Indians across the country urge Railway Minister to improve facilities, cleanliness and security in trains

Common People have urged the Railway Minister Devaragunda Venkappa Sadananda Gowda to improve facilities, cleanliness and beef up security in trains ahead of his maiden budget in the Parliament.

They also hoped that the upcoming railway budget will make travelling more comfortable and economical.

Many people see the railways, which transport an estimated 25 million people each day, as a service for the "common man". Many riders are poor Indians who have missed out on the fruits of two decades of surging growth that enabled millions of their compatriots to buy cars or travel by air.

In Lucknow, passengers said they want the minister to improve overall facilities in the train coaches.

"We hope that railway will improve. More facilities will be provided. People, who travel in general compartments, face lots of problems. Number of general coaches will be increased," said a passenger, Harish Chadra Singh.

India's railway network is one of the world's largest, but years of low investment and populist policies to subsidise fares at affordable levels have cripped growth in new lines and hindered private investment.

In Agra, commuters urged the railway to beef up security in the trains as people, especially women remain at risk.

"Security should be beefed up in trains. There is lack of security in the trains. People, especially females, are not secure in the trains," said another passenger, Ramesh Lal.

Last month, the government hiked the rail passenger fare and freight fares by 14.2 percent and 6.5 percent respectively. The last fare hike was in October 2013.

In Siliguri, people said they want Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government to bring good days as promised during election campaign.

"We want that there should be cleanliness and maintenance of the trains as government has increased the fares. Everything should be good. Modi has come to power and he will bring good days and that is why we voted for him," said Shudanshu Banerjee.

In Vadodara, travellers hoped that the government would increase the number of trains and tracks keeping in view the increasing population.

"Tracks have remained the same since 1947 but population has gone up. Population has increased but trains and tracks remain the same. He should increase the number of trains and tracks keeping in view the population. He should increase the number of general coaches in every train," said a passenger, Sanjeev Patel.