The Hindu : National : Lalu rules out hike in passenger fares

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Friday, May 20, 2005

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National

Lalu rules out hike in passenger fares

Special Correspondent

The Railways had registered a growth rate of 16 per cent in both freight and passenger traffic

Preliminary survey report by November
Corridor to lower cost of transportation
Japan shows interest in providing finance, technical assistance

Railways carried 601 million tonnes of freight during 2004-05

NEW DELHI: Defending the recent increase in the price of platform tickets from Rs. 3 to Rs. 5, Railway Minister Lalu Prasad on Thursday said the move was aimed at keeping undesirable elements away from platforms and to avoid overcrowding. While maintaining that train travel was fast gaining popularity, he ruled out any increase in passenger fares.

"No increase for now," he said at a joint press conference with Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia.

Mr. Lalu Prasad said that the Railways had registered a growth rate of 16 per cent in both freight and passenger traffic and its operating ratio was expected to touch 85 per cent by 2005-06.

Increasing traffic

In a bid to keep pace with freight traffic growth, a dedicated freight corridor would be built along the existing Golden Quadrilateral linking the four metros — Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai. The project has got the in-principle nod from the Infrastructure Committee, headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Mr. Prasad said that Japan had shown interest in financing and providing technical assistance for the project during the recent visit of Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to India. He described it as the "biggest ever rail project" in the history of Indian Railways.

No privatisation

Mr. Ahluwalia said the Planning Commission and the Railway Ministry would prepare a pre-feasibility paper on the project by the end of July.

The corridor would not be privatised but a way would be devised to collect finances either through the Special Project Vehicle route, private participation or Government funding.

The project, with an estimated cost of Rs. 22,000 crores for Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Kolkata, would take nearly five years to complete. Railway Board Chairman R.K. Singh said that the preliminary engineering and traffic survey report would be ready by November.

The new corridor would not only have higher capacity with heavy haul and long haul operations, it would also lower the cost of transportation, increase the speed of freight trains and improve the quality of freight service.

The Railways are likely to carry 675 million tonnes of freight during 2005-06 as compared to 601 million tonnes of freight loading during 2004-05.

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