Goyal releases booklet on Railway, coal ministries' five year achievements

Minister for Railways and Coal Piyush Goyal said on Friday his ministries have achieved all the goals set by the BJP in its 2014 general election manifesto.

While releasing a booklet on the five-year achievements of the ministries under his charge, Goyal said the ministries took up new projects at large scale and implemented them swiftly with an honest approach.

Highlighting the achievements and initiatives of the Ministry of Railways, he said it made safety the foremost priority and achieved its best ever safety record in 2018-19.

There has been 81 per cent drop in number of deaths from 152 in 2013-14 to 29 up to Jan 31, 2019, he said.

"This is a result of holistic efforts. All Unmanned Level Crossings (UMLCs) on Broad Gauge network have been eliminated. Rashtriya Rail Sanraksha Kosh (RRSK) fund of Rs 1 lakh crore has been created for safety expenditure.

"We have achieved everything we set out to do in our manifesto," he claimed.

He further said that there has been a quantum leap in capital expenditure. Total capital expenditure between 2014-19 is Rs 5.1 lakh crore which is more than double of total expenditure during 2009-14, he said.

The Railways is connecting India at a faster pace with a 59 per cent increase in the average pace of commissioning New Line / Doubling / 3rd and 4th line projects from 4.1 km during 2009-14 per day to 6.53 km per day during 2014-18.

He also stated that with the building of the Bogibeel Bridge and connecting the capital cities of the Northeast states, the aspirations of the region have been met.

"Commuter travel in urban India has been given sufficient attention. Bangalore Suburban System is being developed with ongoing projects worth more than Rs 15,700 crore. This will benefit about 15 lakh commuters. Mumbai Suburban Systems is also being modernised with ongoing projects worth more than Rs 70,000 crore, which will benefit about 75 lakh commuters," he said.

Mentioning the bullet train as well as Vande Bharat Express, the minister said these achievements were unheard of in railways.

"In the last few years, we have attained the unattainable," he said.