50 new trains, will add pressure to loaded tracks

Decrease in number of people travelling by trains has not deterred Railway Minister Nitish Kumar from announcing 50 new trains, increasing f...

Decrease in number of people travelling by trains has not deterred Railway Minister Nitish Kumar from announcing 50 new trains, increasing frequency of 13 and extending the run of 24 others.

Kumar has apparently learnt no lessons, even though he was forced to cancel some of the trains he had started last year—New Delhi-Bhatinda Shatabdi and Ranchi-Tatanagar Jan Shatabdi for poor occupancy. There were as less as three passengers on an average travelling by these trains. Railway officials say that going by the low occupancy, a couple of more trains are likely to be cancelled.

Running a train costs railways about Rs 2 lakh per day. ‘‘When the 80 odd trains started last year did nothing to increase passenger traffic, it is unlikely that the sops offered in the Railway Budget today will get in the passengers to fill up all these trains,’’ said an official from the traffic directorate.

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More trains will mean more pressure on the tracks — most of which are already under stress with little time for maintenance. Even the funds allocated for track renewal have gone down from Rs 3,401 crore to Rs 2,605 crore for the year.

‘‘And with the minister not making any concrete statement about improving safety and announcing so many trains only shows lack of far-sightedness on his part. There was not even a proper traffic survey done before announcing these trains to see if they will earn any revenue for railways, or even if there is a demand from people. Just to break even, a train needs to run at at least 80 per cent occupancy,’’ the official added.

However, the minister was sure that the trains he announced will be popular. ‘‘There was demand for all the trains that have been announced. Just let them start, then you will see all of them will be packed,’’ he later said.