Railway Budget 2007-2008 India Highlights

• AC 1st Class fares slashed by 6 percent in lean season and 3 percent in peak season.
• Sleeper class fares slashed by four per cent.
• Freight rates on diesel and petrol cut by five per cent each and that on iron ore by six per cent.
• Wooden seats to be replaced by cushioned ones in ordinary class passenger trains from next fiscal.
• 32 new trains, 8 garib raths planned.
• Rs. 5,000 crore to be invested on Mumbai local rail service.
• Work on Rs 3,000 freight corridor to begin this year
• Unreserved compartments in new trains to be increased from four to six.
• 800 more bogies to be introduced in existing trains
• 50% fare concession offered for UPSC and other official examinees.
• Special compartments to be designed for handicapped people to make rail travel easier for them.
• Separate coach for vendors, milkmen and petty traders to be introduced in the passenger trains.
• Women & senior citizens to get priority lower birth.
• Number of berths to be increased from 72 to 84 in sleeper coaches.
• 200 model station to be made by this year end.
• Railway call centres to be set up from where ticket bookings and hotel bookings could be made.
• Tickets to be sold at petrol pumps, ATM centres etc.
• 6000 automatic ticket vending machines to be set up in next two years.
• All metre gauge tracks to become broad gauge in 11th Five-Year Plan
• Indian Railways to invest massively in container operations in next five years.
• Railways to appoint SP grade officer in each zone to look into customer complaints.
• Railways to appoint independent marketing agency to increase revenues.
• Rail tracks to be electrified all over India.
• New railway telephone enquiry number: 139
• Rs 5,000 crore set apart for local trains.