Upper House Passes Rail Budget: Need to ensure safety, cleanliness on trains

Citing figures, he said that under the NDA government, money to the states from Railways had gone up substantially and a host of new products were being launched. The per day expansion of network has increased from 7.7 km to 19 km, he said.

[related-post]

The Congress, on its part, fielded MPs from the Northeast to attack the government on the limited railway connectivity in the region.

Ranee Narah questioned the need for a bullet train between Mumbai and Ahmedabad. “The train is being planned just because the Railway Minister is from Mumbai and the Prime Minister is from Ahmedabad,” she said. SP’s Vishwambhar Prasad Nishad said the menace of rats and cockroaches on trains was such that it seemed Railways has entrusted them with security.

Congress’s Rajiv Shukla asked what is the current gap between the revenue earned by Railways and its operational cost. Without mentioning the actual gap, Prabhu said factors like pay panel report were putting pressure on the finances of the Indian Railways.

On efforts to bring faster trains, the minister said a Spanish company has been involved in a project to reduce by five hours the time taken on the Delhi-Mumbai route. The Spanish company Talgo would bring its trains on an experimental basis for the project, he said.

Prabhu also said that to meet the demands of various sections, different types of faster trains like Antyodaya, Humsafar, Tejas, Mahamana, Gatimaan etc are being brought in. He added that efforts are being made to provide free water which has undergone quality checks and also provide better e-catering facilities.

WATCH INDIAN EXPRESS VIDEOS HERE