Major focus on rail safety in Budget, says Ashwini Vaishnaw
Image credit X.com Ministry of Railways
Ashwini Vaishnaw says major focus on rail safety in Budget
By Our Special Correspondent
New Delhi, July 23: Union Minister for Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw on Tuesday said that record allocation of ₹2,62,200 crores has been allocated for his ministry. Vaishnaw said that ₹1.06 lakh crore has been earmarked for rail safety.
“The Ministry of Railways has got a record high of ₹2,62,200 crores in the Union Budget. This allocation will be spent on capital investment,” said Vaishnaw in a post-Budget press conference at the Railway Board.
Vaishnaw also stated that the major portion of the allocation will go for boosting the rail safety. “A record high ₹1.08 lakh crore will be spent on the rail safety out of the capital allocation,” added Vaishnaw.
The minister said that the budget for rail safety in 2014 used to be ₹35000 crores. “The safety works will cover the activities such as ld track replacement, signalling system, construction of flyover and under passes, and Kawach installation,” added Vaishnaw.
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The minister said that the major thrust will be on the installation of anti-collision device Kavach. “A day before Kawach 4.0 has been approved,” said Vaishnaw.
The minister said that his ministry is currently undertaking installation of Kawach infrastructure in about 4,200 kms of rail tracks.
He said Kawach requires multi-pronged exercise involving laying optical fibres, data centres, telecom towers, and others. He asserted that the Railways has achieved rail electrification of 40,000 kms of trail routes in the last 10 years
“Against four kms new track construction per day in 2014, we achieved 4.5 km per day rail track construction last year,” added the minister.
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Vaisnaw also stated that the Railways is ramping up availability of general coaches. “The Union Budget has provided capital support for 2500 general coaches to be manufactured this year and 10,000 afterwards,” said Vaishnaw.
The minister said that 700 crore passengers used the services of the Railways last year. He stated that the availability of the general and the AC coaches is maintained in 2:1 ratio.
“Against an employment in railways of 4.11 lakh during the tenure of the UPA, the last 10 years of the Modi government created five lakh jobs in the 10 years,” said Vaishnaw,
He also said that the “annual calendar was published in January this year, and recruitment process for 40000 in all categories is underway,” added the minister. He also stated that the focus will continue on new projects in Kashmir, North-east, and other regions.
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