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The railway ministry has proposed integrated transport systems for major cities in a bid to provide modern transport solutions and decongest cities. On Saturday, railway minister Suresh Prabhu said to begin with, he would hold a meeting with Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis next week to discuss a concrete proposal in this regard for Mumbai.
“I will also be meeting (Shiv Sena chief) Uddhav Thackeray, along with the chief minister of Maharashtra, to discuss the issue of providing holistic integrated solutions to Mumbai,” Prabhu said after launching several new amenities at the Bengaluru railway station.
He said his ministry was working on completely modernising India’s railway network. “We have a great opportunity to develop the railway network in the country. Through the next five years, we will invest Rs 8.5 lakh crore and double it in the subsequent five years,” he said.
Integrated transport systems would also be developed in other major cities such as Bengaluru and Chennai, he said.
For Karnataka, which lags its neighbours in railway density, Prabhu said his ministry was working on forming a separate company to undertake several pending projects, including a suburban railway network, modelled on the one in Mumbai. “I am in discussions with the chief minister of Karnataka to create a new company dedicated to Karnataka, in which the state government and the railways will be partners. It will work for the development of the railway network in the state. The ministry is willing to partner the state government to develop a much better transport network.”
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For many years, the Karnataka government has been demanding a suburban railway network for Bengaluru be sanctioned. A detailed project report in this regard has already been submitted to the railway ministry. A special purpose vehicle has also been incorporated to implement the project, estimated at Rs 8,759 crore. In its proposal, the state government had committed to sharing half the cost, said H N Ananth Kumar, minister for chemicals and fertilisers.
Prabhu said, “I am personally committed to developing a suburban railway network for Bengaluru city. It involves cooperation from various ministries. Very soon, we will sit together to finalise it and realise the dream of providing a modern transport system for Bengaluru city.”
Unveiling his dream of modernising Indian Railways, akin to what China achieved in the past three decades, Prabhu said the railway ministry was working on raising the funds required to undertake several projects. Recently, the ministry signed a memorandum of understanding with Life Insurance Corporation of India to raise Rs 1.5 lakh crore. Of this, Rs 30,000 crore was likely to be raised this financial year, he added.
Prabhu said he had asked corporate houses to contribute from their corporate social responsibility corpuses so that these entities could join hands in the development of a modern railway network in India.
