Working on strategy to treat 'beemar' railways: Prabhu

Railways is "beemar' (sick), Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu said in Rajya Sabha with an assertion that he is working on a strategy to put the national transporter on track by tackling issues like resource crunch, ageing tracks and increasing investment in infrastructure.
He said he was working on both short-term and long-term measures and following a regime of do's and don'ts as the Railways is passing through "very difficult times".
He said government will put in place a new independent regulatory framework for revising rail fares to help maintain a balance between consumers and Railways, for which a bill will be brought soon in Parliament.

Replying to a debate on Rail Budget in Rajya Sabha, Prabhu said he would also partner with states to make investment in rail infrastructure and 16 states have agreed to partner with railways and some have also signed MoUs.
The Minister also said all states have received more money by way of investments in rail infrastructure in this budget.
"Railways is passing through very difficult times. As some members said that Railways is 'beemar' (sick). It is right that Railways is 'beemar' and there is need to treat it and bring it on track," he said.

Prabhu said Railways has many challenges to grapple with that include lack of resources, ageing tracks and increasing investment in infrastructure.

To revitalise Railways, emphasis is being laid on austerity and saying by reducing administrative expenses, generation of revnue, augmentation of services and optimisation of costs, he said.
Insisting that this Rail Budget is only for the common
man, the minister said, "the biggest challenge before Railways is that it does not have resources. Railway network is ageing and it is suffering from lack of investment."
He went on to add: "We need more resources from General Gudget. We need to invest in infrastructure, which we have not done. We will find our resources and invest them. We must make sure to follow a regime and adhere to certain dos and don'ts."

Talking about putting in place a new mechanism for revising fares, Prabhu said, "an independent regulatory framework for rail fares is being put in place so that Railways does not suffer and there is a proper balance between consumers and railways.
"We will bring a bill in this regard soon and hope this House passes it soon and preferably without discussion."
Prabhu said this budget is a continuous exercise and he was working on an all-India railway plan for 2030 for formulating which he sought support of states.
"We need a proper vision for Railways. We will start discussion, but will consult all states," he said, adding that "this budget is only for the common man".

Noting that it was the "most difficult" year for railways, he said it maintained a 'reasonable' operating ratio despite tough conditions, shortall of revenue and after incorporating Pay Commission recommendations.
He said there were lack of resources in Railways and there was need to pump in more investment in infrastructure, which has not been done in the past many years.
"I wish I had all the resources so that all your demands are fulfilled as I will be the happiest man. But that is not possible as there are lack of resources," he said.
Prabhu said he was focussing on long-term sustaintability of railways and would create 2,500 kms of broadguage and 2,000 more kms of electrification.

He said attempts are made to introduce bullet trains and make speeds of 200 kms per hour available in the country soon. He also said efforts are made to remove all unmanned crossings
Referring to sub-urban railways, Prabhu said there is need to overhaul them completely and said Railways was working in partnership with the state government to improve it in Maharashtra.
"We are working to raise an elevated network in Mumbai," he said.
Prabhu also said he was focussing on decreasing by Rs 1,500 crore the expenditure and help save Rs 300 crore through direct purchase of diesel.
Pushing for investments in railways, the minister

compared contribution of railways to GDP in India with that of China and Japan and said it was "very low" here despite its large network.
He said while Chinese railway contributed 2 per cent in the country's GDP, Indian railways had only 0.4 per cent contribution in the country's GDP.
"Investing in infratructure is important and finding resources is being done," Prabhu said, adding that "PPP is an idea not only run by Government of India but all states including West Bengal and Kerala".
Referring to certain apprehensions raised by members on success of PPP mode, the Minister said even in states of Kerala and West Bengal stress was laid on this model.

"But, we have to learn and unlearn from it. We must learn from success stories and unlearn from the failures," he said, adding that there was need to focus on PPP model as normal revenue cannot finance the investments and the future lies in creation of infrastructure.
"We are investing in future. Our debt is only 7.9 per cent of the gross traffic. There are Rs 85,000 crore liabilities," he said.
Prabhu said various states have received much more than what they did in 2013-14 and even last year, adding that in some states there has been an increase of manifold times and gave figures of various states.

The Minister also said the broad guage track laying is today at 7 kms per day, against 4.3 kms in the last six years, which will be icnreased to 13 kms per day in 2017-18 and 19 kms in 2018-19.
Earlier, Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad demanded
that government provide more money to railways and suggested that railways works with state government to help create hospitals and medical colleges on vacant railway land which is being encroached upon.
"This could not happen in UPA-2 though we had identified certain areas and Health and Rail Ministry had signed an agreement in this regard. There is need for hospitals, dispensaries and medical colleges and I would request you to work on this," the Congress leader and former minister said.

He also called for laying more emphasis on developing railways in backward areas like Jammu and Kashmir, North east, Odisha and other such states, as train travel is the only mode to reach out to them.
He said focus needs to be on cleanliness and creation of big halls at railway stations for passengers to wait.
Azad also called for increasing railways network and investment in Jammu and Kashmir and demanded fast and more trains between Jammu and the rest of the country in view of increased traffic.
He also said that the state will have the highest railway bridge in the world which is 1127 feet tall over river Chenab.
Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh also emphasised for more investment in Jammu and Kashmir and talked of completing some rail projects pending in the state.
During the debate, some members said Railways does not have resources to start new projects and improve facilities for the common man and suggested privatisation as the sole alternative.
However, those from the Left parties said the PPP model has failed to yield the desired results and should not be undertaken.
Some members, including those from Samajwadi Party and NCP, lauded Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu for not announcing any new measures and instead focussing on fulfilling promises made in previous Rail budgets.
A number of members participated in the debate.