Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday said that Railways is conscious of its dual responsibilities, both in social and economic spheres.
Interacting with the Chairman, Railway Board and other officials during a meeting of The Fifteenth Finance Commission in New Delhi, Goyal said, "Being an integral part of inclusive national development, railways have important social and economic functions to perform. Balancing social compulsions with economic viability is always challenging."
He further stressed that Railways is undergoing a transformation in thinking and its operations by using its resources more effectively. 'Safety First' is the motto of railways.
During the event, other officials also highlighted recent measures to improve passenger comfort, strengthen infrastructure, increasing speed, and reduce idling time.
Detailed discussions were held on medium-term programme to improve capital expenditure in various initiatives like speed up electrification, doubling of track, technical upgrading and modernising the signals, making railways ODF and environment-friendly.
The commission led by Chairman N. K. Singh highlighted other measures to further improve the productivity like monetising assets in multiple forums, speeding up the pace of projects under implementation, long-term need for rationalization of portfolios and fares for a realistic medium-term revenue and expenditure projections.
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