By IANS,
New Delhi : Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee kept up with her penchant for introducing new trains, promising as many as 68 new passenger services in her latest rail budget for the 2011-12 fiscal, of which 56 will be under the express category.
In her previous such exercise, the feisty minister from West Bengal had proposed 57 new trains in 2010, three more than what she had proposed during her first budget for the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government in July 2009.
In all, Banerjee – who has presented five railway budgets in her ministerial stint thus far – has proposed as many as 179 new trains in the past three years, not taking into account special trains and those to promote tourism and suburban services.
In the latest budget, apart from the new passenger trains, the minister also proposed four services called “Vivek Express” to mark the 150th birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda and four “Kavi Guru Express” services for a similar anniversary of Tagore.
To promote tourism, four special trains are being launched from Kolkata, Chennai, Mumbai and Bangalore to connect important historical and educational places. Four double-decker airconditioned trains are also being introduced from Jaipur and Ahmedabad.