According to the guidelines approved by the government, 100 per cent FDI can be utilised in facilities like cleaning up trains and installation of bio-toilets in passenger coaches and setting up of mechanised laundry services.
It was a tumultuous year for the railways as a cash-strapped ministry saw four ministers in quick succession, resulting in indecision and delay in policy making process.
With Mamata Banerjee leaving passenger fares untouched and announcing a slew of concessions for technicians of regional film industry, cancer patients and press correspondents, railways' earnings from passenger operations may be strained further.
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Railway Board Chairman Arunendra Kumar said the discussions at the day-long meet involved an overview of five models of participative policy, framework of engineering, procurement and construction contracts and sectoral guidelines for foreign and domestic investment.
Construction of more underpasses besides road overbridges, dedicated passenger corridors are also on the anvil, the railway minister said.
The channel should also act as a medium in promoting tourism and culture across the country.
There's a 13 per cent increase over last year, in an effort to put its flagging revenues back on track.
Amid railways eyeing higher revenue from travellers in air conditioned coaches, the number of passengers in AC First Class and AC 3 Tier registered a decline in 2013-14 as compared to the previous fiscal.
Congress leader Digvijaya Singh on Tuesday claimed a senior railway official had flagged a fault in the signal interlocking system in February and warned of the train accident risk but the problem was not rectified which led to the Balasore train crash.
In his last Budget, Suresh Prabhu, set an ambitious target for capital expenditure.
Three trains jumped off the tracks and another derailment was averted on Thursday in Uttar Pradesh, New Delhi and Maharashtra within a span of nine hours.
Indian Railways is one of the biggest and busiest rail networks in the world, operating 9,000 passenger trains and transporting up to 20 million passengers every day.
Sonepur-Gorakhpur passenger train was passing through the Chamua halt when the ultras triggered a powerful bomb causing damage to railway tracks.
Passengers, who were traveling by the Bhubaneswar-New Delhi Rajdhani Express which was held up by Maoist-backed agitators for over five hours on Tuesday in West Midnapore in West Bengal, on Wednesday voiced their apprehensions over the lack of security measures in passenger trains."There was no security arrangement in the train. No security personnel of the police department or the railway police force were there," said one passenger.
Train running information system will be installed at rail premises to facilitate dissemination of information about trains on real time basis.
Another woman from Malda district said that her son was killed in the accident.
Faced with revenue shortfall, Railway Minister Mallikarjun Kharge is likely to refrain from announcing many populist measures in the interim budget on February 12.
These stations will have dormitories especially for lady passengers, will be equipped wih better signage among other facilities. The Indian Railways have already identified 309 stations for the scheme.
Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu presented the Railway Budget in the Parliament on Thursday.
Union Minister for Railways D V Sadananda Gowda in his maiden Budget presentation on Tuesday highlighted the achievements of the Indian Railways.
Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav presented the Railway Budget for 2005-06 in Parliament on Saturday.
The incident took place in the midst of a 24-hour bandh called by the naxalites in Palamu division, which covers Latehar district to protest against the incident.
The chief justice, who received a WhatsApp message about the case, heard the matter at his residence at 8 pm on Sunday and gave directions to constitute a bench comprising himself and Justice Srivastava.
Suresh Prabhu, the new railway minister, described his charge as being 'the engine of growth'.
The decision, if materialises, could be yet another setback for IRCTC, thanks to the new catering policy unveiled recently which stripped the Railway public sector unit of its catering responsibility that formed its core business.
East Coast Railway officials said that the accident took place around 6.44 am when some people were waiting at the platform and the waiting hall for a passenger train.
The gross traffic receipts of the railways are estimated at Rs 90,626 crore (Rs 906.26 billion) in 2009-10, against 84,233 crore (Rs 842.33 billion) garnered in the last financial year.
The response was tepid in other parts of the country even as several INDIA bloc parties as well as other non-BJP outfits extended their support to the bandh.
It will be mandatory for sleeper-class train passengers to carry identity proof from December 1, this year as Railways firmed up steps to prevent misuse of tickets by touts and facilitate hassle-free travel by bonafide people.
Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee should focus more on safety of passengers and development of infrastructure instead of launching new projects "every now and then", the CPI (M) said.
Fares of first class monthly season tickets will be charged four times the second class monthly season ticket fares as is done currently.
The number -- 676747 -- will also provide the status of train list. It will be valid all over the country.
The mishap occurred at 1.30 am as the train was approaching nearby Mulunthurthy railway station, the sources said.
Besides checking the stock prices on real time basis, passengers of premier trains such as the Rajdhani and the Shatabdi will be able to access bank accounts and also book air and rail tickets. The proposal also envisages the provision of LCD screen on every seat of the first AC coach of the Shatabdi and the first and second AC coaches of the Rajdhani trains. The cost of this ambitious project has been estimated at about Rs 340 crore.
'The Centre brought down expenses by as much as Rs 12,000 crore (Rs 120 billion).'
Diesel prices for the Railways have come down from Rs 60.08 a litre in June to Rs 50.51 a litre now.
Independent, powerful tariff body the best medicine.
The total earnings during April-August this year were Rs 48,635.19 crore (Rs 486.35 billion) as against the target of Rs 49,994.28 crore (Rs 499.94 billion), falling short of Rs 1359.09 crore (Rs 13.59 billion), according Railway Ministry data.
Northern Railway has taken several measures for the people stranded in flood-ravaged Jammu and Kashmir, like running special trains from Katra, Udhampur and Jammu to different parts of the country and attaching extra coaches to regular services.
