as Solar Impulse – II (Si-II). Si-II is capable of flying day and night on only solar power. It is on a mission to spread information about the fantastic possibilities of life free of fossil fuels. Its success will serve to convince all humanity that sun is the supreme source of energy with limitless powers. It is also the major source of power which renews itself everyday and forever.

Hon. Members of the House, as the country’s Minister of Science and

Technology, I feel it is my honour to congratulate on your behalf and on behalf of everyone else, the scientists, the technicians, publicists and last but not least, the two pilots of Si-II, Mr. Bertrand Piccard and Andre Borschberg for their commitment and dedication to the vision of a cleaner and greener world. I think the entire community of Indian scientists working on the making solar power cheaper and more efficiently are greatly enthused by Si-II’s landing in our country.

The plane is made entirely of carbon fibre and has a wing span of 226 feet but it weighs only 2.3 tonnes. It is almost as big as an Airbus A-380 which is currently the biggest aircraft powered by fossil fuels but about 250 times lighter. Si-II carries more than 17,000 photo-voltaic cells rated at 66 kilowatts peak. At present, its maximum speed is about 140 kilometres per hour which is as fast as a fighter plane of World War-I.

Madam Speaker, through you, I wish to urge every hon. Member present today to carry the message in grain to the Si-II mission, recognize and celebrate

Surya Shakti – the power of the sun. The significance of Ahmedabad as choice of first landing in India should not be missed. It is the Capital of Gujarat, the State that has pioneered large scale harnessing and distribution of solar energy for every day use. In 2009, Gujarat became the first State in India and Asia to have established a Department of Climate Change to counter the threat to the planet posed by over-use of fossil fuels.

Shri Narendra Modi Ji, who was then the Chief Minister made the Gujarat

Solar Park the largest hub of solar power generation in Asia, currently producing more than 1,000 megawatts. Now, as Prime Minister, Modi Ji has set sights on

India generating 100 gigawatts of Solar Power by 2022.

Madam Speaker, I am sure that all those who believe this is impossible will be persuaded otherwise by the presence today in our midst of Si-II and its courageous crew and team members. The Si-II flights landing in India serves to persuade those who still harbour misgivings on the possibilities of solar power.

This may not result in aircraft companies manufacturing solar based planes overnight but that is bound to happen within the next 10-15 years. But before that we must ensure that coal, oil, wood and all traditional forms of energy for daily needs become history.

I thank the Government of Switzerland and the large number of R&D and business organizations, both Indian and foreign, that have made Si-II possible. The aircraft and its crew are expected to take off to Varanasi on March 15. After that, it will fly to Myanmar and then to China. Its biggest feat would be to cross the

Pacific Ocean, to the United States and then the Atlantic Ocean to Europe.

On behalf of the entire scientific community of India and this House, I wish the project all success on behalf of all of you.

SUBMISSION BY MEMBERS

Re: New evidence which has come to light in respect of release of Masarat

Alam, a separatist leader from Jammu and Kashmir

THE MINISTER OF URBAN DEVELOPMENT, MINISTER OF

HOUSING AND URBAN POVERTY ALLEVIATION AND MINISTER OF

PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (SHRI M. VENKAIAH NAIDU) responding to an issue raised by several hon. Members said: In my view this is a very serious issue and it should not be politicised. The hon. Home Minister has already given a statement in this regard. He had said that he will seek information in this regard from the State Government. I had talks with the Home Minister today in this regard. Right now the hon. Minister is busy in the other House and once he is free from there he will definitely give a statement today itself or tomorrow. He had promised that he will apprised the House after obtaining complete information on this issue. He will give a clarification in this regard today or tomorrow. There is no question of misleading anyone or compromising with the national security.

Making political comments will not help at all rather it will only harm the country.

*MATTERS UNDER RULE 377

(i) SHRI CHANDRA PRAKASH JOSHI laid a statement regarding need

to relax the norms pertaining to opium production on account of recent

unseasonal rains in Chittorgarh Parliamentary Constituency, Rajasthan

and Mandsaur in .

(ii) SHRI AJAY MISRA TENI laid a statement regarding need to bring

National Family Benefit Scheme and Indira Gandhi National Widow

Pension Scheme under Mahila Kalyan Vibhag in .

(iii) SHRI HUKUM SINGH laid a statement regarding need to conduct a

CBI enquiry into alleged illegal mining and stone crushing in Saharanpur

in Uttar Pradesh.

(iv) SHRI HARI MANJHI laid a statement regarding need to ensure

electrification of remaining villages under Rajiv Gandhi Grameen

Vidyutikaran Yojana in Gaya Parliamentary Constituency, Bihar.

* Laid on the Table as directed by the Speaker. (v) DR. MAHENDRA NATH PANDEY laid a statement regarding need to

take suitable steps to check the menace of wild boars damaging crops in

Chandauli Parliamentary Constituency, Uttar Pradesh.

(vi) SHRI ASHWINI KUMAR CHOUBEY laid a statement regarding need

to undertake repair of roads constructed under Pradhan Mantri Gram

Sadak Yojana in Buxar, Bhagalpur and Banka districts of Bihar and also

expedite construction of sanctioned road projects.

(vii) SHRI RAJENDRA AGRAWAL laid a statement regarding need to

construct a railway line between Meerut and Hastinapur in Uttar Pradesh.

(viii) DR. VIRENDRA KUMAR laid a statement regarding need to formulate

a comprehensive programme to protect children from socio-economic

evils.

(ix) SHRI DEVENDRA SINGH BHOLE laid a statement regarding need to

provide sewerage and drainage system in Kanpur Nagar and Kanpur

Dehat in Akbarpur Parliamentary Constituency, Uttar Pradesh under

Jawahar Lal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission.

(x) DR. BHOLA SINGH laid a statement regarding need to permit sale and

purchase of land surrounding Kanwar Lake Bird Sanctuary in Begusarai

district of Bihar. (xi) SHRI MULLAPPALLY RAMACHANDRAN laid a statement

regarding need to ban import of natural rubber.

(xii) SHRI RAJEEV SATAV laid a statement regarding need to provide

adequate compensation to farmers in arising out of damage

to their crops due to unseasonal rains.

(xiii) SHRI K.R.P. PRABAKARAN laid a statement regarding need to re-

open Kavalkinaru railway station in .

(xiv) DR. RATNA (NAG) DE laid a statement regarding need to take

effective measures to reduce Maternal Mortality Rate in the country.

(xv) DR. KULMANI SAMAL laid a statement regarding need to open bank

branches in all the gram panchayats of .

(xvi) SHRI ARVIND SAWANT laid a statement regarding need to undertake

cadre review of Scientific Staff in the Indian meteorological Department.

(xvii) SHRI M. MURLI MOHAN laid a statement regarding need to set up a

Railway University at , .

(xviii) SHRI PREM SINGH CHANDUMAJRA laid a statement regarding

need to develop Anandpur Sahib in Punjab as a pilgrim and tourist hub.

BUDGET (RAILWAYS), 2015-2016 - GENERAL DISCUSSION

DEMANDS FOR GRANTS ON ACCOUNT (RAILWAYS), 2015-2016

SUPPLEMENTARY DEMANDS FOR GRANTS (RAILWAYS), 2014-2015

AND

RESOLUTIONS

Re: Appointment of Parliamentary Committee & Recommendation to Rajya Sabha

THE MINISTER OF RAILWAYS (SHRI SURESH PRABHU) moving the resolutions said: I am very happy to announce that in the morning we signed an agreement with the Life Insurance Corporation of India to give to the Ministry of

Railways Rs.1,50,000 crore and in the course of next five years, to finance various railway projects. In fact, the repayment will happen only after 30 years. So, this is something which will be in the interest of the Railways as well as the LIC. This is also, in fact the fulfillment of our commitment that we will find extra budgetary resources which will be far in excess of what has been contemplated earlier to fulfill the aspirations of the large number of population of India by finding out resources, not just increasing the fares on the passengers or only increasing the tariff or relying on the gross budgetary support.

SHRI K.C. VENUGOPAL initiating said: I wish to say that the hon.

Minister has presented a vision document instead of a Budget. Putting financial statement in an annexure means it is a vision document and not a budget. The hon.

Minister has been saying that he has not increased the passenger fare. You have increased the freight charge across all classes up to 10 per cent at a time. It will drastically have an impact on your expected rate of growth. This budget will have a bad impact on the common man. I am appreciating your extra budgetary resources which you have mentioned. The Minister has identified 11 major areas of action plan. I am appreciating these things. Not a single train has been announced in this year's Budget. Without starting new trains, how can he enhance the capacity? For millions of people, Railway Budget is an instrument which directly impacts their lives. The Minister has killed the hopes and aspirations of those poor people by not announcing any train in the Budget. The Budget is proposing an operation ratio for 2015-16 as 88.5 percentage, but he has not given any details about how he would achieve it. For one year, you need Rs.1.30 lakh crore. How will it be mobilized? External funding will affect the economy. My fear is that it is a daunting task for the Railways to meet the debt servicing requirements as it lead to debt trap. It would help the corporates and pave way for privatization. This type of funding pattern is not necessary. There are no specific steps in the Budget to ensure the effectiveness of project implementation also. The

Budget does not speak of any credible mechanism for a speedy and cost-effective implementation. The Chief Minister of Kerala and the Opposition Leader together met you and gave you a memorandum for suburban Railway from Trivandrum to

Haripad and Trivandrum to Chengannur, and the Kerala Government offered to bear 50 per cent of the cost. The Kerala Government has already informed the

Government of India that they are ready to give land for wagon factory in

Alappuzha. I would like to urge upon the Minister to replace these old coaches.

Nearly 70 per cent of the coaches used in the trains running in the railway network of the State are over 25 years old. The Minister should allocate more resources for gauge conversion and doubling of the line in my constituency. The Government should allocate sufficient money for enhancing passenger amenities. The

Trivandrum region is lacking in so many things. We know the problems of

Railways and we know its solutions as well. Your vision is in no way different from the recommendations of various committees appointed by the Railways in previous years, including the Kakodkar Committee recommendations.

YOGI ADITYANATH: I stand to rise in support of Railway budget.

Indian Railways is the backbone of the India's transport. It is the largest network in the world on the basis of number of passengers per kilometer. For the first time the firm commitment shown by the Minister of Railways to rise above the habit of keeping the railways hostage to politics is commendable. The result of the far reaching steps taken to augment rail infrastructure without hiking passenger fares is already visible and there is no doubt the long term effect would also be very good. The four targets fixed by the hon. Minister of Railways for turning around the railways are very important. These include permanent and complete transformation on the basis of the experience of the passengers. For the first time effort has been made in the Budget for optimum use of information technology in the railways. There is emphasis on passenger amenities and safety. For the first time new efforts have been made to increase the efficiency of employees, establishment of railway university and setting up of a railway research institute.

More than 676 railway projects were announced in the past three decades out of which only 317 could be completed. Toilets would be constructed in railway stations as also 17000 coaches would have bio-toilets. Other features include mobile SMS, PRS, Wi-fi facility in all A1, A and B class stations, Rs.120 crore allocation for lifts and escalators, increasing the speed of trains from 110 to 160 km per hour and from 130 to 200 kilometer per hour on nine rail corridors. 970

RoBs and RuBs are to be constructed to replace 3438 level crossings. There are plans to run 100 DEMU trains on CNG and diesel and to increase the number of passengers. Yearly freight target has been increased from 1 billion tonne to 1.5 billion tonne. Track strength from 1.15 lakh km to 1.38 lakh km and there is also a plan to go in for multi-language e-ticketing portal. Funds have been allocated from

Nirbhaya Fund for Safety of women. 108 trains will have e-catering facility on a trial basis. Stations will have water vending machines. SMS alert facility would be provided for arrival and departure of trains. Gauge conversion target is 800 km.

The hon. Minister of Railways has presented the Railway Budget with great foresight. For the first time the Minister of Railways has taken away all rights from the Railway Board and vested them in the General managers. Efforts have been made to make corruption free. This is a growth oriented budget. The previous NDA government had created a safety fund of Rs. 16000 crore. Today we need Rs.40000 crore. The passengers will be greatly benefitted by increasing the number of unreserved coaches in mails and express trains. For the first time the hon. Minister has come out with the concept of 'train set'. It is my humble request to make efforts to provide rail connectivity to Nepal, Bangladesh,

Myanmar, Bhutan and other neighbouring countries. Gorakhpur is the zonal headquarters of the North-East railways. The Minister has made huge allocation keeping in view the needs of the zonal headquarters. Compare to Rs.979 crore Rs.

2101 crore have been allocated for North-East railways. North-East railways has the only zonal headquarters without any Shatabdi or Rajdhani trains. It is my request to link the zonal headquarters with this. Place has been reserved there for either a loco factory or locoshed for which provision should be made. Kindly provide an inter-city train for Prayagraj. Half the gauge conversion work has been done from Gorakhpur to Nautanwa, Anandnagar-Nautanwa, Naugod, Badni,

Tulsipur, Balrampur, Gonda. Funds have been allocated for this. A special passenger train to and other metropolitan cities of the country should be started from here.

SHRI P. KUMAR: As we all know, the Indian Railways is the largest railway network under a single management in the world. The freight traffic is projected at all-time high of 85 million tonnes. The Railway Minister has also promised Rs. 8.5 lakh crore investment in the Railways in the next five years.

Hon. Railway Minister plans to achieve a substantial improvement in the operating ratio of the Railways. While there is no increase in passenger fare, at the same time the freight rate of urea, cement, coal kerosene, cooking gas, iron and steel has been increased. This, it is feared, will have a cascading effect and will push up other costs. I would request the hon. Minister to look into this. Passenger amenities are also being improved by harnessing information and communication technology. The purchase of cheaper power to run railways should not be at the cost of State power utilities, which are already reeling under severe financial crunch. I would request the Railway Minister to allocate more funds for 10 pending projects in Tamil Nadu. A memorandum on these projects also submitted to hon. Prime Minister June last year. Out of these ten projects, the doubling project of Chennai-Kanyakumari is of vital importance. Only if this doubling project is completed, the entire southern region of the State would be developed.

Similarly, there are 23 Railway projects that were announced in the previous Railway budgets, but work has not yet started. Hon. Railway Minister should allocate sufficient funds for pending projects and complete them early. The vacant land at Golden Rock Workshop could be very effectively used to set up a new

Integral Coach Factory which will again provide job opportunities to several thousands of people. I would like to request the hon. Railway Minister to start new trains between Trichy and Bengaluru, Pudukkottai-Chennai via Trichy, Trichy-

Kanyakumari via Madurai - Tirunelveli - Nagercoil and Trichy and Tirupati. I demand to the stoppages of train no. 22627/22628 Intercity Express at Manapparai train no. 16107/16108 at Mangalore Express at Jeeyapuram and Pettavathalai stations and of all other trains at Keeranur, Sri Rangam and Tirisoolam. Sufficient funds to be allocated to upgrade Sri Rangam and Pudukkothai as Adarsh stations.

There is a demand for construction of ROBs at Sri Rangam town, in Trichy city, near Maris theatre in Pudukkottai town between Rasavayall and Thiruvappur and at LC No 249 and at 1136. There is a need to have Railway Reservation

Counter at Trichy Airport. The post office located in the Old Terminal Building of

Airport can be utilized to set up a Railway Reservation Counter.

DR. KAKOLI GHOSH DASTIDAR: The Union Railway Budget does not has a clear road map for the future growth of the industry. It appears to be completely anti-people, aimless and visionless. Out of 48 sanctioned projects for

RuB and RoB of of Eastern India, only five projects have received a petty amount. The Government raised the passenger fares with a promise to lower it every time the fuel prices were lowered. After that, many times, international market prices showed a dip in fuel prices but till date, we have not received any information regarding lowering of passenger fares. The freight fare has been raised by 6.5 per cent. There is a competition between roadways and railways for freight. Why cannot the Railway Minister improve facilities for the railways so that the market, being shared by the rail and the road, is taken up by the rail mode?

The Government promising that it is going to initiate growth. If the freight rate increases, the core industry is going to be hit. So, how will infrastructure development take place? From 2009 to 2011, there has been an increase in the freight traffic, carried by the Railways, by upto nearly 35 per cent. But freight traffic has shown a dip during the last fiscal year. It is said that everything will be done under partnership with private players. It is not the right attitude for rulers to try to act like commercial people. This Rail Budget appears to be a document like an expansion proposition of an IT company. It has nothing for the 13,33,966 railway employees. Railways is not only a means of transportation but also the lifeline of the country. It has a social obligation which is totally missing in this

Budget. The Izzat ticket has been done away with. Dedicated Freight Corridor remain to be completed. We think that the present Government has no intention to develop not only West Bengal but also the other eight sister-States in the Eastern part of the country. The Kisan Vision Document and the air-conditioned carriage system have not been mentioned in the documents. I request the Hon. Railway

Minister that the 11,000 unmanned level-crossings should be manned immediately and all the RoBs built. There are two level-crossings - No. 27 and No. 28 - in my constituency at Ashok Nagar and . I request to please took into this and sanction them.

SHRI KALIKESH N. SINGH DEO: The condition of the Railways is not unknown. There is not enough money to modernize and to expand capacity. The

Indian Railways makes a loss which is about 20 or 25 paise per passenger. The

Minister has spent his attention and his resources to the much needed augmentation of capacity and infrastructure at the cost of populace measures. According to his own Budget Estimates he has to invest over Rs. 1 lakh crore in just bringing the

Railways up to a decent safety standard. The hon. Minister has detailed out his intention of expenditure, of the new idea of creating SPVs, bringing FDI, and trying to garner surplus revenues from other railway corporations to pump into infrastructure. But he has not managed to detail out as to how he will generate the income or the revenue to undertake these expenditures. Until the financial revenues and costs are clearly demarcated and the PPP partner is assured of a fair return, you will not be able to generate enough interest in these SPVs. He has not talked about the unutilized land of the Indian Railways which are prime properties in almost all cities. An agreement was signed with the Railways that this land would be utilized for railway production. But it has been almost 30 years that the land has been lying vacant there. The department of Railway is just keeping the land which is worth crores of rupees. The amount of money they could generate would be tremendous. I regret that the Minister has not made a mention of this. I am very happy that Hon. Minister has talked about fixing the responsibility on specific officers. I am saying that the decision to not increase passenger rates despite a six time increase in diesel and petrol, is a political decision. Indian

Railways gives a dividend to the Government of India of Rs.7,000 crore. There are many technological advances, which are required. Why can they not contract and buy the technology and develop and build here long with the Make-in-India system. Hon. Minister rightly said that in the Indian Railways, he will remove all level man and unmanned crossings because at every crossing there is a risk of life.

But last year, the target for Railway Over Bridge and Railway Under Bridge was about 400 or a little over 400 but only 80-85 have been implemented.

DR. SHRIKANT EKNATH SHINDE: This is just any other Railway

Budget but a vision document for Indian Railways to grow and astonish the world with achievements. A big thank to the Hon. Railway Minister for approving the much needed Kalwa-Airoli link to facilitate direct trains to Vashi from Kalyan and vice-versa and for confirming that a new terminus will be created at Thakurli near Kalyan. This will really decongest the traffic of suburban network. Railway

Department uses manual laying of tracks which covers half a kilometre a day.

Now, they have engaged two external outsourced machines to do automatic laying of tracks which is faster, double the speed and cheaper. The Chief Minister has written to the Railway Minister to start some new trains. Another dimension is the

Swachh Bharat Abhiyan initiated by Hon. Prime Minister which has been duly reflected in this Rail Budget. Hon. Railway Minister has increased the ticket reservation period from 60 days to 120 days. But sometimes one has to travel in emergent situations and such passengers have been given the facility of Tatkal but that is not adequate and there is also a limit to increase it. Therefore, some trains should be introduced with facility to book the ticket 3-5 days in advance in some high density corridors. The fare in such trains could be little more than the normal fare as it would be justified with guarantee for reservation. I am quite hopeful that passengers would welcome such trains. The emphasis on the safety is also a welcome step with much needed boost to advanced technology. I also thank the

Minister on the steps taken on women safety. I also wish to thank him on behalf of lakhs of Mumbaikars for making a provision of Rs.120 crore for lifts and escalators on the suburban stations. I would request the Railway

Minister that the department of Railways should take full safety and security of the gang-men who are responsible for the security and safety of lakhs of passengers. SHRI P. K. BIJU: The railway Minister does not mention the revenue receipt and expenditure in his speech, which is cardinal to crucial formulation of any Budget. The increase in freight charge will have cascading effect on agriculture and food price inflation. There is no declaration on new trains, railway lines and project. Kerala needs more attention. There is no proportionate increase in allocation compared to the national average for the overall allocation including doubling of railway lines. The long pending demand for a railway medical college and a bottling plant in Trivandrum, wagon factory at Cherthala in Alappuzha district are also neglected in the Budget speech 2015.

SHRI KAPIL MORESHWAR PATIL: Four major targets have been set in the budget proposal for bringing about pragmatic and widespread reforms in the

Indian Railways during the next five years. These include bringing about a permanent and discernible improvement in the facilities extended to the travellers, making the journey by railways a safe journey, expanding and enhancing the capacity of Indian railways and modernizing the railway infrastructure to make it dependable. Kisan Yatra Yojana is going to be launched in the railways for the first time.

I had requested the hon. Railway Minister to provide funds for joining the

Washi-Kalyan track for the benefit of the commuters. I am thankful to him for acceding to my request and making a provision of Rs. 600 crore for joining the said track. If a local train is run from Mumbai to Bhiwandi it will help accelerate the pace of textiles and warehousing trade dominant in my Lok Sabha constituency, Bhiwandi. This local train can be run on the Diwa-Vasai railway track which already exist there. This budget has a clear vision to set the pace of

Indian economy in motion and play a pioneering role in shaping the growth and development of the nation. I support this budget.

SHRI JAYADEV GALLA: I am submitting hereunder some of the long- pending demands from my Constituency, Guntur. 36 KM route between Tenali-

Repalle be recommended for doubling and electrification survey and sanctions.

Doubling and electrification is required between Pagidipalli-Nalgonda-Nadikudi-

Nallapadu stations. This will generate more revenue for railways. In view of

Tulluru Mandal of Guntur district selected by Government of Andhra Pradesh as part of New Capital area, Guntur Station has to be given as the "Station of State

Capital" by providing necessary facilities. Most of the important long-distance trains of Grand Truck route can be routed through new Guntur station. The present goods loading/unloading can be shifted to Nambur to create more space here for coaching purpose. A Pit line at Nallapadu station will be of utmost use to originate some trains from Guntur. Mangalagiri Station will have to be provided with all facilities and all express trains are to be provided with halts. The running time between Vijayawada-Guntur should be reduced to enable to attract more number of passengers to utilize rail facility. Long pending sanctioned work to lay the crossing line at Vemuru be provided with sufficient funds to complete at the earliest. All trains introduced towards North and East be originated from Guntur station and all trains introduced towards South and West be originated from Vijayawada. Some of the Passenger and express trains having Vijayawada as terminus may be extended to Guntur. For Syamalanagar-NGO Colony Road LC. RUB was sanctioned previously. There is a need to give financial approvals. This has to be completed at the earliest to meet the day by day increasing rush. Nagarjuna Express should be revived. Amenities for passengers at Tenali Railway Station be provided.

SHRI M. MURLI MOHAN: The Railway Minister without enhancing the passenger fares has launched safety measures aimed at making train travel easier, more comfortable and safer. I would earnestly request the Railway Minister to provide maximum funds for the completion of all pending railway projects and accord sanction for creation of a new railway zone at without any further delay. I would earnestly request the Railway Minister to set up one

Railway University near Vijayawada, one of the biggest railway junction in India.

I would urge upon the Minister that instead of Vijayawada, the proposed AP

Express should be introduced from Visakhapatnam so that it would cover all the coastal district of Andhra Pradesh. I would like to put forth other request for introduction of from Vijayawada to New Delhi via Rajahmundry, Visakhapatnam, Rayagada, Raipur, Nagar. I would earnestly request the Railway Minister to recruit women RPF personnel for deployment in the women's compartments. I would humbly request him to add two extra coaches to trains like Godavari Express, Prasanti Express, Falknama Express, Duranto

Express, East Coast Express etc. As Rajahmundry will be the main centre of attraction during the Pushkarams, I would earnestly request the Railway Minister to see that all necessary facilities are made available at the Rajahmundry Railway

Station. I would humbly urge upon the Minister to include the Rajahmundry

Railway Station in the list of Adarsh Stations. Another important area, which needs urgent attention from the Railway Minister that the existing Road-cum-rail bridge on the River Godavari is in dilapidated condition. Therefore necessary directions should be given to the officials concerned to repair the work by allocating adequate funds.

SHRI SHRIRANG APPA BARNE: I represent Mawal Parliamentary

Constituency in Maharashtra. There have been a number of demands raised by the public of my constituency for years. I request that the number of local trains running between Shivaji terminal and Khopoli be raised; new trains may be introduced between Karjat and Panwel as well as between Khopoli and Panwel; a new railway track be laid from Lonawala to Khopoli; Arkudi railway station may be declared as a sub-junction. I also request to run the first local train from Khopoli for Panwel at 6 A.M. A local train should be introduced from Khopoli which should run in the morning between 6.30 A.M. and 9.30 A.M. Likewise, another local train should start from here in the evening between 6 P.M. and 8 P.M.

More ticket counter should be opened at Khopoli and a round the clock reservation counter should be opened here. Local trains should be introduced between

Lonawala and which should run from Lonawala in the morning between 10

A.M. and 12 noon and start from Pune in the evening between 2 P.M. and 4 P.M.

The Sinhgarh express and Pune Busawal express should be given stoppage at

Talegoan and the platform shed at this junction should be renovated. The length of the platforms of , Kanaphata, Vadgoan, Dhorabadi, Kasrawadi and

Dhaphodi railway stations should be increased. The Pune-Eranukulam express should be given stoppage at Karzat and the Pragati Deccan express and the

Mumbai-Latur-Mumbai express should be given stoppage at railway station. More number of ticket counters should be opened at Arkudi. All the

South bound trains should be given stoppage at Chinchwad. The height of all the platforms between Pune and Lonawala should be raised. The work at new rail line from Chinchwad to Roha should be started. A reservation counter should be opened at Chouk station. The work of constructing a foot over bridge at Nerul,

Mumbai should be completed as early as possible. Further, the sheds on all the platforms of this station should be changed. The sitting facilities and the arrangement for proper lighting and telecom facilities should be provided at all the railway stations of my constituency. The senior citizens and the persons with disabilities should be given quota in the Tatkal facility. There should be proper toilet facilities for the ladies and the Ministry should ensure proper sanitation, lighting and safety arrangements in the ladies coaches.

SADHVI SAVITRI BAI PHULE: The gauge conversion of railway line from Gonda to Maulani Junction and Nepalganj road via Nanpara junction should be undertaken immediately so that underdeveloped terrain region in the bordering areas with Nepal may be linked with other regions of the country. Alongwith it the mutual trade relations between both the countries should be promoted by carrying out the gauge conversion of the railway line of the international importance, which connects the Nepalganj city of the Nepal. The Kakroha station of Gonda-Maulani division located in forest should be removed and new railway station should be set up at Balchcha Chouraha and trains should be given stoppage at the station.

Gaighat halt on this section was inaugurated during the previous Government's regime, but no train has ever stopped at the said halt. Hon'ble Minister should issue necessary directions.

The announcement made in the last budget in regard to providing the rail connectivity to Shraswati should be implemented on priority basis. Linking of

Shrashwati with railway line will also promote international tourism. The effective steps with the consulation of local people and public representatives should be taken in direction of timely running of trains on Gonda-

Bahraich-Mailani section and Gonda-Bahraich-Nepalganj road section alongwith revising the railway time table for connecting these trains to the time of other trains plying on broad guage from Gonda to the other parts of the country.

The frequency of 'Sushasan Express' running from Gwalior to Balrampur once a week should be increased, (especially in weekends) and its return time should be fixed in evening instead of 9:30 am.

A new station should be set up at Hussainpur Mridagi located on Gonda-

Mailani. Availability of approved passenger amenities as per the norms should be ensured at all railway stations of Gonda-Mailani section. Uninterrupted operation alongwith availability of staff and resources on all railway reservation centres should be ensured at Bharaich and other stations. 3 Booking counters should be started immediately at Bahraich station. All superfast / Express trains including

Bihar Sampark Kranti, Saptkranti Express, Amritsar-Sahrasa ,

Udaipur-New Jalpaigudi Express, New Delhi-Naharlagun AC Express etc should be given stoppage at Gonda station, so that the passengers may get more alternatives of the train and facilities.

SHRIMATI RAMA DEVI: I request the hon. Railway Minister to give a leg up to the railway services in Bihar. The Ministry should provide additional trains for Bihar on the occasion of Chhath, Holi, Diwali and Eid. The government should take action against the corruption in railways. The government should take up the work of laying new railway lines from Motihari to Sitamarhi via Shiohar.

All the express trains should be given stoppage at Ghorsahan railway station at the

Samstipur-Narkatiyaganj railway line. Further, the government should construct an RUB from Karpuri Chouk to Ambedkar Chouk in this city. New train services should be introduced from Bagha, Narkatiyaganj, Betiya, Bapudham Motihari to

South Bihar and . The Choura-Chouri express which connect Kanpur and Ghorkhapur should be extended to Bapudham Motihari. The Bapudham

Motihari Garib Rath which is a weekly train should be run daily.

SHRI BHEEMRAO B. PATIL: This Budget has many positives and less negatives. The Railway Minister has laboured hard to prepare this Budget and has gathered courage for mobilization of additional funds for various developmental works. The government has sanctioned many double lines, third line, and quadruple lines while overlooking many new lines with RoR of more than 14 per cent which are not only economically viable, but also travel through the most backward areas. Only a few railways lines have been constructed in after Independence. The railway lines from Bodhan to Bidar and from

Secunderabad to Zaheerabad are pending for many years. Railway Coach Factory and a Wagon Factory at Kazipet should be set up and a new Railway division at Kazipet should be created. New railway lines to be completed are Peddapally -

Karimnagar - Jagityal-Nizamagbad; Manoharabad-Kottaplly; Akkanapet-Medak;

Bhadrachalam Road- Sattupally; Manchiryala-Peddamapet; Kazipet-Vijayawada;

Raghavpuram-Mandamarri; Manuguru-Ramagundam; Nalgonda-Macherla; and

Jadcherla-Nandyal. They are pending in survey stage. There is a need to improve rail transport and to extend MMTS services to Toopran, from Falaknuma to

Shamshabad in MMTS phase-II. There is a need to bring Hyderabad-Vijayawada railway line through Suryapet as it would connect the Capitals of the two states and also Bidar to Bodan as it will connect Karnataka and Telangana State. There is a need for further development of the Railway transport system in Hyderabad and complete modernization of Secunderabad station. There is a great thrust on safety and security of passengers, sanitation and modernisation. This is a first reform oriented Railway Budget in decades. For the first time, the Railway Board will have within it, a financial cell. PPP will help in creating more jobs besides augmenting and improving capital for the railways.

SHRI JASVANTSINH SUMANBHAI BHABHOR: In this year's Rail

Budget attention has been given for completion of pending projects with the help of foreign investment and also the private sector. This budget will be helpful in achieving the aim of comfortable and safe journey. I represent Dahod

Parliamentary Constituency in Gujarat. I urge that since there is shortage of staff in Dahod workshop, therefore this shortage can be met by recruiting tribal people of this area. Dahod has a very big railway hospital. Only one doctor is employed in this hospital. More doctors should be appointed in this hospital. In Rail Budget

2015-16 provisions has been made for upgradation of Railway workshop at Dahod, augmentation in capacity of wagon building, upgradation of residential quarters for railway employees. I am grateful to the hon. Minister and the Central Government in this regard.

SHRI M.B. RAJESH: In the Railway Budget the Minister has made attractive promises and set very high targets. Indian Railways today needs bold steps to strengthen its public sector character. The old focus on PPP, FDI and BOT is not going to take Indian Railways forward. Certain intentions spelt out in the

Railways Budget are without the support of necessary resources. Traffic growth has come down. Passenger earnings also fell by Rs. 968 crore. The Government has increased the freight charges. This will only strengthen current inflationary spiral. The allocation for railway safety fund is less by Rs. 2,200 crore. A Rail

Coach Factory at Palakkad was promised way back in 1980. This should be completed. A railway medical college was announced for Thrivananthapuram. A bottling plant was announced. A wagon factory was also announced. Many other projects were announced but nothing has happened. As far as sub-urban railway is concerned, there is no mention; but that was one of our big hopes and expectations from this Budget. On the electrification between Shoranur and Mangalore, only 26 per cent of electrification is complete; 74 per cent remains to be completed. The

Punalur-Chengottai gauge conversion needs Rs.150 crore but in this Budget only

Rs. 80 crore has been allocated. So, I demand an enhancement for the Punalur-

Chengottai gauge conversion. Various Governments have been neglecting Kerala.

I hope that this Government will heed to the genuine demands of people of Kerala.

SHRI K. PARASURAMAN: I would like to thank our Hon'ble Minister for

Railways having accepted my demand of creating new railway line between

Thanjavur to Pattukotta. I request the immediate starting work of building overbridge at Manarkudi-Pattukotta. Please speed up the work in regard to

Needamangalam-Manarkudi and Manarkudi-Thirudurapondi railway development.

I request the Hon'ble Minister for Railways the speedy implementation of the following pending railway proposals: gauge conversion of Mayiladuthural-

Karaikudi via, Peravurani-Pattukottai-Thiruvarur; creating new railway link from

Thanjavur to Ariyalur; Double lining and electrification line from Thanjavur to

Villupuram via Mayiladuthurai; speedy development of Thanjajvur Junction by providing the basic amenities like drinking water facilities, ladies toilet, digital boards in the platforms; One ticket counter be started in Post office at

Athirampatnam (2) Pattukotai (3) Thiruvayaru, providing basic amenities like drinking water facilities, toilets, and neat and cleaning of following station in connection with ensuing Mahamaham Festival. Kumbakonam, Thanjavur,

Mayiladuthurai, Papanasam, Ariyalur, Nagor, Nagapattinam and Thiruvarur. I request Hon'ble Minister to accept and implement the demands of our

Paratchithalaivi Amma.

SHRI ADHALRAO PATIL SHIVAJI RAO: I wish to draw the attention of Hon'ble Minister of Railways to a project 'Pune-Nasik; a New Railway Network which was envisaged in 2012. The Railway have already conducted a survey about this project. Pune and Nasik are among the quintessential cities of Maharashtra.

This belt represented the agricultural / horticultural bowl of Maharashtra and is also a flourishing industrial and automobile hub. The aforesaid railway network between Pune and Nasik has enormous and multifarious potential for social, economic, agricultural and educational and tourism development. This will contribute to the GDP growth of the State. I appeal to the Hon'ble Minister of

Railways to wave a green flag for it.

SHRI SANKAR PRASAD DATTA: The budgetary allocations for extending railways to backward and far flung areas and greater access for the poorer sections are totally inadequate. Despite Indian railway freight rates being the highest in the world, the Budget has proposed a 10 per cent freight hike for grains and urea; 6.3 per cent for coal; 3.1 per cent for iron ore; 2.7 per cent for cement and slag and 0.8 per cent for iron & steel, LPG and kerosene. This would also adversely impact the competitiveness of railway vis-a-vis the road sector for freight movement. It is a sad of affairs that no new allocation and no new project has been sanctioned for the state of Tripura in particular and the North East in general. The demand of the Dharmanagar-Agartala gauge conversion and

Agartala-Sabroom new line as well as Agartala-Akhaura (Bangladesh) rail connection project has been running slowly.

SHRI P. SRINIVASA REDDY: The Railway Budget has not focused much on the newly carved Telangana State and has disappointed the people as a whole. Remaining 70 per cent of the track is yet to be electrified. Change in advance booking of ticket from 60 days to 120 days would give more opportunity to ticket mafia to block seats in advance. The Minister has not introduced any new train. It is a welcome measure. It is time now to comply with the announcements for new trains made in previous Budgets. It is time to strengthen the track infrastructure. A new from Delhi to Secunderabad should be announced or the name of existing A.P. Express should be changed to that. There is an absolute need to create a couple of new Divisions in Telangana State and especially one at Kazipet as a new Division. The previous government had announced Bhadrachalam-Kovvur Railway line, it should be completed. The people of Telangana were expecting some new railway lines, new road over bridges and some RUBs. I would like to request the Government to provide some extra infrastructural facilities to generate employment for the local unemployed youth and to allocate more funds for the development of Telangana State.

SHRI RAKESH SINGH: This is indeed a bold railway Budget. Indian

Railways is not only a means of transport but it is also an integral part of lives of common people of our country. The present condition of railways is posing a grave challenge to the Hon. Railway Minister. I would like to thank the Hon.

Minister that he has taken such a decision that would make it the railways of future. The Indian Railways runs the passenger trains and goods trains on the same tracks on which the trains like Rajdhani and Shatabdi run. The operating ratio has been targeted at 88.5 per cent in this year's Budget which is the best in the last 9 years. There has been less investment in the railways since a long time and this has adversely affected the working of the railways and it has in turn resulted in decrease in its efficiency. A new department has been formed in the railways to look after the sanitation work at railway stations and in trains. This department would mainly focus on sanitation work. The allocation for passenger amenities has been increased to 67 per cent in this year's Budget. Train accidents are a sad aspect of Indian Railways. It not only results in the loss of life and property but also disrupts train services. The Government is striving to achieve better targets in respect of railway safety. The Hon. Railway Minister envisages an investment of

Rs.8.5 lakh crore in the railways. It is necessary to take up the work of gauge conversion for expanding the capacity of the railways. This is the need of hour for the railways. The Hon. Minister has set a target of 800 km for gauge conversion in this Budget. Our Hon. Prime Minister's vision for railways is that of speed, skill, service and safety. We have to go ahead along with this vision so as to make it the basis of development of Indian railways. I have already submitted the demands concerning my state to the Hon. Railway Minister and I hope that he will fulfill my all these demands.

SHRI GAURAV GOGOI: The Indian Railways has a social mandate because many towns and villages are disconnected from the railway grid. Second, it has a commercial objectives to earn annual profits. Over the recent decades, the

Railway Department has struggled to find the right balance between its social and commercial objectives. As a result, our railways are a overcrowded, dirty, slow and rarely run as per the schedule. Unfortunately, the railway budget lacked specific details on the roadmap to recovery. By hiking the freight rates, the Indian

Railway have made freight rail more unattractive compared to freight by road.

Already the hike in passenger fares in 2014-15 had led to decrease in passenger revenues. Also the gross budgetary support given by the Government is unsubstantial. Compared to other countries where the share of private investors is

17% of the total Budget, the Railways Minister seeks to raise 35% from the private sector. The Railways continue to compromise on safety of women and suburban passengers. For the State like Assam, it is important that the Railways connect upper Assam and Central Assam through the Numaligarh Jakhalabandha

Railway line.

SHRI KARADI SANGANNA AMARAPPA: Karnataka has only 16.9 km. per 1,000 sq. km. railway network. I represent the Koppal Parliamentary

Constituency, a part of Hampi World Heritage site falls in my constituency which sees not only national but international tourists, hence, i would request addition of the following: a. Hubli-Chennai via Koppal-Guntakal-NEW TRAIN b. Vasco-Hawra (WEEKLY TO BE ENHANCED TO EVERYDAY) c. Hubli-NZM via KPL-Bellary-GTL-NGP (NEW TRAIN) d. Hospet- (NEW TRAIN) e. Mysore-Shirdi (WEEKLY TO BE ENHANCED TO THRICE A WEEK) f. Banglore-Ajmir via Hubli (WEEKLY TO THRICE A WEEK) and

Funds for: *Bellary-Gabbur Survery work

* Koppal-Bagalkot Survey fund

* Gadag-Wadi via Koodala Sangama

SHRI CHAND NATH: Plan outlay of rupees one lakh crore, target of carrying more than three crore passengers daily, installation of display network on

2000 stations, target of freight revenue of rupees 1500 crore and not increasing the pasenger fares are praiseworthy steps. Installation of anti-collision devices is a good initiative. Under-bridges should be constructed in such a way to avoid incidents of accidents. Design for underpass at railway level crossing no. 33 should be modified and its construction should be started. Availability of fertilizers to farmers on time should be ensured. The quality of catering services should be improved. Achievements should be mentioned while preparing Annual Report.

Electrification work of Mathura-Alwar and Alwar-Rewari line should be completed early. Provision for Cloak room, pre-paid booths and Radio Taxi booths alongwith ramp, escalator and lift as well as separate parking facility for physically handicapped persons and senior citizens at Alwar station should be made. Behror should be connected with railway line. Alwar should be connected directly with Delhi. Stoppage facility of Allahabad Express at Ramgarh Station should be provided. Number of trains on Alwar-Jaipur route should be increased.

Doubling work of Alwar-Baandikui Railway line should be completed. Rajdhani

Express at Alwar Station would benefit people. Trains terminating at Mathura should be extended upto Alwar. Demands for local trains, stoppage of Rajdhani

Express, better facilities for passengers and new trains for Ahmadabad on Delhi-

Alwar route should be considered.

DR. KULMANI SAMAL: During 2014-15 Railway Budget Odisha was allocated one thousand four hundred and twenty crore rupees. Allocation for proposed construction of new rail lines like Khurda Road-Bolangir, Angul-Dubri-

Sukinda Road, Haridaspur-Paradip, Talcher-Bimalagarh etc. have been made.

Important projects like Kendujhar-Badamapahar, Jeypore-Nabrangpur, -

Konark and Lanjigarh-Junagarh may be taken into consideration. Allocation for a wagon factory to be set up at Sitapalli in Ganjam district of Odisha may be increased. The tribal districts situated in Southern and Western parts of the State are inaccessible and backward from the view point of railway network. So, it is a special demand of the State Government to connect these areas through rail line.

Express trains introduced between Paradip and and from Paradip to

Visakhapatnam are having stoppage only at the limited places. It is necessary to provide stoppage to these express trains at least at Badabandha, Rahama,

Raghunathpur, Gorakhnath and Sarala Road in order to provide utmost advantage to the people of this region. Budgetary allocation as well as the provisions made in is not enough for a poor state like Odisha. Budgetary allocation for the state may be enhanced.

SHRI DEVENDRA SINGH BHOLE: I support this Rail Budget. I urge upon the Government to provide basic rail amenities to Akbarpur, Uttar Pradesh.

New rail line should be laid from Etawah to Auraiya via Bhognipur, Bindaki Road railway stations so that Delhi-Howrah rail route be connected directly. The route of

New Delhi-Rewa Express be diverted via Kanpur, Ghatampur, Banda, Chitrakoot. Roora Station may be declared as a model station. Train Number 14163, Train

Number 14164 (Sangam Express); Train Number 12307, 12308 ( Express) and Train number 12452 (Down Shram Shakti) should be ensured a stoppage at

Panki Station. Rail Over Bridge (ROB) should be constructed at Coca Kola

Chauraha, Gumti and Kalyanpur Railway crossing and IIT railway crossing between Anwarganj to Mandhna station. The rail route of Mandhna to Bithoor be started by converting it into broad gauge. The operation of MEMU train number

64235 and 64236 running to and fro Barabanki and Kanpur should be extended to

Fafund. Operation of Anwarganj to Mandhna rail line should be supervised from

Lucknow division. The stoppage of Train Numbers 14218, 14164, 12427, 12419,

12420, 12179 and 12180 at Jhinghak railway station is very important in public interest. The number of Railway ticket counters should be increased urgently at

Panki, Ghatampur, Sidhi, Ataira stations. Simultaneously a separate counter should be opened for MST facility. 2-3 rakes of Chaura Chauri Express, Toofan Express,

Lichhawi Express and Janta Express should run on small routes in winter season every year so that passengers could be benefitted.

SHRI ASHOK SHANKARRAO CHAVAN: We shall indeed be happy if whatever announcements have been made in this Budget are achieved by the

Railway Minister. The Hon. Minister announced investments for more than

Rs.96,000 crore in 77 projects in this year's Railway Budget. One needs to examine where this money is going to go and which parts of the country this money is going to go. The Hon. Minister has not announced any new lines. The money which is going to come to the Government from the corporations, PPP projects, the Government has announced, we need to see that every state and backward region get its due share and the problem of backlog existing in several states is removed. We were hopeful that Konkan area of Maharashtra which is considered to be backward, Marathwada, Vidarbh which are parts of Maharashtra, would get some more allocation. These parts of Maharashtra have always been demanding adequate allocation of funds. Tremendous backlog is there whether it is the State Government or the Government of India. Whenver these demands are not met, there is demand for a separate State. In the Budget there is no increase in the passenger fares, freight for cement, coal etc. has been raised by about 10 per cent. Costs of various inputs like cement, steel are going to shoot up. This is definitely going to cost the exchequer. The Minister has talked about joint venture with various State Governments. The State of Maharashtra has been pioneer in taking up the projects. I am sorry to say that already the State Government is heavily starved for funds. In this situation, can any State Government allocate fund from its resources for railways? Definitely, railways are the responsibility of the Union Government. So, I think, it should not be a matter of practice that every time a new line in the State has to be considered, we require a joint venture with the State Government. It is something which is not warranted. Railway is the lifeline of Mumbai. Except for the announcement of MUTP-III, the Government has not specified any details about the MUTP-III. The Railways could capitalize

Tourism by offering tourists cost effective and innovative options which could generate more revenue for the Railways. I have talked about the regional imbalances. I think once the Railways are able to make its presence felt in these

States, there will be a large amount of employment which can be generated through various means. I hope the Government is able to make adequate provision for land acquisition for Railways. I would urge upon the Railway Minister that all

RoBs and RuBs should be given the highest priority within the Budget. All unmanned railway crossings should have a railway over bridge or under bridge within a specific period of time. Announcement of bullet trains is a welcome step.

I feel bullet trains are also required for far flung areas of the country where it takes more than 18-20 hours to reach the capital or their respective headquarters. So, this should be definitely given the priority. I would urge upon the Minister to give priority to Verdha Nanded line via Vevat Mal Pusat along with doubling of

Muthkhed-Parbani line and give adequate funds with a target time of three years for completion. At the same time, work on Busaval jalgaon line also needs to be expedited, which is hardly a track of 24.13 kilometer. Telangana that Nanded division should be attached to the Central Railway. I am requesting that the train which goes to Pune may be made seven times a week and extend to Mumbai.

SHRI VINAYAK BHAURAO RAUT: It is very unfortunate that Konkan

Railway has been ignored in this Budget. is one of the busiest rail routes in the country today. However optimum use of this railway has not been done for the rail traffic because this is single line track. Safety of Konkan

Railway is a serious issue. I would urge upon the Government to conduct safety audit there. I would also request the Government that there should be a railway station at Boardway village in Sindhudurg. Moreover, Konkan Railway has adequate land but no provision has been made for doubling of tracks. There should be provision in the Budget for RoBs in Konkan Railway. I would like to draw the attention of the Government towards the fact that instead of conducting the operation of Konkan Railway, CMD and other officers of Konkan Railways are involved in certain housing project. They should be given warning and Konkan

Railway Board should be dissolved and Konkan Railway be merged with Indian

Railways.

SHRI B.S. YEDIYURAPPA: I call it an ideal rail budget. Significant funds have been earmarked to construct as many as 970 Road Under the Bridge and

Road Over Bridge throughout the country. My constituency Shivamogga is facing lot of hurdles because of length of the platforms. Main takeaways from this Budget are, a) concentrating on resource mobilization b) importance on gauge conversion c) doubling and even tripling few routes d) promising on timely delivery of long pending projects e) focusing on improving the current system f) bringing transparency into the whole system and g) focusing on Railways to continue to be the preferred mode of transport. Karnataka will definitely gain a lot with the availability of more funds on pending projects. The sanction for gauge conversion of Mangaluru -Hubli -Shivamogga-Talaguppa Line at a cost of 57 crore, doubling of Yelahanka-Penukonda single line at Rs. 870 crore and additional coach terminal at Byappanahalli at a cost of Rs. 120 crore is definitely bigger gifts to our state. Request for contributions from MPLAD funds, Corporates, NGOs,

Charitable Institutions and Religious Institutions is welcome move.

*SHRI R. K. BHARATI MOHAN: With the present plan outlay, I wholeheartedly believe that the demands for new trains and new railway lines for

Tamil Nadu would be fulfilled in the near future. In order to ensure safety of women passengers, the number of Railway Police Force personnel will be increased in addition to effective use of modern technology. I hope that when such announcements are made in future the concerns and demands of Tamil Nadu for better rail connectivity would be taken care of. I totally believe that 10 very important new projects and 22 pending projects which were announced during the

* Original in Tamil presentation of earlier budgets, will also be executed. There is no new expenditure for land acquisition. Only expenses are related to route conversion. This train service should be made functional soon by expediting the project work. A new train service should also be introduced between Thanjavur and Chidambaram.

Rameswaram and Varanasi are two important pilgrim centres of the country. At present a train bearing No 14259/ 14260 is operated between Rameswaram and

Varanasi only once in a week. I urge that this train should be operated daily.

SHRI RAHUL KASWAN: No increase has been made in the passenger fair but a rational increase has been made in freight charges. With a commitment to complete rail projects, sufficient funds for the year 2015-16, i.e. one lac crore rupees, have been allocated. Announcements have been made for projects enhancing use of information technology, making use of information technology, making employees techno-savvy, setting up a new department for cleanliness, setting up a Railway Research Organisation and making provision for reservation of tickets four months in advance. For gauge conversion in my constituency a budget of Rs.20 crore and Rs. 100 crores each has been allocated for the

Ratangarh-Sardarshahar and Suratpura-Hanumangarh rail projects. Rs.150 crore have been allocated for Churu-Ringus-Jaipur gauge conversion. Construction works of rail over bridge at C-142 crossing to the east of Sadulpur railway station must be completed immediately. The Government has decided to close railway- crossing and instead, making underbridges on various rail sections. But due to its faulty design it is causing problems for the heavy vehicles to be able to pass under the same. During the rainy season, these under bridges are flooded with water, which stalls traffic for long hours. Therefore, there must be a proper drainage systems and height and width of these RUB's may be maintained at least 5 meters and no under bridge must be constructed at locations which are not feasible.

The construction of under bridge on Sadulpur-Hanumangarh section at C-80 crossing Sidhumukh railway station yard is not feasible. There is no space on both sides of it, therefore, it should be left untouched. In my constituency, there is no level crossing for upto 20 kilometer and the people are forced to illegally cross the railway lines in order to be able to visit other villages and their fields across the railway line and this has caused many major accidents. Under bridges must be constructed on such sections also. Since the state government is unable to bear the expenditure in this regard, Railways must make amendments to the rules and bear the cost of the same. As this issue is related to railway safety, the same must be given priority. Introduction of new trains is also essential for my constituency.

The train, namely, Bhagat Kothi-Kamakhya train no. 15623/15624, announced in the previous budget may be introduced without any further delay. Jodhpur-Delhi

Sarai Rohilla train no. 22481/22482, which runs 2 days in a week should be run on daily basis and the same must be extended upto Haridwar. Rounds of weekly trains - Bandra-Jammu Tawi 19027/19028, Howrah-

Jaisalmare 12371-12372, Banda-Hisar 22915-22916, must be increased. New trains should be introduced on Bikaner-Haridwar 04735/04736 and Barmer-

Howarh via Ratangarh. Survey works for laying new rail lines has been completed on Sardarshahar. Hanumangarh, Sikar-Salasar-Bidasar-Nokha, Churu-Taranagar-

Nohar, Bhiwani-Pilani-Churu, Suratgarh- Sardarshahar-Taranagar-Sadulpur,

Gajsinghpur-Goluwala-Rawatsar-Taranagar-Rajgarh sections. These should be accorded sanctions and works should be started on the same.

Survey work of Hisar-Bhadra new rail line may also be carried out. Halt stopping must be provided at Sardargaria and Sotibari between Bhardra- Nohar stations on Sadulpur Hanumangarh section of North Western Railway. Jodhpur-

Hisar passenger train no. 54823/ 54824 may be reinstated instead of the DEMU train being run at present.

SHRI FEROZE VARUN GANDHI: First stand alone Indian Railway

Budget actually happened in 1924 when it constituted 85 per cent of the General

Budget unlike now when it constitutes four per cent of the General Budget. One of the great aspects of this Budget is that it is an entirely de-politicized Budget. In this Budget, hon. Minister has prioritized fiscal prudence over political considerations and he has laid greater emphasis on project execution. One of the main demands of the my constituency Pilibhit was to turn the metre gauge line into a broad gauge line. But the money that was given for the project was so miniscule and therefore, it did not become a reality. One of the aspects of this Budget is what it has laid a lot of emphasis on safety and security. Unmanned railway crossings account for 60 per cent of all railway track deaths. Over the next five years there will be no unmanned railway crossing. I think the greatest achievement of this budget is the creation of TRANSLOC which is the Transport Logistics Corporation of India created by the Ministry. As a result, Railways will become more competitive, and rail services would be available from the point of origin to the point of consumption. Railway loses Rs. 350 crore because of track corrosion caused by night soil. This time through the inclusion of 17,000 bio toilets addresses this issue. Generation of 1,000 MW of solar power through solar plants will save

Rs. 3,000 crore over the next three years. My only question to the Rail Minister is that whether High Speed Network is financially viable. I think one of the important numbers in this budget is the Operating Ratio. This time we have got the best Operating Ratio. The plan outlay shows 52 per cent increase and investments growth 84 per cent increase across 77 new projects. It exhibits the resolve to improve rail infrastructure. They are now investing more not just in laying new tracks but in improving existing rail infrastructure. I think rather than privatizing we can just improve what we have, and create a vision in the future, which is what this Budget has sought to do, I think it is a step in the right direction. SHRI KESINENI SRINIVAS: In the past, the Ministers were concentrating only on the States from which they came. Now the present Minister has done away with the practice. I appreciate this step of the Minister. I congratulate the Minister for giving top priority to the safety and security of the passengers. The hon. Minister of Railways had announced in his speech that four new Dedicated Freight Corridors would be developed in the coming years. I welcome this announcement and request the hon. Minister to include Andhra

Pradesh in this project. I must say injustice has been done to my State because the hon. Minister has neither sanctioned any new projects nor allocated funds to complete the pending projects. I congratulate the hon. Minister for inviting FDI into the railway projects. It is an innovative step. In reply to a question on the establishment of Railway Zones in the Lok Sabha, the hon. Minister has given us some hope on the creation of a new railway zone in Andhra Pradesh. I request the hon. Minister to add clarity on this response. I request the hon. Minister for taking up doubling of lines from Guntakal to Guntur, Gooty to Dharmavaram and Guntur to Bibinagar. I request the hon. Minister to provide the coaching terminal near

Vijayawada or Guntur since Vijayawada is one of the biggest junctions in the country and it has also become the capital of Andhra Pradesh. As a result the

Railways will also get more incoem and you can start more trains from Vijayawada and Guntur. The Chennai- Vizakhapatnam line is to be converted from two-lane to three-lane. The Budget allocation for this is very less. It should be enhanced.

Andhra Pradesh has a long coastline and scenic beauties like Araku and Padaneru.

So, I request the hon. Minister to introduce a train with full glasses so that we can attract more tourists who would see the scenic beauties of the area. In our State, we have five to six ports. I request the hon. Minister to provide rail connectivity to all the major ports of Andhra Pradesh. We are contributing a lot of revenue to the

Indian Railways. All the four divisions of Vijayawada, Guntur, Waltair and

Guntakal should be merged and a railway zone has to be announced with headquarters set up in Andhra Pradesh, not Hyderabad. I come from a very backward, rural parliamentary constituency of Anakapalle in Visakhapatnam district. I would request the hon. Minister for laying a new line between Tuni and

Kothavalasa junction via Narasipatnam, Madugulla, Devarapalle to facilitate railway connectivity to the remote villages of my constituency which are inhabited by the tribals. A stoppage, on par with for the Superfast Express at Anakapalle be provided.

SHRI JITENDRA CHAUDHURY: Hon. Railway Minister has not made announcements of lofty projects like his predecessors, but simultaneously bold commitment is missing to complete the ongoing projects within the stipulated time.

We the people of North East feel discriminated and neglected as no significant development was achieved during last 67 years. The previous Government has been compelled to declare some projects to connect the State capitals, succumbing to the popular mass struggle of the people of the region, particularly in Tripura led by Left Parties, DYFI, TYF, SFI, TSU and the people as whole. But unfortunately the construction works of those projects are going on so slowly, still far behind of their target, which is resulting in immense constraint both in passenger and goods movement. The following ongoing and proposed projects may please be paid attention to : The gauge conversion work of Lumding to Agartala may be expedited. Necessary fund may be released and men & machinery may be mobilised for speedy completion of long awaited project; Agartala to Sabroom project be expedited, which has deferred its stipulated time of completion twice;

The work of Agartala-Akhaura project may be started further without wasting a single day, for which almost all ground preparation has been completed; The project shall connect Railway network of two countries, India and Bangladesh through Tripura. Looking at the strategical and further importance a Railway

Division may be sanctioned for Tripura for which adequate land is available near the Agartala Station and Indian Government may initiate dialogue with the

Bangladesh Government to connect the Chittagong Sea Port and Ashuganj River

Port to connect the rest of the South Asian countries which shall be beneficial for the entire Sub-Continent. SHRI GAJENDRA SINGH SHEKHAWAT: In this rail budget priority has been given to future of railways and its revival. For establishing Indian

Railways as major means to boost the economy of the country, attracting new foreign investments, to revive rail routes and resources reeling under traffic loads and to enable the same to meet the future needs of the country, is the demand of the time.

An effort has been made in this rail budget to strengthen the basic infrastructures of the railways by doubling and tripling of rail tracks and their electrification in a phased manner by accepting the challenges. Efforts have been made to enhance rail passenger facilities and to improve it and make it useful. The commitment made to increase the passengers transportation capacity from 2.1 crore per day to 3 crore per day alongwith 20 percent increase in rail lines and one and a half time increase in goods transportation capacity is praiseworthy. There is a provision in this budget to invest Rs. 856000 crore in the next five years.

DR. ARUN KUMAR: Budget Bill safeguard the future of the railways in the country and railways will be able to present itself as a much improved mode of transportation. Budgetary allocation has been made for a completing a pending project of doubling and electrification of the Gaya and Kiyul. The biggest resolution made in the budget is the completion of the dedicated freight corridor project. Today Indian Railways is the safest mode of transportation. Allocation for unmanned railway crossing, construction of RoBs and for safety and security has been made along with the focus on a transparent system and de-centralization in this budget.

SHRI OM BIRLA: I would like to thank the Hon. Railway Minister for presenting the Railway Budget. Not raising the freight charges and passenger fares despite rise in the cost of Railways is a highly commendable step. Works related to making Kota a world class railway station were to be carried out. But most of the works in this regard have not been completed So far. Special action plan should be announced for making a provision of free of cost travel of Chardham/ pilgrim sites for the senior citizens. Following facilities should be provided at the Kota station : Providing special concession for travelling in train to the students preparing for examination in Kota city for IIT and Medical Entrance Examinations and encouraging the girl students preparing for the said exams by providing them free of cost travel passes; increasing the frequency of trains running form Kota station and constructing a budget hotel at the said station; converting the Gwalior

Sheopur meter gauge line into broad gauge line and extending it to Digod in

Rajasthan; extension of Janshatabdi from Jhalawad to Jaipur and extending the frequency of the weekly new train from Kota to Kanpur on daily basis; providing a permanent halt to various trains at Ramganj Mandi station, running Holiday express 09807 on regular basis; setting up a 'Railneer' plant in Rajasthan; construction of a MEMU car shed at Kota Junction railway station; extending the tourist facilitation centre and other night facilities at Bundi station. The government has fixed a target in this budget to implement the various ambitious schemes already in existence. Thus, I would like to thank you for presenting this budget.

SHRI RAJESH RANJAN: Though the number of trains have kept on increasing the length of railway track has not increased. How can you think about security and safety without increasing the railway tracks. The hon. Minister has said that we are going to invest an amount of Rs. 8.5 lakh crore in railways during the next five years but he has not spelt as to how this money is going to be mobilized. China has led railway line upto i.e. the Indian border. Against that India has failed to cover even the entire parts of capital Delhi, Haryana and

Uttar Pradesh leave apart Bihar, Jharkhand and Bengal. There are tourist places like Rajgir in Bihar which are absolutely essential to be provided railway connectivity for ensuring the progress and economic growth of Bihar. The

Government has provided made this provision in the Rail Budget that the people will be able to go for advance booking of railway tickets 120 days in advance. I would like to ask as to how a poor person or a person surviving on modest livelihood will be able to go for booking of tickets 120 days in advance. There is a need to revisit this issue. The Government has increased the freight rate. It will have impact the farmers. The Government has certainly increased the percentage allocation to States which will definitely expedite the development but how come less developed States like Bihar, Bengal and Assam would be able to bear their share for railway projects. The Government needs to ensure the punctuality, safety and cleanliness in trains. A railway over bridge should be constructed in my constituency Seharsa. The doubling and electrification of railway line from

Katihar to Barauni should be expedited. A zonal office should be opened in

Seharsa.

DR. RATNA (NAG) DE: I would like to praise the Minister of Railways for not hiking the fare. In 1947 we had railway network of nearly 54,000 kilometres, but presently we have only 65,000 kilometres of railway network. We have to make great strides if we have to cater to the ever-growing population of

India. No new trains have been announced. At least the Minister of Railways should have come out with the projects that he is planning to complete during the year. The Government is focussing on infrastructure. But the important aspect is the safety, safety of passengers, particularly that of women passengers, and the safety of trains. Cleanliness drive should start from the Railways, as crores of people use Railways every day. There is a need to reduce the fares of Tatkal charges, and cancellation charges too should be reduced considerably. More companies of women RPF personnel should be formed with a view to strengthen the security of women passengers. Efforts should be made to ensure that 10 per cent RPF vacancies are filled up by women. The number of Sleeper Coaches in trains should be increased considerably as 90 per cent travel in this category.

There has been a hike by 10 per cent on freight. The freight hike would have repercussions on the prices of essential commodities. Elimination of 3438 level crossings in a financial year is a welcome measure. West Bengal has been neglected in this Budget. I strongly urge upon the Railway Minister to allocate more funds for the ongoing proposals and also utilize the sanctioned funds. There is an urgent necessity to increase the speed of trains wherever necessary because it will not only reduce journey time but also save energy. Hygiene in trains and at

Railway Stations needs special and constant attention because food is served in mostly unhygienic conditions.

SHRI D.K. SURESH: The Railway Budget has indirectly taxed the common man by raising freight rates. Raising freight rates on essential commodities especially food grains will directly impact the common man.

Companies and several investors will have a rethink on the ''Make in India'' concept if freight rates are increased indiscriminately. Railways financial situation is not the most credible. This is a clear indicator that neither the corporates sector nor passengers were happy with this budget. There is large scale expectation that

FDI will flow-in as large multinational companies are expected to invest in India railways. FDI or PPP models will not automatically work unless there is a proper road map. The Railway Minister has announced many passenger friendly services.

These initiatives are appreciated. Hence, these promises should not remain on paper, but must be implemented at the earliest. The NDA government came to power promising major initiatives. But the railway budget mentions nothing about the much promised ''Bullet Train''. The railway budget also indicated that the states would be engaged as partners in railway projects. However, there is no clarity in the budget as to how this will be achieved. However, states can only partner in small projects but in large projects cost sharing becomes difficult.

However, the railway budget does not address the concerns of states like Karnataka regarding funding of projects nor does it address the issue of uniform policies. The cost of adding new trains on existing tracks is not much. The budget remained silent by not providing new trains. The Bengalure-Mysore sector should be made into a high speed corridor and should achieve speeds of 160 kms/ hour. Bengaluru

City Railway station finds no mention in the Budget. This station should be converted to international standards as there are thousands of commuters from all over the country and world who use this station daily. The much awaited announcement of a suburban rail for Bengaluru finds no mention in the budget despite several representations being made by the state Government. Therefore, the railway budget has failed to address the concerns of several states including the State of Karnataka. Similarly the new railway line between Kengeri and

Chamrajanagara has not been accorded the importance nor sufficient funding it should have been given. This is an important line which will mitigate migration to

Bengaluru City to a large extent. In my Bangalore Rural parliamentary constituency there are several ROB/ RUB projects which have been pending for a long time especially in Ramanagara and Channapatna. Many accidents too happen on a regular basis. I urge the Ministry to complete these projects as soon as possible. The recent intercity Bengaluru-Ernakulam train accident exposed the weakness of the railways track maintenance department. The Railway Minister has failed to address this important issue of safety and maintenance. The NDA

Government came to power promising a better future for the common man, but the stand in this railway budget is clearly anti-poor.

SHRI PRALHAD JOSHI : If you do not improve the infrastructure of the

Railways; if you do not attempt to increase the doubling of tracks; if you do not attempt to improve cleanliness, then, how can you provide services? I congratulate the Railway Minister for presenting a constructive and creative Railway Budget mainly focussing on safety. This Budget is a Vision Document for the next five years. Cleanliness and passenger amenities are the core issues. The road transport is quite costly and even in freight transport, the road sector is costly. But why is the

Railways losing revenue? It is because the credibility has come down. China has invested around three times in comparison to India over the period 2005 to 2012.

The result of the above for India is underinvestment in the Indian Railways which is causing slowdown in capacity expansion. This has effectively led Railways losing a significant share in passenger and especially freight traffic to the road sector. I request the hon. Minister that Bangalore-Varanasi via Tumkur, Hubli-

Dharwad and Belagavi, a new night train from Hubli to Bangalore has to be introduced as a super fast train and Hubli-Jodhpur or Hubli-Ajmer new train has to be introduced. Also, the modernisation of Hubli, Belgaum, Dharwad, Badami

Bagalkot and Bijapur is the most important need in the northern part of Karnataka.

SHRIMATI SUPRIYA SULE : From the construction of the first railroad in India that began in 1850 to unimaginable growth of railway network, the country's biggest Public Sector Undertaking has come a long way. Railways in

India are a tool for development, equity and integration of all parts to the mainstream. I completely agree that is extremely essential that we have financially viable Railways. Undeniably there is an urgent need to enhance capacity of and modernize the Indian Railways to meet country's social and economic aspirations in the 21st Century. Higher profitability in freight segment can be attained through a long term strategy especially of improved speed of freight trains. Sundry earning from sources like advertising and commercial utilization of surplus land currently contribute around 3%. Indian Railways launched Rail Neer, a branded packaged drinking water for the rail commuters in 2003. The total requirement of bottled water at major suburban stations on both Central Railway (CR) and Western

Railway (WR) is over 11,000 crates. However, hardly 500 Railway Neer bottles are sold on these stations. The Hon. Minister has promised to put an extra effort for ensuring passenger amenities. He also proposed to introduced air-conditioned

EMU service on the Mumbai suburban sections.

However, line capacity has been severely constrained due to increased traffic over the years. Railways have thousands of trains running but the number of employees required to handle the operations has been declining with 2.25 lakh posts currently lying vacant. Goods transport constitutes major revenue for railway. But porters which constitute major labour force in the entire goods transport are not provided basic facilities. Number of woman coaches in passenger trains may be increased. Pune- Railway Electrification is a must. There is also need to provide for one day return ticket for Daund-Pune-Daund Journey.

There is a strong demand from the villagers as well as from the workers that a rail station be built-up at Sahajpur. Pune-Nashik Rail Line-Nashik travel time may be brought down to 3 hours. The route between Pune and Lonawala needs third track to manage the load of passengers. station cannot bear the load of commuters and it needs major development work. There is increasing demand from people to introduce new Shuttle service between Pune-Jejuri/Nira. Pune-- JejuriMorgaon-Baramati line is a long pending demand by pilgrims. Mhalshej

Railway is a long pending demand of the people from Maharashtra. Konkan

Railway is been an ambitious project of Railway. Panvel is emerging as gateway for the Konkan region. Thus we need to relook at routes to connect Konkan to major cities in Maharashtra. A circular train service should be started on Pune-

Daund-Baramati-Phaltan-Lonand-Pune route. Height of three platforms, Shirsaai and Malad in Baramati block and Katfal in block are dangerously low.

There is urgent need to raise height of these platforms. Pune, Daund and Baramati

Railway stations need basic amenities. Daund station needs a new platform.

Mumbai is major metropolitan city of the country. Mumbai suburban needs special attention of railways.

*SHRI RANJIT SINGH BRAHMPURA: Hon'ble Railway Minister has focused on improvements in the Railway infrastructure and in the ministry. I congratulate him for not increasing passenger fares and for taking efforts to improve the facilities that are to be provided to the passengers. This budget envisages the construction of Railway under-passes at 3438 unmanned railway crossing and near schools. Online vehicle chair booking, availability of satellite railway stations in major cities, advance booking extending upto 120 days, bio- toilets and vacuum toilets facilities and mobile phone charging facilities - these are

* Original in Punjabi some of the salient features of this Railway Budget. We commend these steps taken by the Railway Minister. Amritsar railway station has seen an increase of passengers in the last few years. Wagah border and Jallianwala Bagh are also visited by people in large numbers. So, I urge upon the Hon. Railway Minister to develop Amritsar railway station upto the standard of an international railway station. The frequency of train number 12421, Nanded-Amritsar Super Express must be increased. Nanded is the religious centre of Sikhs in Maharashtra. I, also urge upon the Hon. Railway Minister to start daily trains between Amritsar and

Nanded Sahib. Regarding my constituency Khadoor Sahib, I want to say that construction of a railway over-bridge or an underpass at Gehri Mandi-Jandiala is the need of the hour. I appeal to the Hon. Railway Minister to look into my suggestions.

SHRIMATI JAYSHREEBEN PATEL : Railway is the life line of the country. The Railways has made provisions for technical development, emphasis on partnership, improvement in management, resources, human resources, green railway and online application process for recruitment. It is an indication of improvement in financial health of Railway. There is a clear impact of clean India, make India, digital India, energy and environment, water conservation, tourism, development and uproot corruption mission in this 'budget'. This budget has both vision and roadmap. A number a provisions have been made for Gujarat as well as my parliamentary constituency. I request that there is year old Mahesana-Taranga meter gauge line on which copper city Visnagar and birth place of hon. Prime

Minister are located. Visnagar is an ancient and historical city. Rs.192 crores were allocated for gauge conversion during the railway budget 2011 but no progress has been made in this regard so far. I request the hon. Minister to make budget provision for this project in order to expedite the progress of the said work. It is my humble request to accord sanction to Mahesana-Taranga and Taranga-Ambaji-

Abu Road-Khedbrahma project at the earliest. My parliamentary constituency is in

North Gujarat wherein Patan, Palampur, Mahesana and Banaskantha districts are located. The population of the area is 1.25 crore but there is no direct train for

Surat, Mumbai and other places of South India. I urge upon the hon. Minister to make provision to introduce direct train for these places at the earliest. I would like to submit that last time stoppage of trains was not given at 3000 small stations and local passenger stations due to sale of less number of tickets as a result people of such area have been deprived of railway connectivity. It is my request to review the same. Poonam special trains which ply between all religious and tourist places of Gujarat such as Bahucharaji and other places should be reintroduced.

SHRI RABINDRA KUMAR JENA : Extending new toilet facilites to 650 stations seems commendable, however, in my own constitutency Balasore, in

Odisha, many rural stations have no toilet facilities, and these have not, as of yet, been included in the Rail Budget. It is important to note that as of April 2014, there were as many as 11563 unmanned railway crossings in the country. Odisha has

561 unmanned railway crossings for which I had also demanded previously that there was a need for the construction of road-under-bridges and road-over-bridges in Balasore and Mayurbhanj districts, which have not all been met in this Budget.

Even at the level of my state, Odisha, I must appreciate the fact that this Budget has ensured better allocation to states like Odisha, which have generally been ignored in Budgets in the past. Better connectivity in Odisha will improve connectivity and transport in the entire east coast. It has often been argued that the gross earnings from various stations in Odisha have been consistently higher than many major states. For the Budget of 2015-16, Odisha has received an aalocation of Rs.2,514.07 crore against its demand of Rs.3,200 crore. I appreciate the total long term allocation of 130.14 crores to Balasore for the various projects and sincerely hope that all of the work sanctioned gets completely within a set time frame. I would also like to point out that construction of a crossing line at the

Betnati Station and the construction of a service road for the Khantapada Railway

Station are also urgently awaited. The tracks at Nilagiri need to be upgraded at the earliest in order to facilitate the running of passenger trains. And finally, it would help my constituency immensely if the Ministry were to ensure stoppages of the

BBSR-New Delhi Duranto Express, the NJP-CEN Express, the HLZ-CEN Express and the HOW-SSPN Express at Balasore and the stoppage of 12863/12864

Howrah-Yaswantpur Express of 12703/12704 Howrah-Secunderbad Faluknama

Express, of the 12254 Bhagalpur Yashwantpur Express, the Haldia Chennai

Express and of the 22603 Kgp-Villupuram Express at Jaleswar. The Government lists Jaleswar station as a completed 'Adarsh Station' under the Adarsh station

Scheme, but Jaleswar still needs an underground passing through the Paschimbad line (Level crossings), a dormitory, and a shed, water and adequate lights on the platforms. The Laxmannath Road Station needs a waiting hall, a long shed for the platform, lights, drinking water, roads to connect station to the villages, and a cycle stand at the station. The government should also ensure the stoppage of Jagannath

Express at Laxmannath Road Station. The Amarda Road Station also has inadequate lighting and no reservation facilities, and the height of the platform needs to be increased. Balasore, the main station of my constituency, also a

'completed' Adarsh station by Government records, still has no exclusive reservation counters for Women, Senior Citizen and physically handicapped. This is urgently needed. Moreover, at the Nilagiri station, apart from the track renewal demanded above, a construction of a foot over bridge and construction of a black top road on east and western sides are also urgently demanded. The Nilagiri station also doesn't have adequate drinking water and lighting facilities or an adequate passenger shed yet. Again, the Rupsa station needs to foot over bridge on platform 2 and 4, the construction of booking counter in west side of platform-4, a stoppage of or Janasatabdi Express. The Khantapada station needs immediate renovation of platform no.1 and 2, extension of the Goods platform, construction of waiting room with toilet facilities and the renovation of existing foot over bridge. The Haldipada station also needs high level platforms, immediate construction of passenger shed and light facilities and the provision for booking of goods and fishes from the station. The Nuagan station needs a foot over bridge, minimum facilities and extension of platforms. The Betnati Railway

Station needs the urgent construction of a crossing line or 2nd line and one computerized reservation counter. Balasore and Mayurbhanj Districts are criss- crossed with various rail lines between East Coast Railway & South East Railway.

However, basic safety measures like manned level crossings in as many 35 locations are not provided, leading to many losses of lives and properties. I appreciate the fairness with which allocations have been made to states like

Odisha, which has erstwhile been neglected in railway budgeting. However, there are many demands that are yet to be fulfilled and I sincerely hope that the government will look into each of these demands contained hereinabove and fulfil them at the earliest.

DR. BHAGIRATH PRASAD: I welcome the Railway budget. Provisions have been made in this budget to modernize the railways without any increase in the railway fare. By attracting private investor partnership, the budget envisages to enhance passenger amenities, improve railway stations, introduce helpline for passengers and strengthen safety measures for women thereby facilitating a comfortable journey for the common man. Guna- Etawah rail line was inaugurated during the year 1985 to connect Malwa and Etawah of Uttar Pradesh. New trains should be introduced on this railway line. I request the construction of railway line in Chambal and backward region of Bundelkhand as proposed in the past. The construction of this railway line would facilitate the development of Bundelkhand region.

SHRI RADHESHYAM BISWAS: I would like to appreciate that the Hon.

Minister restrained from making hike in railway fare and announced several good initiatives. Safety, security and cleanliness at trains are three major challenges that need to be addressed. Passenger of long routes face many difficulties due to dirtiness in coaches and also in toilets. Even water is not provided in toilets after the first day journey. During Railway Budget of 2008, the Government approved the electrification of Barouni-Guwahati Rail route. Nothing concrete in that the direction has happened so far. I demand to expedite process of this project as soon as possible. Rajdhani Express from Silchar to Delhi should be announced which will connect about 70 lakh people of southern Assam, Mizoram, Manipur and

Tripura with the national capital. Projects like Bogibeel Bridge, Rangiya- Mukongselek broad gauge conversion and Dhudhnhoi-Mendnipathar new line should be completed. New roads were constructed for connecting rural areas with national highways. Due to raising up of new lines and newly proposed protection wall, the road connectivity will be disrupted. Sanctioning of more road overbridges and road underbridges in this route should be done. The Government should expedite the work of Bogibeel road -cum rail -bridge project and introduce some more new trains for the people of North Eastern States from metro cities.

SHRI BALBHADRA MAJHI: Ample quantum of fund has been provided for a number of projects in Odisha this year as compared to previous years. Many doubling and third line projects have also been sanctioned. There are 7 out of 30 districts in Odisha which still do not have railway facility. SPV agreement should be signed there as soon as possible. New lines may kindly be sanctioned for

Junagarh to Ambaguda, Theruvali to Gunpur, Badgar to Padampur, Bhopalpur to

Raigarh, Angul to Talcher and Khurda Road to Rajatgarh. There is no express train on 445 km. Kirandul to Vishakhapatnan line. One express train should be introduced here. One connection should be given for Delhi from this area. The

Bhuvneshwar to Delhi route may be made via Sambhalpur. Pantry service should be provided in some long distance trains. Extra coach should be provided to ease rush in Bhuvneshwar-Brahmpur, Bhuvneshwar-Dainkanal route. Extra coaches are also needed in Bhuvnewshwar to Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus Konark Express train No. 11019, Heerakhund to Jagdalpur train No. 18447, Puri to

Sambhalpur Intercity train No. 18303, Bhuvneshwar to Baripada train No. 12891,

Puri-Ahmedabad train No. 12843, Puri-Okha train No. 18401, Bhuvneshwar-

Loknayak Tilak terminus train No. 12879, Puri-Durg train No. 18425. The work for the proposal to construct Wagon Factory near Seetallapulli which was passed four year ago should be stepped up.

SHRI SANJAY DHOTRE: I support this rail budget. A revolutionary step has been taken in this budget about passenger services, security, pending projects and increasing speed of all trains from ten to thirty Kilometers. The Peat line and

Terminus services for Three-tier station should be increased to decongest big stations. Long route trains should be run on shortest available route. The Guage conversion work has not been done on Akola-Khandwa line. The gauge conversion work on Yawatmal-Murtazapur and Achalpur line should be completed and extended upto Baitul.

SHRI MULLAPPALLY RAMCHANDRAN: The present Budget seeks to increase the freight charges considerably which will have a cascading effect on the prices of commodities like coal, fertilizer, cement, iron ore, food grains, etc., which are mostly transported by train. Therefore, by and large, people are definitely going to be badly hit by the hike in freight charges. Kerala, is a consumer State and due to this freight hike, Kerala is going to be the worst affected State in the entire country. The State of Kerala has been given a raw deal in this Budget also. The long-pending demand for a Peninsular Railway Zone comprising

Thiruvananthapuram, Palakkad and Konkan has been overlooked this time also.

Unless the Peninsular Railway Zone is established, the overall development of

Kerala will remain a mirage. Doubling of rail track and electrification of railway lines are two most important areas that deserve special attention. It is extremely sad to note that a meagre sum of Rs. 4.5 crore has been allocated for doubling of line between Calicut and Mangalore. I earnestly appeal to the hon. Minister to allocate adequate funds for this project. Completion of electrification of Shoranur-

Mangalore line needs to be expedited. The need to double the Konkan line cannot be overlooked. I would urge upon the hon. Minister to pay urgent attention to the doubling of Konkan line. It has been a long-pending demand of the people of

Kerala to have a railway line from Mysore to Tellichery. Such a railway line will considerably reduce the distance from Kerala to all the northern Indian States and will be instrumental in the overall development of Karnataka and Kerala. A railway line up to the proposed Kannur airport may be taken up urgently. The headquarters of my constituency, Badagara has been earmarked as one of the stations for setting up of cold-storage facilities. I call upon the hon. Minister to expedite and complete the work as soon as possible. Tellichery and Badagara are two important 'A' class railway stations along Shoranur-Mangalore route. I suggest that more funds may be allocated for these two stations. Passenger amenities including new reservation counters need to be provided at Tellichery, Badagara,

Mahe and Quilandy stations. Quilandy Railway Station is in a most dilapidated condition and the proposed reconstruction of this station may be commenced at the earliest. Stoppage of the Kannur-Ernakulam Intercity, Netravathi Express, The

West Coast Express and the Mangalore-Pondicherry Express may be allowed at

Quilandy Station. Stoppage of the new bi-weekly train from Nizamuddin to

Thiruvananthapuram at Badagara and Tellichery may be allowed. The Railway stations like Jagannath Tempal Gate, Mukkali, Nadapuram Road, Iringal, Payyoli,

Thikkodi, Vellarakad and Chemancheri need passenger amenities. I have already allocated an amount to the tune of Rs. 1 crore to the Railways for the expansion of the platform at Mukkali Railway Station and a sub-way at Onchiyam. I request the hon. Minister that the work for the allocated amount should be completed on time.

I suggest that the following trains may be added or extended or introduced:

Kannur-Yeshwantpur Express should be extended to Calicut; Mumbai-Mangalore

Matsygandha Express should be extended to Calicut; Chennai-Madgaon-Chennai via Shornur/Mangalore should be introduced; Madgaon-Velankanni-Madgaon should be introduced; Calicut-Goa-Calicut Shatabdi should be introduced;

Mangalore-Chennai Super fast Express should be introduced; Mangalore-Howrah-

Mangalore Express via Shornur should be introduced. SHRI SANJAY HARIBHAU JADHAV: The Nanded-Pune train is run weekly. In view of huge rush of passengers, this train should be run daily. In view of a large number of passengers on Nanded-Mumbai Railway line one additional train needs to be introduced between Nanded and Mumbai. The Nagpur-Mumbai

(Nandigram) express has very thin number of passengers in its to and fro journey from Nanded in Nagpur. This train should be discontinued and a new Nanded-

Mumbai express train should be introduced there. The doubling of Mudkhed-

Parbhani railway route has not been undertaken due to paucity of funds. Funds should be allocated immediately for this purpose. The Selu railway station should be accorded status of B category. The Akola-Khandwa rail line should be converted into broad gauge. Travel concession facilities provided to state level and national level sports persons should be provided at all district level railway stations.

SHRI C. R. PATIL: The project to make the world class be completed expeditiously. Bogies in trains be added for ensuring smooth commuting of the people living in the industrial area between Wapi and Bharuch.

This will add to the convenience of the commuters. Navasari falls in my parliamentary constituency. Stoppages of trains be provided over there. The train

Tapti Ganga which goes to Bihar and U.P be made a daily. Construction of overbridge at Bilimora, Amalsad and Navasari stations be completed expeditiously. The Delhi-Goa does not have a stoppage at

Surat. A two-minute stoppage be provided of it over there. Udhana station may be developed like a satellite station. The shifting work of the yard at the Surat station be completed expeditiously. I request for more trains to U.P. and Bihar.

SHRI C. MAHENDRAN: In this Budget, safety of passengers more particularly of women passengers, cleanliness in the railways and environmental sustainability get priority. I request that routes to Chennai be given high priority under this network. Expediting the completion of pending projects in Tamil Nadu must get the attention of the hon. Railway Minister. In order to overcome the rail traffic congestion from Coimbatore to Chennai, I would like to suggest and request the hon. Minister of Railways to introduce two new express trains. This will benefit the people of Valparai, Pollachi, Palakkad, Anamalai, Kinathukadavu,

Udumalai, Madathukulam and also Palani. These two new express trains may be introduced as 'Amma Express' between Pollachi and Chennai via and

Trichy and as Anamalai Express between Pollachi and Bengaluru via Udumalai,

Madathukulam, Palani, Dindigul, Karur, Salem, Dharmapuri and Hosur. The sections like Coimbatore-Pollachi-Udumalpet and other such sections that presently come under the Palakkad Division may kindly be transferred to Salem

Division to enhance operational efficiency. Since gauge conversion work is in progress in the Pollachi-Pothanur section of the railways, establishing a new railway station at Malumachampatti is immediately possible with the shifting of bus terminals from Coimbatore. It becomes necessary to give a serious consideration to establish a new railway station at Malumachampatti with loading and unloading facility.

SHRI RAVINDRA KUMAR PANDEY: Hon. Minister of Railways deserves appreciation for the budgetary provision made for cleanliness of stations cleanliness of trains and for the provision of bio-toilets. I request hon. Minister of

Railways to pay special attention towards coal loading stations such as Katrasgarh,

Bermo, Bokaro thermal, Fusro, Chandrapura. Parasnath Giridih is one of the greatest pilgrimage for Jainism in the world. Both of these stations needs special attention. Provisions should be made for necessary funds for model stations and famous stations. There should be direct train from to New Delhi. There should be a direct train from Giridih to Ranchi so that the common people of these area can be benefitted. EMU train should be started from Barkakana to Burdwan.

Giridih-Kodarma rail line is closed for 15 years. Work related to that should be resumed. Parasnath is the largest pilgrimage for Jainism. Previous government had proposed to conduct survey for Parasnath Junction-Madhubani, that work should be started. I request that Ganga-Damodar express should be extended upto Buxar.

SHRI DHARAM VIRA GANDHI: This is a futuristic Budget. It is for the first time that the Budget has been introduced with a nationwide outlook. As per the present situation 90 per cent passengers have to undertake rail journey without proper facilities. People have to travel sitting on the roof of the train holding the door handles. They have to travel sitting in bathroom and they take their food there only. This is a serious problem which requires immediate attention. Malwa is one of the three regions of Punjab which has 1.67 crore population. The other two regions are Maza and Doaba where the combined population is 1.47 crore. There is only 10 per cent railway facilities in Malba region whereas the Share of railway facilities for Maza and Doaba constitutes 90 per cent of the facilities. Bhatinda,

Nabha, Patiala, Dhuri, Rampaful, Barnala and Tapa are big towns. There are thousnads of villages surrounding these towns. There is only ten per cent railway facilities for these villages. This problem should be addressed. Secondly, the ten districts of Malwa in Punjab including Bhatinda, Fazilka, Barnala, Sangarur,

Patiala, Mansa etc. are completely disconnected from Capital Chandigarh. The thirty Killometer rail line which is due to be provided has not been constructed for the last 65 years. The distance from Rajpura to Chandigarh is 30 Killometer. If this line is constructed, the ten districts of Punjab will get direct rail linkage. There is not even a single Premium train from Delhi to Malwa. I would like to demand that at least one premium train should be given from Delhi to Bhatinda via-Patiala,

Dhuri and Barnala ours is a poor region. I demand a Jan Shatabadi Express for that region. One Jan Shatabadi Express should be run from there so that people get the facilities of cheap, comfortable, fast and pollution free train journey

SHRI ARVIND SAWANT: In Railway Budget, in my constituency except renovation of some platforms at Chhatrapati Shivaji Railway Station nothing has appeared. FOBs are required at Marine Lines, Churni Road and Lower Parel

Stations of Western Railway. I request the Hon'ble Minister to provide budgetary support on priority to these FOBs to avoid accidents and to grant relief to millions of Mumbai's local train commuters. The families of the victims of Railways accidents are given a maximum amount of Rs. 4 lakhs. I request the hon'ble

Railway Minister to increase it on priority basis. I request the hon. Minster to initiate action to increase the number of Reks to avoid inconvenience in future.

Toilet facility to local trains female compartment should be provided. As the hon.

Minister has paid attention towards creation of Railway University and Swachhata

Abhiyan I call your attention to the Hospitals run by Railways. I request you to allot necessary funds to uplifting the class & services at the Railway Hospital. It is also submitted that railway quarters are age old quarters and need immediate repairing. I, therefore, request the Hon. Minister to allocate substantial funds for repairs and maintenance of railway quarters. I further request the hon. Minister to allocate the funds for doubling of the tracks of Konkan Railway. Konkan Railway should be brought under the purview of Central Railway. Similarly, trains running towards Nanded should be brought under Central Railway instead of South Central

Railway. I request the ho. Minister to launch a direct train from Mumbai to

Uttarakhand. Railway grants 75% relief in the fare and honour the players, but do not allow them to book the tickets with concession at their district level and compel them to purchase the tickets at Zonal Stations. Hence, I request the hon.

Minister to initiate necessary action in this regard.

SHRI B. VINOD KUMAR: This Budget is different from the earlier

Budgets. Earlier, we did not hear any Budget without announcing any new trains and without announcing any new projects. The Railway projects which were announced by the earlier Government should be fast tracked and should be completed at the earliest. There are some projects which were initiated 30 years back are not yet completed. It is a fact. In my State of Telengana, when late P.V.

Narasimha Rao was the Prime Minister of India laid the foundation stone for a project from Pedapally to Nizamabad. Till now the project is not yet completed.

We are demanding for a Railway Division in Kazipet. Kazipet is a junction on the

North-South corridor. Present Andhra Pradesh Express which is running from

Hyderabad to New Delhi can be renamed as the Telengana Express. In my constituency Karimnagar, the hon. Railway Minister was kind enough to allocate some funds for the new line that is, Manoharbad to Kotapally. I request the hon.

Minister of Railways to come and lay the foundation stone in the new State of Telengana at the Kotapally junction in Karimnagar. The railway line coverage in the State of Telengana is less than the national average. hence, I would like to request the hon. Railway Minister to initiate more railway projects in the coming days. I would like to request that new lines should be laid in order that all the

Metros could be connected by Bullet Trains.

SHRI LALUBHAI BABUBHAI PATEL: I am grateful to Hon'ble

Minister of Railways that depite his first budget, it seems a progressive budget. If

Hon'ble Minister of Railways starts new trains from Mumbai towards western railway route, it is my request that stoppage may be provided of all these trains at

Vapi. My suggestion is that stoppage may be provided at Vapi for Gangor Express from Mumbai to Jaipur, Suryanagri Express from Bandra to Jodhpur, Superfast from Bandra to Chandigarh, Bandra Nizamuddin Garib Rath, Dadra Bikaner

Superfast, Avantika Mumbai Indore and train no. 12951- New Delhi Rajdhani

First. Vapi station was declared model station ten years back but no development work has taken place at this station. Around 25,000 commuters use this station daily. Daman may be connected to Vapi and Diu may be connected to Una.

SHRI RAM TAHAL CHAUDHARY: New measures have been announced in the Railway Budget 2015-16 to provide better services with safety to the commuters. It affirms the 'sabka saath-sabka vikas' policy of this Government.

Several trains ply through my constituency, Ranchi which covers the distance in 48 and 36 hours, therefore there should be some catering arrangements in these trains and secondly, there is only one train between New Delhi to Ranchi that too operates twice a week, this train may be run daily. The work pertaining to laying of rail line in Jharkhand from Kodarma, Ranchi via Hazaribagh needs to be expedited. Chandil is an important place where there are 4-5 blocks, Purshottam express may be stopped for just 2 minutes. There is no rail footover bridge at

Namkum and Rai railway stations in the South- as a result people have to cover a distance of 5 kilometers, which causes trouble to lakhs of commuters and students, therefore, I demand that a footover bridge may be constructed at the above mentioned railway stations.

SHRI GAJANAN KIRTIKAR: The 50 per cent population of Mumbai

City travels by trains. Their business depends on the services of sub urban trains.

There are 102 and 97 foot over bridges in Western Railways and Central Railways respectively. They are in very poor condition. They should be repaired. In the view of huge rush the capacity of bridges needs to be raised, but due to paucity of funds this work has not been done. Against estimated cost of Rs.24,84,30,000 only

Rs. fifteen crore have been sanctioned in this Budget for raising the height of 97 railways platforms from Charch Gate to Virar in Mumbai. Due to the conditions of these platforms accidents take place frequently in Mumbai city. For the sake of lift facility in 30 places in Western railways Rs. three crore has been provided in this Budget against the estimated cost of Rs. 7 crore 50 lakhs. Rs. 1 crore 60 lakh has been sanctioned in this Budget for automatic escalators in four places in

Western Railways. Its estimated cost is Rs. 2 crore 11 lakh 33 thousand. The work of laying narrow gauge from Bandra to Dahisar Boriwali has been lying pending since year 2006 for want of funds. Families of 2 thousand 430 railway employees are in waiting list for appointment on compensate ground. When is the government going to clear it ? Only 9 hospitals, including Babu Jagjivan Ram

Hospital in Central Mumbai are in operation in the Western Railways. Given large number of railway employees in the Western railways such a hospital should be opened in Boriwali, Mumbai. Proper budget should be provided for this.

SHRI C.R. CHAUDHARY: This Budget has been prepared with farsightedness. It is pragmatic and strategic-oriented Budget. The Prime Minister had a vision of cooperative federalism. This has reflected in this Budget. Both public and stakeholders have been given equal opportunity. On the basis of such participation, States, the Union Government and the Railways would chalk out strategy as to how to bring about progress in railways. Commendable job has been done to raise infrastructure. Transparency is a welcome and essential feature of this Budget. The provisions of quality passenger amenities like sanitation, wi-fi, catering, ticketing, bio-toilets are commendable. I would like to suggest to the government that the missing link of journey of 100-200 kms from the railway line should be covered. There is water logging at rail under- bridges during the rainy season. Nobody can cross the water having 3-4 feet height. Therefore, arrangements should be made to absorb the accumulated water. The Medta-

Pushkar rail line should be constructed. The District Headquarters with population over one and half population should have stoppage of trains. Lucknow and

Chandigarh have been linked with bullet trains. Jaipur is both capital and a famous city. It should also be linked with bullet trains.

SHRI E.T. MOHAMMAD BASHEER: Budget gives high speed to

Railways' privatization which is a wrong direction. Railways are the biggest employer in the county. It has 14 lakh employees. I would like to know whether we have given due representation to the marginalised sections of society such as

SC, ST & OBC. With profound regret I wish to say that an authentic study says that representation of Muslims in the Indian Railways is just 4.5 per cent. My constituency Ponnani is having six railway stations. In all these places, passenger amenities are very poor. I request the Government to take appropriate action to improve the passenger amenities. is a historical place and it is the headquarters of the Malayalam University. So, the long distance trains may be given stoppage in that historical place Tirur. Shortage of staff in Railways is a big problem. We have to take emergent steps to fill up all the vacancies in a time bound manner. Nothing has been mentioned about filling up of vacancies in the White Paper and in the Budget Speech. Safety is an important question in the

Railways. Dr. Kakodkar Committee's Report have made very effective recommendations. Unfortunately, the Government have not applied their mind for the implementation of this Report. That also may kindly be examined properly.

We also want some time bound action on that. We have administered near about nine to ten projects on PPP. We must keep in mind that Railways is the asset of the nation. We have to be very careful while privatizing the Railways Sector.

SHRI RAMEN DEKA : This 2015-16 Budget will give an opportunity to the Railways to turn around and serve the people with comfortable facilities to travel. I come from Assam, a backward State, and due to lack of communications,

Assam remains isolated. My constituency, Mangaldai, is under-developed.

Darrang District which is in my constituency, is not in the railway map in this 21st

Century. I would like to request our Hon. Minister of State in the Ministry of

Railways to connect Darrang District because Darrang District is a very fertile district. This will give immense facility to the citizens of the north bank of

Brahmaputra to come to Guwahati. Guwahati is the gateway of the North East.

The Government must be aware of the fact that Assam is in a strategic point; geographically its positionis a strategic one. If anything eventually happens with

China, it is not possible to track down the Army through a narrow National

Highway. So, we need connectivity, we need broadgauge. I would request the Government to introduce a Jan Shatabdi from Dekargaon to Guwahati. I would like to demand again that D-category posts must be reserved for the local people.

The Budget emphasises on cleanliness and providing good foods. These are the welcome steps of the Budget. I would request the Hon. Minister to allot new coaches so that people make comfortable journey. For senior citizens, I do hope, some more concessions would be given in the coming days.

DR. RAVINDRA BABU: There are no Railways in my area. People of my constituency have not seen the train at all. My area, East Godavari, is the most vibrant district. It is the hub of Krishna-Godavari basin. If we put all oil companies together, they invest one lakh crore rupees per year. The raw materials, inputs and so many things are carried by road, by trucks or by boats. One has to cross two or three rivers to get the train. India is recognized as the poor country in the world. Let us not concentrate more on the speed trains and bullet trains. Let us worry about those passengers travelling in the third class compartments. Let us worry about them. Let us introduce more trains so that we can feed the lower strata of our country who are travelling in third class compartments.

DR. K. GOPAL: The Budget mentions about the increasing of the speed of passenger trains which may help us to go for the optimum utilization and introduction of more trains. Making use of IT technologies for passenger amenities are to be enhanced. At this point of time, I would like to point out the sanctioning of road over-bridge to replace the level crossing no. 48 at

Nagapattinam. Kindly allot the required funds fully and immediately. I would like to impress upon the Minister on the need to go in for road over bridges replacing the level crossing at Needamangalam, Peralam, Nannilam and Devakandanallur. I urge upon the Minister to provide stoppage at Nannilam by establishing computerised pre-reservation centres both at Nannilam and Velankanni. A daily express train to Chennai may be operated either from Thiruvarur or most appropriately from Velankanni. This will benefit the pilgrims visiting all the three religious shrines in this vicinity. I request the Minister to provide escalators at

Tambaram, Thiruvarur, Thanjavur and Mayiladuthurai. I urge upon the Railway

Minister to take up the project linking the coastal area along the East Coast side between Chennai and Tuticorin via Puducherry, Cuddalore, Karaikkal,

Nagapattinam and Ramanathapuram.

DR. VIRENDRA KUMAR: This Budget reflects the budget as really dedicated to the railway passengers. The areas of our country where the projects are lying pending, people have again started having faith and hope that these projects shall be completed soon. There is a proposal for installation of water vending machines which shall enable the passengers to have clean drinking water, passengers shall have quality food facilities through E-catering. Cameras shall be installed for the security of women in railway coaches. Decision has been taken to give priority to women and senior citizens for providing lower berth facilities. By removing encroachment on railway land, the commercial use of railway land would help in increasing the railway revenue. It has been announced that railway projects shall be completed on priority basis. With the new projects in

Bundelkhand and Bagelkhand, employment opportunities shall be increased. It shall pave way for educational, economic and social development, Khajuraho-

Chhatarpur, Khajuraho-Udaipur Express shall connect two tourist spots. In Orchha tourists from our country and foreign country arrives. But no train has a stoppage here. To connect Tikamgarh to Madhya Pradesh's capital Bhopal a new Railway train has been introduced. Jhansi-Tikamgarh passenger train's two trips should be increased. To increase employment opportunities, new rail coach factory should be established. At Dumra station, all trains were giving stoppage. So now too stoppage should be given again. From Delhi to Khajuraho a new train on the line of Shatabdi train should be introduced. A new Railway Reservation Centre should be started at Navanbijawar. Bena-Bhopal train should be extended up to

Tikamgarh. Survey work regarding Chhatarpur-Khajuraho, Sagar-Bhopal railway line has been completed. Work should be started for laying the line.

SHRIMATI PRATIMA MONDAL: I would like to state here that there are two projects which are in my constituency which have become urgent necessity. Canning-Bhangonkhali Project, which is a project of the then Hon. Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee, is still pending. I would like to request to the

Hon. Minister through you Sir, to start this project and to also extend it from

Bhangonkhali to Godkhali. I would also like to inform the Hon. Minister, through you Sir, that rail journey from Sealdah to Namkhana through a local train takes three hours. I would like to request the Hon. Minister to introduce one or two galloping trains so that people can reach their destinations within a short time.

The Discussion was not concluded.

ANOOP MISHRA Secretary General

© 2015 BY LOK SABHA SECRETARIAT NOTE: It is the verbatim Debates of the Lok Sabha and not the Synopsis that should be considered authoritative.

English and Hindi versions of Synopsis of Debates are also available at http://loksabha.nic.in.