Passengers must pay: Rail freight revenue can increase, but so must fares

A parliamentary panel has urged Indian Railways to diversify freight beyond coal, revisit tariffs and confront passenger fare subsidies to keep the system financially viable

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Railways has produced a report titled “Increasing freight-related earnings of Indian Railways and development of Dedicated Freight Corridors”, which was presented to Parliament on Tuesday. The report makes some important suggestions on diversifying the railways’ freight income, for example, that it move beyond its traditional reliance on transporting coal and iron ore to more modern cargoes such as those relevant to India’s fast-expanding ecommerce sector. It also argues for creating freight corridors, some of which it says should be privately financed. It has also made some consideration of the income that the railways