Mamata Banerjee on Friday extended erstwhile railway minister Lalu Prasad Yadav’s Bihar largesse to Bengal.

In her Railway Budget for 2009-10-Prasad had played to the Bihar gallery just a few months ago in his interim Budget-Banerjee announced two new trains connecting Howrah with Mumbai and Delhi, will upgrade at least 140 stations of Bengal (out of a nationwide’s 309), said two sick wagon units would get a new lease of life, planned a new coach factory and a power plant.

Shedding her anti-industry image post Singur and Nandigram, Banerjee proposed the takeover of sick wagon manufacturing PSUs, Burn Standard and Braithwaite.

She also planned to take over sick PSU Basumati Sahitya Mandir if the state government hands it over to the railways to print railway requirements. The state may have lost the Tata Nano factory last October, but Banerjee announced the setting up of a new coach-making factory at Kanchrapara-Halisahar Railway complex with annual capacity of 500 EMU or MEMU and Metro coaches per annum in a JV or public-private partnership mode.

West Bengal got three new non-stop trains plying between Howrah and Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata &Amritsar. That apart, Banerjee has made provision for 14 new trains and oneYuva train meant for the youth and economically weaker sections.

She has also included Sealdah and Kolkata stations apart from Howrah on the list of 50 proposed stations to be developed into world-class ones.

The recent flare-up at Lalgarh in east Midnapore district must have been on her mind, because Banerjee announced an upgradation of a non-existent Lalgarh station. “Lalgarh Junction” was mentioned in the budget speech as one of the 309 stations to be upgraded as ‘adarsh’ stations. However, railway officials said there was no station or halt at Lalgarh. According to the agency reports, when asked about Lalgarh, Banerjee maintained that its neighbouring areas like Midnapore and Bankura stations are to be developed.

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