The political parties, "for the sake of votes", did not allow railway to hike fare and freight for the last nine years, NFIR general secretary M Raghavaiah told reporters here today.
The government is also not reimbursing the concessions for transporting the essential goods at subsidised freight charges. With this situation, the railway is facing a deep financial crisis and its operating ratio has gone up from 79 per cent to 93 per cent, he lamented.
The government should allow the railways to hike the fares and freight and also reimburse Rs 15,000 crores towards subsidies on the transport of essential goods, he said.
Because of the financial crunch, the railways is unable to take up development schemes as well as safety measures, he alleged.
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