Trinamool used railway ministry to mislead people: Adhir

Minister of State for Railways Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury Tuesday accused the Trinamool Congress of using the railways portfolio to announce projects without proper sanctioned funds with a aim to mislead the people of West Bengal.

Chowdhury, also the state Congress president, said Mamata Banerjee during her tenure as the railways minister as well as her two successors Dinesh Trivedi and Mukul Roy did not carry out the due procedures for sanctioning of funds required for the projects announced by them for the state.

"Just by making announcements, projects do not materialise. You need to carry out due procedures to for sanctioning funds for the implementation of the projects. But has Mamata Banerjee or her two successors sanctioned the funds for the projects?" Chowdhury told media persons here.

"As the railways minister they were supposed to know the procedures. They have just done it to mislead the people of Bengal," said Chowdhury who was in the city to inaugurate the Train Protection and Warning System (TPWS) in Metro Railway Kolkata.

Chowdhury also expressed regret over the Metro railway not being able to expand despite having sanctioned extensions of 83 km of track.

"Despite having sanctioned extensions of 83 km, the metro here has remained constrained to meagre 27 km. Besides problems of land acquisition, non-cooperation of the state government has played a large part in this," he alleged.

Chowdhury, however, said the metro was trying to compensate the shortcoming by providing enhanced safety measures and increasing passenger amenities.

Along with installing fire extinguishers in all compartments of the trains, the city metro stations will soon get automated ticket vending machines. Chowdhury said lifts and additional escalators in the stations are also being installed.