Electrification of railway routes took 'quantum jump' under Modi govt: Goyal

Railway Minister Piyush Goyal said on Thursday that the electrification of railway routes has taken a "quantum jump" under Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government.

Since 2014, the railway ministry has been electrifying 1,500 km every year as opposed to only 654 km during 2010-14, Goyal said at an event.

Railway Minister further said, "As Mahatma Gandhi once said, 'It's not the man that makes the vision; it's the vision that makes the man', and our rail officials have the ability to envision a better railway for India."

According to media reports, the Centre is also likely to announce 2018 as the year of women's safety in Railways in the upcoming Budget.

The Railways might use part of the Nirbhaya Fund to install closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras in ladies' coaches and increase the number of washrooms on platforms, among other measures.

According to Goyal, the Railways also wants to increase its share in the overall goods movement to 50 per cent from the current share of around 35 per cent, touching three billion tons of freight traffic from the current 1.1 billion tons by 2030.