The year 2012 saw three railway ministers. Dinesh Trivedi presented the Railway Budget, but Mukul Roy took over even before the Parliament session ended. As Trinamool quit UPA, Railways went back to Congress and Pawan Kumar Bansal was sworn-in as Railways Minister on October 28, 2012. Photos: The Hindu Photo Library
Though the passenger fare hike proposed by the then Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi was rejected, current Railway Minister P.K. Bansal hiked the fare from two paise a km in for second class ordinary (suburban) passengers to 10 paise a km for AC chair car and AC first-class on Jan 9, 2013. File photo: Mohammed Yousuf
Railways had hiked the freight rate by about 20 per cent in March 6, 2012. Total goods earnings for the last 10 months from April to January stood at Rs 70,067.36 crore. Railways had fixed a target of Rs 89,339 crore for this fiscal. File photo: Arunangsu Roy Chowdhury
The cash-strapped railways could not afford to implement most of the recommendations of Kakodkar Committee on railway safety, as whopping Rs. 1 lakh crore was needed. File photo: Shanker Chakravarty
Railways have introduced improvised Linke Holfmann Bush (LBH)-type rail coaches in premium service such as Rajdhani and Shatabdi trains. These coaches do not get turned over, if the train derails or gets involved in a collision. File photo: V. Sreenivasa Murthy
Kakodkar Committee recommended installation anti-collision device in all trains. Konkan Railway Corporation Ltd had developed anti-collision device system ten years ago, which automatically applies brakes to the train to protect the passengers as well as road users. But railways is yet to implement it across the board due to lack of funds. File photo: AP
Kakodkar committe recommended elimination of all railway crossings in five years. Railways is striving to meet the target. File photo: G. Moorthy
Rural development minister Jairam Ramesh inspects a bio-toilet fitted in Bundelkhand express. Railways, joining hands with the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), has developed bio-toilets. About 50 coaches in various trains have been installed such toilets on a pilot basis. File photo: PTI
Railways have implemented on-board housekeeping scheme on all Rajdhani, Shatabdi, Duranto and some long-distance trains, by roping in private agencies. File photo:K. Ananthan
Twenty-eight clean train stations of the announced 30, have been commissioned. Around 850 stations have pay & use toilets. Mechanised laundries have been set-up in 16 locations. Photo: The Hindu Photo Library
Infotainment service such as emergency alerts, arrival/departure of trains, programmes on children, documentaries, celebrity interviews etc, has been introduced in Shatabdi express. File photo: R. Ravindran
File photo of the then Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi with MoS K.H. Muniyappa and Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy laying the foundation stone for the Rail Coach manufacturing unit at Kanjikode near Palakkad. The construction of the coach factory is expected to begin this year, as railways has acquired 92.04 hectares of needed land. File photo: PTI
The promise of a new line from Agartala to Akura in Bangladesh is set to become a reality as External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid signed an MoU with his Bangladesh counterpart recently. File photo: PTI
Railways missed its target of zero deaths due to rail accidents. The Chennai-bound Tamil Nadu Express inferno on July 30 killed 34 passengers. File photo: PTI
Mathura-Kasganj Express rammed into a jeep at an unmanned railway crossing in Hathras, Uttar Pradesh killing 15 people on March 20, 2012. This was another major rail accident in this financial year. File photo: PTI
Though Railways runs 5 AC double-decker trains, the Chennai-Bangalore double-decker and Habibganj-Indore AC Double-Decker Express announced in the last Budget is yet to commence. File photo: Sushil Kumar Verma
Railway ministry has prepared a draft bill to form National High-Speed Rail Authority. Six-high speed corridors have been identified to run bullet trains. Japan International Consultants for Transportation Co. is working on feasibility studies for high-speed trains in India. Even as a deadline is not fixed, experts question if the project is viable in Indian context. Photo: AP
Railways have introduced special coaches for the disabled. But the demand for making all coaches disabled-friendly still remains. File photo: R. Ravindran
Twelve sportspersons from Indian railways were part of Indian contingent for Olympics. Wrestler Sushil Kumar bagged silver and was felicitated with Rs 75 lakhs and is being considered for an out-of-turn promotion. Railways have also set-up a Wrestling Academy for its staff. File photo: Sushil Kumar Verma
Union Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal with Railway Board Chairman Vinay Mittal. Railway budget announced that Railway board will have two new members, one for marketing, and other for safety. These posts still remain vacant. File photo: Shanker Chakravarty
