Following are the highlights of the Railway Budget 2009-10 in Gujarat’s perspective.

*Out of total 43 new trains announced in the budget, Gujarat has got two.

*New train Gandhidham(Kutch) – Kolkata Superfast (Weekly) announced

*New train Veraval(Saurashtra) – Mumbai Link service (Daily) announced

*9269/9270 Porbandar – Bapudham Motihari Express extended to Muzaffapur

*2927/2928 Mumbai – Vadodara Express extended to Chhotaudepur

*2957/2958 Ahmedabad – New Delhi Rajdhani Express will run Daily(earlier 6 days)

*11. 2947/2948 Ahmedabad–Patna Azimabad Express from Triweekly now(earlier Bi-weekly )

*Provision of making Ajmer-Palanpur rain route double trek

*New Botad-Jasdan line via Gondal to be developed

*Champaner-Pani mines new railway line to be developed

*New train Mumbai-Bikaner Superfast(twice a week) will pass through Gujarat

*Mumbai-Jodhpur weekly train will pass through Gujarat

*Mumbai-Jaipur Garibrath is extended to Delhi. This train passes through Gujarat

*Pre-feasibility study for running bullet trains between Ahmedabad- Mumbai and Pune.

*Railway over/under Bridges would come up at Palej, Panoli, Kosamba and Kim districts of Surat and Bharuch in Gujarat

* Fares reduced by Re 1 for ordinary trains travel costing up to Rs 50 per ticket for journey above 10 km.

* Second class and sleeper class fares cut by two per cent for tickets costing Rs 50 and more.

* A/C First Class, II and III tiers and A/C Chair Car fares cut by two per cent.

Meanwhile Gujarat Government’s spokesperson Minister Jay Narayan Vyas in a statement said that Lalu’s Railway budget is unfortunate for Gujarat. Gujarat has got only two new trains out of 43 total new train announced. Lalu has again said the same thing of pre-feasibility study for Ahmedabad-Mumbai-Pune bullet train. There is nothing new in this. Very important issue of rail connectivity to the ports of Gujarat has not been addressed at all in the budget.