The 163-year-old Indian Railways is one of the world's largest train network and transports as many as 23 million people everyday. Its annual budget, presented today in the Indian parliament, is a closely-watched affair.

This year's railway budget, presented by union railway minister Suresh Prabhu, builds upon the recent steps taken by the government-owned enterprise to give its vast and historic train network a much-needed technological facelift. Moving away from its traditional focus on fares and new trains, this year's budget focused on improving customer's travel experiences through a series of passenger-friendly initiatives.

The Indian Railways operates on a massive scale, running over 12,000 trains daily and managing a network running for 115,000 kilometres. Despite these impressive figures, it remains financially impoverished due to its high passenger subsidies. Moreover, passengers travelling on Indian trains are often plagued by problems as mundane as getting hygienic toilets and food, and timely arrivals and departures of trains, as well as serious issues such as train safety.

Indian commuters use their smartphones following the introduction of a new free Wi-Fi Internet service in Mumbai's central railway station on January 22, 2016. Indian Railways' RailTel announced the launch of free high-speed public Wi-Fi service, in partnership with Google, with plans to introduce the service to some 100 of the country's busiest stations by the end of 2016.

Customer facilities In recent years, the Indian government has been trying to modernise the railways by upgrading its technology. For starters, the use of social media, especially Twitter, to quickly address complaints and critical incidents, has been a success.

Orphan girl rescued:Tweets by co-passenger about a girl being forcibly taken to Delhi https://t.co/6EAkK0v6N3 pic.twitter.com/rpp1uW39b5 — Ministry of Railways (@RailMinIndia) January 6, 2016

Another significant step in this direction is the introduction of free Wi-Fi services in partnership with Google. Announced last year, this program will result in Wi-Fi networks being set up at 100 railway stations across India in 2016, and 400 after that, giving high-speed Internet access to millions of Indians travelling through these stations.

A passenger's experience within the train has also been slowly changing for the better. For instance, while Indian trains are infamous for their poor food quality, new partnerships with fast-food restaurants chains such as KFC, Domino's and Haldiram's in 2015 has meant that passengers can now get food of their choice delivered to their seats.

Bio-degradable toilet inside the 'Make in India' railway coaches at Delhi.

This year's budget builds upon this theme. Indian Railways is introducing SMART coaches (Specially Modified Aesthetic Refreshing Travel) which have automatic doors, bar-code readers, bio-vacuum toilets, accessible dustbins, vending machines, and entertainment screens.

This means that instead of Indian railways' infamous stinky toilets, passengers can look forward to getting the world's first bio-vacuum toilets. As per this year's budget, basic toilets will be replaced by 17,000 bio-vacuum toilets. Developed by the railways, these eco-friendly toilets use less water than regular toilets and convert human waste into water and gases. If the toilets in a coach are still dirty, a new SMS-based Clean My Coach service will ensure that dirty coaches are cleaned quickly. Passengers will be able to send a text message of their PNR number, and a cleaning crew will be ready at the next station. While there are almost no entertainment facilities within the train as of now, passengers will finally be able to listen to FM radio stations during their journey. In addition, GPS-based display screens in trains will provide real-time information on upcoming stations. Along with this, 2,000 railway stations will also get 20,000 display screens with information on train arrivals and departures.

There are also plans to start an e-catering service, with delicious local cuisines from various states. Parents travelling with kids can expect a children's menu on trains and baby food at stations.

Indian railways is also taking some much-needed steps for the differently-abled, including separate toilets and new Braille-enabled coaches. They will also be able to access wheelchairs, battery-operated cars and porter services more easily.

Easier bookings The new railway budget has also made several improvements in tickets. These include the introduction of bar-coded tickets and scanners, as well as 1,700 automatic ticketing machines at train stations. The booking capacity of the Indian Railways' website has been increased from 2,000 tickets a minute to 7,200 tickets a minute. There will also be two new mobile apps for e-ticketing and complaints.

In the next three months, foreign tourists will be able to access e-ticketing through international credit and debit cards, which will free them from being stuck with cunning touts for booking their tickets.

Infrastructural changes There are also several infrastructural changes in pipeline. In 2015, the Indian Railways began trials for installing solar panels on the roofs of trains and stations to reduce its energy costs. It also started its first CNG train, running between Rewari and Rohtak.

In December, India and Japan signed an agreement to set up the country's first bullet train between Mumbai and Ahmedabad. The 505-kilometre train will be built from 2017 to 2025, and reduce travel time by six hours. However, the government has been criticised for spending $14.7 billion on the project, rather than focusing on improving existing infrastructure.

In keeping with these plans, the 2016 budget has announced the use of drones to monitor the progress of ongoing large-scale projects.