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In its endeavour to make Indian railways one of the best Railway system in the world, Ministry of Railways have embarked upon an ambitious five year modernization plan involving Rs. 24,000 crores. The plan covers all the spheres of Railway working with stress on improvement in passenger and goods services. This was stated by the Railway Minister Shri Lalu Prasad while addressing the meeting of Parliamentary Consultative Committee attached to his Ministry, here today. Giving details, Shri Prasad said that the plan envisages running of passenger trains at 150 kmph on selected routes & increased induction of latest technology coaches. The freight segment envisages running of freight trains at 100 kmph on the golden quadrilaterals and its diagonals, double stack containers, light weight and corrosion resistant wagons, etc., he added.
The Railway Minister announced that the Railways have also embarked upon ambitious plan to develop dedicated freight corridors to attend to the urgent need to develop additional corridors for freight traffic and sanction for that has been given by the Prime Minister. On these freight corridors, higher axle load wagon and double stack containers will operate. This will not only improve the quality of rail freight services but also reduce the cost of rail transportation significantly. Railways have already planned for dedicated freight corridors on Delhi – Howrah and Delhi – Mumbai routes in the first stage, thereafter it will be extended to other parts of the country. He said that Railways are having dialogue with Government of Japan for funding of these two projects. Railways may also look for funding of these projects from other sources like Public-Private Partnership, Market borrowings and leasing.
The Minister announced that the railways propose to soon set up Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA) for commercially exploiting the plenty of unused land available with Railways. This authority will also develop the railway stations in metro cities like New Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai as world-class mega terminals where Shopping Malls will be opened. The vacant railway land in other parts of the country will be commercially utilized which will not only solve the problem of trespassing of railway land but will generate additional revenue for the railways, the Minister said.
Shri Prasad said that in its commitment to provide better passenger amenities, the Ministry has set up two Integrated Call Centres for passenger enquiries in Patna and Bangalore. These computerized call centres will handle all queries related to train running and train accommodation by dialing telephone number 139 at local call rate. He announced that this kind of service will be extended to other parts of the country also. Special emphasis is being given to keep the trains and stations neat and clean. It is proposed to introduce environmental friendly toilet systems on Indian Railway passenger coaches, he said.
The Minister disclosed that the Railways have formulated a new catering policy in order to improve the standard of food being served in the trains and generate more revenue. Under this policy, the catering contracts will now be given through open tendering system. “While doing so, we have made provision for reservation for poor, women, scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and other backward classes to protect their interest”, he stated.
The Railway Minister further said that during the current year 2005-06, the Ministry has formulated many plans for development of railways that include additional 23 Road Over Bridge/Road Under Bridge works on cost sharing basis with State Governments and amount of Rs. 411 crore has been allotted, manning of 365 unmanned level crossings and rehabilitation/rebuilding of 1553 bridges. Out of these 111 bridges have already been rehabilitated/rebuilt.
The Minister said that the railways surpassed the passenger and freight loading record of last 25 years. The Railways are working strenuously towards achieving of 700 Million Tonnes loading by reducing Operating Expenses, considerable improvement has been made in the Operating Ratio which is 91.2 %. Railways are working towards bringing down the Operating Ratio to 85% in the next couple of years.
Shri Prasad said that he had announced the use of Kulhar and Khadi in last year’s Railway Budget to prevent environmental pollution and provide employment in rural sector. During the last financial year Kulhars worth Rs. 68.3 lakh were procured by Zonal Railways through local potters and their associations. In addition, Khadi materials worth Rs. 15.2 crore were purchased from Khadi Gram-Udyog which have helped in generation of job opportunities and upliftment of the economically weaker and backward sections of the society. In the field of safety, there has been distinct improvement and during this year, the number of consequential accidents are lowest compared the last 4 years. Yet, sustained and all possible efforts are being made to reduce the number of accidents and make rail travel safer for the passenger, he said.
All the participating members appreciated the initiatives taken by the Indian Railways towards Integrated Railways Modernization Plan. Most of the members also suggested that there is a room for further improvement in the areas of catering, provisions for health facilities in the long route trains, cleanliness, punctuality, modern enquiry system, construction of ROBs specially on the National and State Highways and also linking more and more cities and towns with railway network which is a key factor for the overall socio-economic development of the nation.
In his presentation on modernization plan, the Chairman, Railway Board, Shri R.K. Singh revealed that the total expenditure envisaged for execution of the identified items in the Integrated Railway Modernization Plan (IRMP) is about Rs. 24,000 Crores. Out of this, Rs. 4,000 Crores is available under Special Railway Safety Fund (SRSF), Rs. 3,730 crores will be mobilized through internal generations and Rs. 6,000 Crores through market borrowing. The balance requirement of Rs. 10,270 Crores is proposed to be met through Enhanced Budgetary Support, he said.
Besides the Ministers of State for Railways, Shri R. Velu and Shri Naranbhai J. Rathwa , 22 members of Lok Sabha and 8 members of Rajya Sabha and senior officers of Ministry of Railways attended the Meeting.
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