Rail Budget 2015: Forget trains, Suresh Prabhu's speech was all about technology

Indian Railway Minister Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu presented his maiden Railway Budget in line with PM Narendra Modi’s ‘Digital India’ vision. Breaking from the annual ritual of announcing new trains, Prabhu emphasised on “technologisation” of the Indian Railways. Here are the slew of tech announcements by the minister: # Technology – key part of Prabhu’s 5-point strategy for transforming Railways Out of total Rs 8,56,020 crore proposed investment plan, the minister has set aside Rs 5,000 crore for Information Technology/ Research. The ministry also aims to revamp management practices, systems, processes, and re-tooling of human resources. [caption id=“attachment_2097765” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  The scene of the train accident. PTI[/caption] # Railways to digitize mapping of land records to counter encroachment of railways land Prabhu said that encroachment on the Railway Land is a serious issue and to counter this, digitized mapping of land records has been initiated and responsibility will be fixed on officials for any encroachments. Presenting Railway Budget for 2015-16 in Parliament today he dwelt upon the resource mobilization by Railways. # Innovation council ‘Kayakalp’ to be set up The Railways intends to set up an innovation council called ‘Kayakalp’ for the purpose of business re-engineering and introducing a spirit of innovation in Railways. The minister  said the government has conferred Bharat Ratna on Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya and to mark the centenary celebrations of Banaras Hindu University, Railways proposes to set up ‘Malaviya Chair’ for Railway Technology at IIT (BHU), Varanasi. This Chair will help in development of new materials to be used in all assets of Railways. The minister stressed on the need to invest in fundamental and applied research for seeking solutions to rail-specific issues. Railways plans to set up a technology portal to invite innovative technological solutions. He informed the members that a consortium of Ministry of Railways, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Ministry of Science And Technology and Industries on an Investment Sharing Model is being set up as part of Technology Mission for Indian Railways to take up identified Railway projects for research. # Train protection warning system & train collision avoidance system Railways proposes to install Train Protection Warning System and Train Collision Avoidance System on select routes at the earliest. To prevent fire in coaches and also prevent coaches from climbing over each other during accidents, RDSO has been asked to develop new systems. To curb derailments, modern track structure consisting of sleepers and heavier rails are being used while carrying out primary track renewals. Better welding techniques would also be promoted. Further, analogue machines for testing of rails are being replaced with digital type machines, which are more reliable. # Digitization of present system of accounting; paperless working The Railways intends to set up a working group to modify the present system of accounting. The data on costing would be available online including costs incurred on constructing, augmenting, maintaining and operating railway lines. The minister also proposed to expand paperless working in the material management system. In line with focus on ease of doing business, it will digitally integrate our vendors through vendor interface management system to provide single window interface to vendors. # Rs. 6,581 crore allocated for elimination of unmanned level crossing The Railways Minister emphasised that the ultimate objective of the Railways is to eliminate all unmanned level crossings by construction of Road over Bridges (ROBs) and Road under Bridges (RUBs). In the short term, RDSO has been asked to develop a suitable device with reliable power supply system based on theft-proof panels/batteries in consultation with Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), using geo-spatial technology for providing audio-visual warning to road users at unmanned level crossings. Further, a radio based signal design project has been taken up with IIT Kanpur for warnings at unmanned level crossing. # Foreign Rail Technology Co-Operation Scheme proposed The minister announced a proposal to launch ‘Foreign Rail Technology Cooperation Scheme’. He said that technology intensive and complex projects like speed raising and station redevelopment require lot of handholding by a specialised agency in terms of preparatory work, exploring technology options and managing bid processes. Indian Railways have signed in the past MOUs for technical cooperation with number of foreign railways or their entities. # Mutp III for Mumbai Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu announced the proposal to take up Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP) for Mumbai. He said that the suburban rail networks are the lifeline for metro cities of Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai. To meet growing demand there is an urgent need for integrated transport solutions. The Ministry of Railways will work with all states towards this end. # Railway university to be set up; develop ERP-based HR system The minister announced that a systematic Human Resource Audit would be undertaken to prepare the workforce of Indian Railways for the future and for enhancing organizational performance. As part of the focused Human Resource strategy, measures would be adopted to raise employee productivity in line with global standards. It is also proposed to pursue creation a separate accounting head for HRD and develop ERP based Human Resource Management System. # E-catering E-catering has been introduced in 108 trains on an experimental basis from January this year. Food can be ordered through the IRCTC website at the time of booking of tickets. The minister also said water vending machines will also be expanded. # Utilise resources from Nirbhaya Fund for augmenting security of women passengers Indian Railways would utilise resources from the Nirbhaya Fund for augmenting security of women passengers. For the safety of women passengers, surveillance cameras will be provided on a pilot basis in selected mainline coaches and ladies’ compartments of suburban coaches without compromising on privacy.