New Railway Minister bats for fare hike

Passenger fares might see an increase as Pawan Kumar Bansal, the newly appointed railway Minister, batted for a hike in railway fares, as soon as he assumed office in Rail Bhawan today. Bansal is the fifth minister in little over three years to have assumed charge of the Railways that is currently passing through one of its toughest period.

Briefly, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had taken charge of the ministry when Mamata Banerjee left for West Bengal chief ministership in May 2011. C P Joshi, the road transport and highways minister, was given the additional charge of the railways in September after the Trinamool Congress withdrew support to the UPA triggering exit of Mukul Roy.

Interacting with the media today as he took charge of the crucial infrastructure ministry, Bansal said that hiking fares is “essential for better services”. "We have to ensure that the vast infrastructure of the railways does not collapse and stop functioning... So we have to increase fares and assure the public that if there will be any hike, the public will also appreciate it because we are going to improve the services,” Bansal said.

Presently, the railways are facing financial crunch and funds earmarked for many of the ongoing projects are being curtailed.

The new Minister of State for Railways Adheer Kumar Choudhury, who also assumed charge, too favoured a hike in passenger fares.

On the issue of Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC), Bansal said, "We have to expeditiously work on DFC as it will benefit the people. All the regions of the country will get their due from the railways."

Six years have passed since Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation (DFCC) was set up in 2006-07 and no contracts have been awarded to private players for the construction of the corridor as yet.

The new minister also assured that the ticket reservation system would also be improved and said that steps would be taken to strengthen the physical and financial position of the railways.

Bansal, whose task ahead would include presenting a crucial railway budget next year, may find his skills as parliamentary affairs minister coming in handy while dealing with demands for railway lines and projects from fellow members of Parliament.