Rail Budget 2016: Commuters' expectations high from Suresh Prabhu

With Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu all set to present his second Rail Budget on Thursday, hopes are high among people regarding improvement in passengers' amenities and safety.

Commuters in Mumbai want improvement in safety measures on the suburban network, where passenger deaths are a major concern.

"Passengers falling off local trains have become a daily affair. We hope that the ministry will increase number of general and reserved coaches of Mumbai locals," said one of the commuters at Dadar station.

"The railways have introduced 15-coach trains on Central and Westerns networks, but these trains do not operate during rush hours, resulting in overcrowding of Mumbai locals," he added.

Passengers also voiced their concerns over passenger services and amenities, including safety and punctuality.

"The amenities and services of the railways should be a top priority. The safety is another important aspect, where we want deployment of more railway police force. The food quality and hygiene is also a matter of concern in long-distance trains, and we expect the railway ministry to look into it," said another passenger.

"We hope that the due attention is paid on infrastructure, development of stations, upgrading bogies and cleanliness of stations," said Rajesh Kumar, one of the commuters.

People's expectations are high about the announcement of new trains and improvement in passenger amenities, railway finances have come under tremendous strain as passenger fares was not hiked in the last budget and the minister faces a dilemma whether to raise fares and freight rates.