New Delhi: The government on Friday increased the allocation for rolling stock in Railways by 64 per cent which in effect means that passengers would now get some faster, fancier and state-of-the-art coaches and trains in the coming year.
Rolling stock in rail transport refers to any vehicle that moves on rail tracks. It includes coaches, wagons and train sets.
The railways’ plan of exporting its coaches and be a part of the $200 billion rolling stock market worldwide will get a huge impetus by allocation of Rs 6,114.82 crore in the Budget. In 2018-2019, budgetary allocation in this regard was Rs 3,724.93 crore.
The railways has already drawn a blueprint till 2021 to increase production in its factories.
The Railways indigenous Train-18 (named recently Vande Bharat Express) which has hit a maximum speed of 180 kmph during trials has been a success.
If the target set by the railways for its factories - the Modern Coach Factory in Rai Barely, the Integral Coach Factory in Chennai and its factories in Kapurthala and Haldia - is met, then they would have together manufactured almost 15,000 coaches of different kinds in 2019-2021, officials said.
These will include 200 Humsafar coaches, 290 Deen Dayalu coaches, 40 Antyodya coaches and other coaches for metros, electric multiple unit and mainline electric multiple units (MEMUs).
The Railways is also planning to produce six more Train 18s at a cost of Rs 97 crore each.
Piyush Goyal, who also holds the railways portfolio, said so far, the FY19 has been the safest for the railways and all unmanned level crossings on the broad gauge network have been completely eliminated. “Capital expenditure programme of the railways is at an all-time high of Rs 1.58 lakh crore in next financial year. Vande Bharat Express will give Indian passengers world class experience,” he said.
