Budgets highlights:

>> Free second class monthlies for girl’s students up to graduation.

>> Across board cuts in passenger fares

>> Overhaul of passenger amenities in stations n trains

As we were trying to get the cheapest tickets on the cheapest budget airlines to go the farthest place from our work stations, there was Union Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav unveiling his fifth Railway budget in parliament. Now that we know Indian Railways have made a whopping RS 25,000 crore profits this year, Mr. Yadav will surely present his strategies before graduates at the Harvard Business School. We also got to know all trains and stations will very soon have ‘green toilets’ that will urge us to not only buy platform tickets but train tickets as well. But Mr. Yadav’s enchant for being drop dead serious not only impressed us, but actually made us forego the cheapest ticket on the cheapest airline.

For among the many other things the minister said was that in two years, there will no longer be train tickets queues. That may bring grief to hundreds of thousands of Indians whose livelihoods as touts will be grievously threatened. But Indian Railways back office will indeed warm the cockles of the hearts of the rest of us. Mr. Yadav also made us sit up when he mentioned that he will make ‘world class stations’ of New Delhi railway station, the Chhatrapati Shivaji Station in Mumbai and Patna. Which is making me curious to visit railway station just to see the ‘world class’ settings and won’t have to deal with arriving an hour ahead of flying and grapple with delays, cancellation and bad food. Hurrah!!!