Union Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee [ Images ] presented the Railway Budget for 2009-10 in Parliament on Friday.

Here are some highlights of her Railway Budget speech:

• Banerjee says an expert committee will be set up to advise her on implementation of the so-called economically unviable but socially desired projects.
• "My priorities will include better passenger amenities, safety and security and provision of good quality food and drinking water," says Banerjee.
• Railway ministry has plans to develop important stations through private-public partnership. These include CST Mumbai [ Images ], Nagpur, Pune, Howrah, Sealdah, Varanasi, New Delhi [ Images ], Lucknow [ Images ], Jaipur [ Images ], Kanpur, Chennai Central, Thiruvananthapuram Central, Secunderabad, Bangalore City, Byappanahalli, Ahmedabad [ Images ], Bhopal, Habibganj, Agra [ Images ] Central, Chandigarh, Kolkata [ Images ], New Jalpaiguri, Puri and Kochi.
• Railways to develop multi-functional complexes with shopping malls, food stalls, medicines and variety stores in different parts of the country.
• Infotainment services to be provided in major long-distance trains, Banerjee says.
• Banerjee says an expert committee will be set up to advise her on implementation of the so-called economically unviable but socially desired projects.
• Develop 50 stations as world class stations
• Improvement of trains amenities
• Committed to the cause of the underpreviliged.
• India [ Images ] wants better rail connectivity.
• Book stores, PCOs to be set up across stations
• Infotainment services on Rajdhani and Shatabdi trains
• To take the private-public partnership route to develop stations
• Priority for food and water on trains
• Developing multi-functional complexes at stations
• Priority to passenger amenities
• Rail projects shouldn't be gauged by economic viability but governed by social viability: Mamata
• To set up panel for financing unvaiilable rail projects
• SMS updates on wait-listed tickets to be introduced.
• Auto-vending machines to be installed in large and medium stations.
• High-capacity air-conditioned double-decker trains to be introduced on select inter-city routes.
• Unreserved ticketing terminals to be expanded from 5,000 to 8,000. Automatic ticket vending machines to be increased.
• Arrangement with Department of Posts for issuance of tickets.
• An Integrated Security System is being developed for 130 vulnerable stations to provide security to passengers.
• Seven nursing colleges to be set up on railway land in places including Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai.
• Railway medical colleges to be developed along with rail hospitals on public-private partnership.
• Better representation to be given to minorities, women and the economically backward in railway recruitment. Special recruitment drive to be launched to fill vacancies in physically-handicapped category.
• 18,000 wagons to be acquired during the current year.
• Railways making efforts with Department of Heavy Industries for takeover of ailing wagon manufacturing units like Burn Standards.
• New policy to be launched for construction and operation of private freight terminals.
• Railways to develop cold storages for farmers to store vegetables and fruits.
• Superfast parcel express trains to be started on a pilot basis between Delhi and Chennai and Delhi and Mumbai.
• Railways to set up Land Banks to be used for industry.
• A new coach factory with state-of-the-art facilities, exclusively for manufacturing 500 coaches per annum to be set up at Kanchrapara in West Bengal [ Images ]. Work on coach factory in Rae Bareli to be speeded up.
• Railways to set up a 1,000 MW power plant.
• Freight loading target for 2009-10 set at 882 million tonnes, an increase of 39 million tonnes.
• New scheme 'Izzat' (respect) to be introduced under which monthly season ticket of Rs 25 for up to 100 kilometers could be availed by unorganised sector passengers.
• Photo-ID cards-cum-credit cards to be given to accredited journalists. Travel concession has been increased from 30 to 50 per cent for them.
• Ladies' specials to be introduced in suburban trains during peak hours.