Rail Budget 2011

No hike in fares, E-booking charges reduced
Mamata Banerjee has announced that there will ne no hike in passenger fares. However, an added announcement declared a reduction in E-booking charges. The booking charges have been reduced by Rs 10 for AC and Rs 5 for non AC. At last, the railway minister kept on her promise of presenting a "Common Man Budget".

New trains introduced by Mamta
Rail Budget 2011 introduced a fleet of new trains on many routes of Indian railways. 9 new Duronto trains, 3 Shatabdi's and 56 super Fast trains are set to run on tracks. Following is the summary of new trains introduced :
9 Duronto Trains : Allahabad-Mumbai, Madurai-Chennai, Chennai-Thiruvananthapuram, Pune-Ahmedabad, Sealdah-Puri, and Mumbai Central-New Delhi routes (Non AC), Allahabad-Mumbai, Sealdah-Puri, Mumbai Central-New Delhi, Ahmedabad-Rohtak (AC).
3 Shatabdi Trains : Pune-Secunderabad, Jaipur-Agra and Ludhiana-Delhi.
56 Express Trains :Raebareli-Jaunpur Express (daily), Tirupati-Amravati Express (bi-weekly),Asansol-Gorakhpur Express (weekly), Nagpur-Kolhapur Express (bi-weekly, Malda Town-Digha Express (weekly), Pune-Nanded Express (weekly), Visakhapatnam-Koraput Intercity Express (5 days a week), Howrah-Secunderabad Express (weekly), Mumbai-Chandigarh Express (weekly), Bardhaman-Rampurhat Express (tri-weekly), Bikaner-Delhi Superfast Intercity (daily), Hyderabad-Darbhanga Express (weekly), Howrah-Tirupati Express (weekly), Narsapur-Nagarsol Express (bi-weekly), Puri-Shalimar Express (weekly), Ranchi-Pune Express (bi-weekly), Shalimar-Udaipur Express (weekly), Chennai-Shirdi Express (weekly), Coimbatore-Tuticorin Link Express (daily), Howrah-Mysore Express (weekly), Yesvantpur-Mysore Express (daily), Digha-Visakhapatnam Express (weekly), Mysore-Chennai Express (weekly), Ahmedabad-Yesvantpur AC Express (weekly), Bhavnagar-Kochuvelli Express (weekly), Gorakhpur-Yesvantpur Express (weekly), Bhuj-Dadar Express (bi-weekly), Kolkata-Ajmer Express (weekly), Jabalpur-Indore Intercity Express (tri-weekly), Porbander-Kochuveli Express (weekly),Kolkata-Agra Express (weekly), Lucknow-Bhopal Express (weekly), Varanasi-Singrauli Intercity Express (daily), Nagpur-Bhusawal Express (tri-weekly), Puri-Gandhidham Express (weekly), Howarh-Visakhapatnam Express (weekly), Guwahati-Dimapur Express (daily), Howrah-Darbhanga Express (weekly), Vasco-Velankani Express (weekly), Bilaspur-Ernakulam Superfast (weekly), Digha-Puri Express (weekly), Jodhpur-Delhi Express (bi-weekly), Kharagpur-Viluppuram Express (weekly), Udaipur-Bandra (T) Express (tri-weekly), Purulia-Viluppuram Express (weekly), Asansol-Gonda Express (weekly), Delhi-Puducherry Express (weekly), Asansol-Tatanagar Express (tri-weekly), Indore-Kota Intercity Express (daily), Bhagalpur-Ajmer Express (weekly), Howrah-Jaisalmer Express (weekly), Ernakulam-Bangalore Express (weekly), Mangalore-Palghat Intercity Express (daily), Varanasi-Ahmedabad Express (weekly), Howrah-Nanded Express (weekly), Hardwar-Ramnagar Link Express (tri-weekly)

Passenger services: Delhi- Garhi Harsaru-Farukhnagar Passenger (daily), Kendujhargarh- Bhubaneswar Fast Passenger ( 5 days a week), Koraput- Bolangir-Sambalpur Passenger (daily), Barkakhana- Dehri-on-Sone Passenger(daily), Jodhpur- Hissar Fast Passenger (daily), Tirupati- Guntakal Passenger (daily), Coimbatore- Mettupalayam Passenger (6 days a week), Bhuj- Palanpur Passenger (daily), Silghat- Chaparmukh Passenger (daily), Siliguri-Dinhata Passenger (daily), Abohar - Fazilka passenger (daily) , Bilaspur-Katni Passenger (daily), Raipur - Korba Passenger (daily)

DEMU Trains: Gondia –Ballarshah, Vasai road-Diva, Ratlam-Neemuch, Ratlam-Chittaurgarh, Sealdah – Jangipur, Ahmedabad-Patan, Bangalore Cantt-Bangarpet, Dharmapuri-Bangalore, Marikuppam-Bangarpet, New Jalpaiguri-Balurghat, Falaknuma-Medchhal, Mriyalguda-Nadikudi, Kacheguda-Raichur, Raichur-Gadwal, Radhikapur- New Jalpaiguri, Jalna-Nagarsol, Nizamabad-Secunderabad, Kacheguda-Mriyalguda, Baripada-Bangariposi, Sealdah - Bhagwangola – Lalgola, Kolar-Bangalore, Krishnanagar - Behrampore Court

MEMU Trains: Ranchi-Asansol, Ernakulam - Kollam (via Alappuzha), Vasai Road-Panvel, Bangarpet –Koppam, Falaknuma-Bhongir, Midnapore – Jhargram, Kollam – Nagercoil, Jhargram-Purulia

Extension of Trains: Chhindwara-Gwalior Express to Delhi, Jhansi-Chhindwara Express to Delhi, Udaipur-Gwalior Express to Khajuraho, Solapur- Gadag Express to Hubli, Jabalpur-Nagpur Express to Amravati, Nizamuddin- Bapudham Motihari Express to Muzaffarpur, Jammu Tawi-Sonpur Express to Muzaffarpur, Lucknow- Allahabad Express to Vindhyachal, Chandigarh- Jaipur Garib Rath Express to Ajmer, Indore-Ajmer Express to Jaipur, Lucknow- Saharanpur Express to Chandigarh, Chennai Egmore -Nagore Express to Karaikal, Visakhapatnam-Nizamabad Express to Nanded, Sambalpur- Nizamabad Express to Nanded, Mysore- Shimoga Town Express to Talguppa, Valsad- Vadodara Express to Dahod Surat- Bhavnagar Express to Mahuva, Sultanpur - Ajmer Express to Ahmedabad, Ajmer-Kishanganj Express to New Jalpaiguri, Mumbai-Allahabad Express to Faizabad, Yesvantapur-Mangalore Express to Karwar, Saharanpur- Delhi to Farukh Nagar, Lucknow - Bhopal Express to Pratapgarh, Delhi- Shahjahanpur Passenger to Sitapur Cantt, Moradabad- Chandausi Passenger to Bareilly, Hajipur- Phulwaria Passenger to Bathua Bazar, Hajipur- Thawe Passenger to Kaptanganj, Nagercoil- Thiruvanthapuram Passenger to Kochuvelli, Hyderabad- Wadi Passenger to Gulbarga, Hubli- Bijapur Passenger to Solapur, Nagda- Kota Passenger to Ratlam, Ambala - Una DEMU to Amb Andaura

Increase in Frequency of Trains

New Delhi-Ajmer Shatabdi Express from 6 days to daily, Nagpur- Ahmedabad Express from weekly to bi-weekly, Nizamuddin -Dehradun AC Express from 6 days to daily, Secunderabad -Bikaner Express from weekly to bi-weekly, New Delhi- Dibrugarh Rajdhani Express from 6 days to daily, Jaipur- Pune Express from weekly to bi-weekly, Rourkela- Bhubaneswar Express from 6 days to daily, Bangalore- Hubli Jan Shatabdi Express from 6 days to daily, Habibganj- Jabalpur Jan Shatabdi Express from 6 days to daily, Delhi Sarai Rohilla- Udaipur Chetak Express from 4 days to daily, Indore- Udaipur Express from 3 days to daily, Rajkot- Porbander Express from 3 days to daily, Mumbai CST- Mangalore Express from 3 days to daily, Chennai-Tiruchendur Express from weekly to daily, Surat- Amravati Fast Passenger from 2 days to 3 days, Thiruchchirappalli- Karur Passenger from 6 days to daily, Shoranur- Eranakulam Passenger from 6 days to daily, Ambala - Amritsar DEMU to Kurukshetra
2 AC Double Decker Trains : Jaipur-Delhi and Ahmedabad-Mumbai routes.
Special trains on Vivekanad and Tagore anniversaries.

Super AC class in Indian Railways
Presenting the Rail Budget 2011, Mamta Banerjee took a goant step forward in attracting passengers from higher traits of the society. The union railways minister announced a new Super AC class in Indian railways, catering to the needs of corporate travelers. The e-booking charges for AC have also been reduced by Rs.10.

The frequency of following Duronto Trains have been increased: Mumbai CST-Howrah Duronto Express from 2 days to 4 days, Mumbai-Ahmedabad Duronto Express from 3 days to daily, Sealdah-New Delhi Duronto Express from 2 days to 5 days, Nagpur-Mumbai CST Duronto Express from 3 days to daily, Howrah-Yesvantpur Duronto Express from 4 days to 5 days

New Smart Card for long distance travel

While presenting the Rail Budget 2011, Mamta introduced a new concept of Smart Card - "Go India" for long distance travel by Indian railways. The all new concept is expected to benefit passengers traveling long distance by cutting down their time and cost of buying multiple tickets. Special care for Railway employees
Presenting the Rail Budget 2011-12, Mamta Banerjee announced special ounces for railway employees. The entire railway cadre will be restuctured to ensure the promotion of employees. Also, the scholarship schemes for children of railway employees has been raised to Rs 1200. Banerjee also announced to induct 16000 ex-servicemen from March 2011.