Mamata Banerjee first became the Railway Minister in 1999. She presented two Railway Budgets 2000 and 2001, in which passenger fares were not hiked.

During her stint, railway transport was opened to private players. The credit for creating the first-ever joint venture between the Railways and the private sector PRCL (Pipavav Railway Corporation Ltd) goes to Mamata.

In a people-friendly Railway Budget announced in 2001, Mamata announced free travel for students up to Class X and to girl students up to class XII, 75 per cent travel concession to Kargil widows in second and sleeper classes.

Freedom fighters were offered a concessional a trip on Rajdhani or Shatabdi. She announced that Railways would start bookings on the Internet through smart cards and start Internet-based reservation using credit cards.

She introduced several new trains to her home state. She also increased the frequency of some trains as per the demands of the people of West Bengal.

To promote tourism, she allocated more locomotives for Darjeeling-Himalayan and proposed the setting up of the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Limited. She also stressed the need for rail links between Bangladesh and Nepal.

She introduced 19 new trains during the 2000-2001 fiscal year. Many criticised her for her bias to her home state.

When asked if she would focus on Bengal, she said her focus would be the entire country and not just her state.

So will the Railway Minister make people across India happy this time?