BENGALURU: The South Western Railway Zone has been allocated Rs 3,174 crore in the Union budget 2017-2018, a jump of nearly 19.17% over the previous financial year.
With the Pink Book (register containing details of all projects and sums allocated to them) to be made public only on Friday (Feb 3) after it is tabled in the Parliament, railway officials could not give a break-up of the specific amounts allocated under various projects.
“It is up from Rs 2, 779 crore last year and this is good for SWR,” said Divisional Railway Manager, Bangalore Division, Sanjiv Agarwal.
Chief Administrative Officer, Constructions, South Western Railway, Ashok Gupta said, “It marks a jump of Rs 400 crore, which amounts to nearly 19.17% over what was allocated the previous year.”
Senior Divisional Engineer (Co-ordination), Bangalore Division, Lakshman Singh said, “The Safety Fund of Rs 1 lakh crore spread over 5 years will ensure our infrastructure assets like signalling systems, old rails and coaches are upgraded. These are long due and will definitely enhance safety in rail travel.”