Railway unions and industry have given varied reactions to the Railway Budget proposals with the latter praising it while the former are not very "enthused" about Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu's second budget presentation.
National Federation of Indian Railwaymen (NFIR) expressed its "serious disappointment" over the Rail Budget 2016-17 presented by Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu today.
According to NFIR President Raghavaiah, the Railway Budget document is "towards journey for privatisation of Indian Railways in the name of transformation".
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"It is sad to note that the Railway Minister has not given due recognition to the dedicated services being rendered by various categories of railway employees who toil hard day and night," he said.
NFIR leaders said that the Railway Budget is "totally uninspiring" and on the contrary generating "resentment" among Railway employees as the aim of the Budget is to "aggressively implement privatisation, outsourcing"of regular Railway activities.
However, All-India Railwaymen's Federation said announcements have been made for more facilities for railway users but there is no clear roadmap about regulating the income of the Railway and it appears that a lot of things have been left for corporate.
Antoine Caput, Country Director Thales in India has described the Railway Budget a "forward looking" one.
The announcements made around modernising the railway infrastructure, improving the safety and efficiency of the network, enabling greater private participation, improving overall passenger comfort, among others bode well for all the stakeholders, Caput said.
Looking forward to participate in a number of opportunities in rail sector, he said "Thales is currently deploying Train Protection Warning System (TPWS) for the Southern Railway on the Basin Bridge-Arakkonam section."
Nalin Jain, President South Asia, GE Transportation and Aviation has said the Railway Minister has moved forward on the roadmap announced last year to rejuvenate Indian Railways.
GE has been given the contract to manufacture high power diesel locomotives in Marhora in Bihar.
Travelkhana, which is the pioneer for enabling food ordering for passengers in train.
Pushpinder Singh of Travelkhana, said "The move to expand e-catering to 400 stations will be extremely helpful for us."
TravelKhana, a food aggregator for train travellers, has tied-up with IRCTC last month for e-catering.
