New Delhi: Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal has not raised passenger fares in his Rail Budget; despite emphasising on the big losses the Railways is making, pegged at Rs 24,500 crore for this year.
He has, however, proposed to raise a fuel surcharge of just under 5 per cent on railway freight traffic and has also proposed an increase in supplementary charges for superfast trains like Rajdhanis and Shatabdis and charges on reservations and cancellations. Passenger fares were raised by 21 per cent last month, but much part of the expected additional revenue of about Rs 6000 crore was wiped out by the increase in the price of deisel, which sent the fuel bill of the Railways soaring. (Read: full text of Pawan Bansal's speech)
As Mr Bansal finished his speech, the BSE Sensex was trading almost 225 points down and the Nifty was at three month low.
The Minister began presenting his first Rail Budget with a thank you to his political mentors, some poetry and flat statistics to say that unless the Railways cuts losses and begins to make money, it cannot provide best value to customers and play its part in the nation's growth effectively.
His task at hand, he said, was to raise Rs 95,000 crore in the next four years of the 12th five-year plan, which called for setting higher targets for expanding the rail network. "Indian railways must remain financially sustainable. The number of passenger trains has increased from 8000 in 2001 to over 12000 in 2012 - yet losses continue to mount. They are estimated to be Rs 24,000 cr in 2012-13," Mr Bansal said, adding that scarcity of resources and a thin spread of funds continued to be a problem.
Having said that, the minister pledged his commitment to passenger safety and promised to "work towards a zero accident situation." A resource crunch he said could not be an excuse for substandard services, the minister said and promised to improve passenger amenities with a sweetly timed verse in Hindi to emphasise that he was attempting not to make noise but to bring change.
He announced a revamp of the e-ticketing system by the end of this year, free wi-fi on some trains and allowing train bookings on mobile phones.
Stressing on safety for women, a matter of public debate in the last few months, Mr Bansal acceded to a demand made even by his wife Madhu Bansal, for a security helpline for women in distress to call.
He has also announced 26 new trains.
He has, however, proposed to raise a fuel surcharge of just under 5 per cent on railway freight traffic and has also proposed an increase in supplementary charges for superfast trains like Rajdhanis and Shatabdis and charges on reservations and cancellations. Passenger fares were raised by 21 per cent last month, but much part of the expected additional revenue of about Rs 6000 crore was wiped out by the increase in the price of deisel, which sent the fuel bill of the Railways soaring. (Read: full text of Pawan Bansal's speech)
The Minister began presenting his first Rail Budget with a thank you to his political mentors, some poetry and flat statistics to say that unless the Railways cuts losses and begins to make money, it cannot provide best value to customers and play its part in the nation's growth effectively.
Advertisement
Having said that, the minister pledged his commitment to passenger safety and promised to "work towards a zero accident situation." A resource crunch he said could not be an excuse for substandard services, the minister said and promised to improve passenger amenities with a sweetly timed verse in Hindi to emphasise that he was attempting not to make noise but to bring change.
Advertisement
Stressing on safety for women, a matter of public debate in the last few months, Mr Bansal acceded to a demand made even by his wife Madhu Bansal, for a security helpline for women in distress to call.
Advertisement
Advertisement
COMMENTS
Advertisement
Focus On Vande Bharat, Not On Trains For Poor? What Railway Minister Said The History Of Railway Budget And Why It Was Demerged From Union Budget 1st Trial Train Crosses World's Tallest Railway Bridge, Chenab: Union Railway Minister Parents Gave Names Of Interns, Doctors To CBI In Kolkata Horror: Sources Who Is Jasveen Sangha, "Ketamine Queen" Charged With Matthew Perry's Death How Extreme Weather Is Leading To Rise In Child Marriages In Pakistan Police Arrest Suspect In Bihar Dalit Girl Kidnapping, Murder Case 80 Killed In Paramilitary Attack In Sudan OpenAI Blocks Iranian Group's ChatGPT Accounts For Targeting US Election Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.