Railway Budget 2014-15: Focus on passenger amenities, high-speed rail; 58 new trains announced Railway Budget 2014-15: Focus on passenger amenities, high-speed rail; 58 new trains announced Last Updated: Tuesday, July 08, 2014, 14:25 Zee Media Bureau New Delhi: Presenting his maiden Rail Budget in Lok Sabha on Tuesday, Union Railway Minister Sadananda Gowda announced 58 new trains including 5 new Jansadharans, 5 premium trains, 6 AC express, 27 express trains, 8 passenger trains, 2 MEMU trains and 5 DEMUs. He further announced extension of 11 trains route. Stating that bullet trains are a priority, the Railway Minister proposed the first bullet train between Mumbai and Ahmadabad route. Railways will also launch high-speed trains to connect major cities, he said. Gowda said his ministry would also seek cabinet approval for allowing foreign direct investment in the state-owned network, but passenger services would be excluded. The bulk of our future projects will be... by the PPP model, he told India`s parliament, referring to public-private partnerships. India`s railway, the world`s fourth-largest, has suffered from years of low investment and populist policies to subsidise fares. This has turned a once-mighty system into a slow and congested network that crimps economic growth. The decision to push private investment signals the appetite Prime Minister Narendra Modi`s new government has for taking tough and unpopular decisions he has said are needed to revive the economy. Reform of the railways has long proven politically sensitive. Successive governments have backed away from modernization, preferring instead to use the system to provide cheap transport for voters, and jobs for 1.3 million people.
Posted on: Tue, 08 Jul 2014 09:26:05 +0000
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