Railways moots safety cess on tickets to prevent accidents

Railways have to generate additional Rs 5k cr in current FY as its contribution to safety fund

Plagued by repeated derailments, the Railways is considering imposing safety cess on train tickets to be utilised for strengthening accident prevention measures.

According to the move, the Railways will have to generate additional revenue of Rs 5,000 crore in the current financial year (FY) as its contribution to the safety fund created in the budget.

Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu said, "We have to raise safety funds and the people will also have to give some support. We are considering all options."

The government had announced the creation of a special safety fund of Rs 1 lakh crore over the next five years that will cover upgradation of tracks and signalling besides elimination of unmanned level crossings.

The special safety fund envisages spending of Rs 20,000 crore on safety upgradation every year.

However, Railways has so far received Rs 15,000 crore — Rs 10,000 crore from the central road fund and Rs 5,000 crore from the Finance Ministry — while it has been asked to raise Rs 5,000 crore from its own resources for the Rashtriya Rail Sanraksha Kosh.

There are three ways to generate Rs 5,000 crore for the special safety fund, said a senior railway ministry official.

The first option is to raise the additional revenue through non-tariff resources. The second is through a hike on freight rate and the third option is through imposing safety cess on passenger fares.

However, the official said no decision has been taken yet on the issue, the official said.

There is a dire need of safety upgradation to prevent accidents which have seen a spurt in the recent past.

The Railways aim to eliminate all unmanned level crossings on the broad gauge network by 2020 for which massive expenditure is required.