New Delhi, Kolkata: Union Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee will present the railway budget on Friday - her first budget in eight years.
Banerjee is expected to come up with a handful of populist measures. The economic slowdown will have an impact on the budget with a dip in revenue, especially from freight services, but will she use the budget to further the Trinamool's interests in Bengal?
Unpredictable, fiery, and used to doing things her own way, Mamata Di has given the final touches to the rail budget.
Her predecessor Lalu Prasad Yadav made India's largest employer profitable, and now Mamata wants it to have a more human face.
Sources have told NDTV that there could be special fares announced for those below poverty line. New janata type and super-fast trains on the lines of Garib Rath with new names will be introduced.
As per the sources, all major stations could get an upgrade in terms of security, especially with baggage screening. CCTVs, and bomb squads are likely to be made mandatory.
A new age facility where satellites can track trains to give accurate information on real time basis to passengers is also on the cards.
And in keeping with the tradition a few extra trains to the home state of the railways minister, this time West Bengal may get some new trains.
Historically, railway ministers are known to specially nurse their states and the expectation from Mamata Banerjee from West Bengal is no different.
"We won't need to ask for anything. As a central minister, she will give maximum to Bengal," said a Kolkata resident.
"In her last tenure as railways minister, she had announced 19 new trains, most of them to West Bengal," said another Kolkata resident.
How will she handle the economics of it all? Tough steps are needed, one of them being weeding out trains not making a profit - something that is always a difficult task.