Railway Minister M Mallikarjun Kharge today said there are no plans for revision of train fares for now. "There is no such proposal before the Railway Ministry for a revision of train fares" he told reporters during his visit to the Rail Wheel Factory here.
Kharge said the passenger fares will be adjusted according to the cost of the fuel every six months, but for now there is no proposal in this regard. Talking about projects in Karnataka, Kharge said the Railways have proposed to set up an administrative office in Gulbarga city to augment the Solapur division of the South-Central and Central Railway.
Kharge said there was also a proposal to set up a unit at Yadgir in Karnataka for manufacturing spare parts of Linke Holfmann Busch (LHB) coaches at cost of Rs 750 crore. "The unit will cater to the spare parts needs of Rae Bareli (Uttar Pradesh), Kapurthala (Punjab) and Perambur (Tamil Nadu) coach factories," he said. A sum of Rs 75 crore had been earmarked for the purpose in the supplementary budget, Kharge said.
He said the state government has agreed to give 150 acres for setting up Yadgir unit and all the costs will be borne by the Railways, which expects the unit to function by February. Kharge said Railways have acquired 30-acre land on which the defunct Binny Mills in Bangalore is situated. "This will nicely fit into the Railways' expansion plans," he added.
Railways will develop Yelahanka as the third terminus station for Bangalore, and spend Rs 18 crore towards it. "In the next 10 to 15 days work on it will commence," he said. Four to five new platforms will be built at Yelahanka station.
Kharge said rail connectivity to Vaishnodevi Temple had become a reality after completion of the track-laying work. The Railways have also got clearance from the Railways Safety Commissioner and efforts are on for inaugurating the project soon.
BS Bureau adds
The South Central Railway (SCR) on Monday said it was hopeful of handling 100-110 million tonnes (mt) of freight by the end of the present fiscal. In doing so, the SCR would be poised to clock a freight revenue of Rs 8,300-crore for 2013-14, an 11.1 per cent growth in value terms. In 2012-13, the SCR achieved a revenue of Rs 7,469-crore against a freight volume of 111.5 mt.
In the April-November period of 2013-14, the railway zone was able to move 68.5 mt in freight volume as against 70.9 mt for the corresponding period last year. However, due to the hike in freight charges and operational efficiencies, it showed a moderate rise in turnover to Rs 4,670-crore during the six-month period compared with Rs 4,658-crore last year.
SCR general manager P K Srivastava said, the railway zone was making all efforts to bridge the volume shortfall with an increased intake for the rest of the year. "The hit in the last two months was due to heavy rains which affected coal production and evacuation at Singareni Collieries Limited," said Srivastava.
The Rupee devaluation and sluggishness in the economy impacted the volume of imported coal handled by the SCR. The cement sector's underperformance too hit the railway.
With the economy showing signs of a demand growth, Srivastava expects coal and cement freight volumes to pick up during rest of the year. "We're working to ensure a seamless transport connectivity to the Krishnapatnam and Kakinada ports in the state," he said. The new arrangements would help it handle high traffic during rest of the year.
Gross earnings to touch Rs 11,740-crore
For fiscal 2013-14, the SCR expects gross earnings to touch Rs 11,740-crore, which is a 16 per cent jump from last year's Rs 10,109-crore. It is targeting to improve its operating ratio at 83 per cent. For the April-November period, this stood at 86.9 per cent. In the 2014-15 Rail Budget, the SCR plans to pitch for additional infrastructure facilities, coaching complexes and world-class stations.
Preparedness for possible bifurcation
On the possible bifurcation of the SCR zone in the light of the possible bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, Srivastava indicated that the Railway Board was responsible for all decisions related to formation of new zones, divisions and Railways. "These are sensitive issues as it involves bifurcation of staff, seniority considerations among others," he said. If the exercise is started, it would be a "big one", he added.
