Mallikarjun Kharge to present interim railway budget today

New Delhi, 12 Feb 2014(TNN): With his party facing a tough Lok Sabha election and the railways under huge financial stress, ministerMallikarjun Kharge will try to do a balancing act in meeting populist demands such as cut in passenger fares and announcement of new trains while restoring the financial health of the state-run transporter in his interim rail budget on Wednesday.

 

There are indications that passenger fares may not be touched barring minor changes in a few segments in the first rail budget to be presented by Kharge.

 

As this is an election year, the minister may announce some rail connectivity and factory projects for backward states along with giving new trains in states where Congress is facing a tough electoral fight.

 

Better passenger amenities and safety is expected to be on top of Kharge’s agenda. He is likely to announce measures to enhance safety for passengers such as installation of fire safety system, use of fire-retardant material in more trains while announcing implementation of Train Collision and Avoidance System (TCAS) on more routes.

 

There could be employee-friendly announcement for porters, gangmen and trackmen in the budget. The minister could also announce semi-high speed trains on a few busy corridors.

 

Kharge’s home state Karnataka may get a big project. The minister is likely to announce a new 252.5 km Wadi-Gadag line.

 

Rajasthan could be another gainer as the minister is likely to announce a 165-km broad gauge line — Ajmer-Nasirabad-Sawai Madhopur-Chauthka-Barwara via Tonk. Another broad gauge line, Pirpainti-Jasidih-Mohanpur covering 97 km would also be announced.

 

An official said last-minute changes are expected considering huge pressure. The budget is expected to focus on outlining achievements of railways during a decade of UPA regime.

 

Kharge introduced a slew of reforms to pull railways out of financial mess after Congress regained control over the transporter from regional allies.

 

The veteran Congress leader from Karnataka, during his short tenure of seven months, implemented reformist measures such as linking fuel cost to passenger fares, dynamic fare pricing in select routes during peak travel period, increasing Duranto fares and setting up a rail tariff regulator.

 

The dynamic fare pricing formula could be extended to more trains in an attempt to raise more resources.

 

The budget is likely to mention the speedy work on dedicated freight corridor and work sanction on the 66-km Mughalsarai-Sonnagar link as part of UPA’s mega project.

 

On passenger amenities front, the minister is expected to announce measures like installation of upgraded real-time train information system at stations and operation of automatic ticket vending machines at many stations.