Rail Budget 2018 : Highlights of Rail Budget

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in his Union Budget 2018 speech announced a capital expenditure of Rs 1.48 lakh crore for Indian railways.

According to Jaitley most of this money will be spent on capacity expansion since that is the most important priority for railways right now. There is a target of doubling 18,000 km of lines and gauge conversion is underway to eliminate capacity constraints, FM Jaitley said for Railway Budget 2018.

Focus on safety first, maintenance of track infrastructure is being given special attention.

12,000 wagons, 5160 coaches and 700 locomotives being procured. There are significant achievements of physical targets by Railways.

All stations with more than 25,000 footfall will have escalators.

4267 unmanned railway crossing will be eliminated in next two years. All railway stations and trains will be provided WiFi and CCTVs progressively.

10 prominent tourist sites to be developed as iconic tourist spots.

Redevelopment of 600 major railway stations taken up; Mumbai transport system being expanded; the suburban network of 160 km planned for Bengaluru.

Foundation stone of the bullet train was laid in September 2017. An institute is coming up in Vadodara to train the manpower required for the high-speed railway projects.

Physical targets of Indian Railways is also improving. Work on dedicated freight corridors is on in full-swing – both east and west – announced FM Jaitley in the Railway Budget speech.

We have announced plans to set up a dedicated Railway University in Vadodara, said FM Arun Jaitley during his Union Budget 2018 speech.

Source and (With inputs from Agencies)