Railways needs to be more transparent and scientific in its forecasting

It has been projecting the same no. of travellers for all classes though it has never breached those targets

Given the ebbing of Covid-19 cases in February 2021, the government was expecting the national service to pull off a turnaround. The second wave of infections derai­led the Railways’ plans, however. Last year, the Railways projected that the carrier would rake in Rs 61,000 crore from passenger services. In this year’s Budget, re­vised estimates show that Ind­ian Railways would only achieve 70 per cent of its target. When actual numbers are ann­ounced next February, there may be a further decline.

Even before Covid-19, the Railways was consistently und­erperforming its budget targets. It budgeted Rs 56,000 crore from passenger services in 2019-20