NEW DELHI: Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Friday said there is no question of privatising the Railways, asserting that providing affordable service to all is the focus of the national transporter.
Vaishnaw said the Railways is working to ensure that people can travel up to 1,000 kilometres in comfort in less than Rs 400. He said 12,500 general-class coaches are being manufactured for the convenience of the people.
“There is no denying the fact that Railways will undergo a complete makeover in the next five years and trains like Vande Bharat and Namo Bharat, equipped with indigenously developed anti-collision device called ‘Kavach’, will lead this change. It has started now,” he said while addressing the Railway Protection Force Raising Day event in Maharashtra’s Nasik.
“There is no question of privatisation of the railways. I urge those spreading such rumours to remember that the Railways and Defence are two backbones of India and must be spared from all kinds of politics,” Vaishnaw said.
He added that the era of transformation across the Indian Railways has begun. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has ended the era of “politicisation of the Railways,” the minister said. “We have given focus on performance, safety, technology and providing affordable service to all.
To meet all these, the Modi government has given a big push to the railway budget, which currently stands at Rs 2.5 lakh crore. We have set a record of laying 31,000 kilometres of new tracks in the last 10 years, which is more than the network of France,” Vaishnaw said.
He explained that 40,000 km rail route has been electrified during the last 10 years of the NDA government, which he said is double of what has been done in the past 60 years. “We plan to start 3,000 train services in the next six years. During the UPA rule, Maharashtra used to get Rs 1,171 crore for railway works.
This figure has gone up to Rs 15,940 crore under the Modi government. A sum of Rs 33,000 crore is earmarked for the bullet train segment in the state as well as Rs 12,500 crore for the state leg of the dedicated freight corridor,” he said, adding that a Rs 7,000 crore project is planned to connect Marathwada to port facilities.
Speaking about the Railway Protection Force (RPF), he said Rs 35 crore has been earmarked for upgrading the force’s zonal centres, while demands pertaining to service rules and promotions are under consideration. The minister said that an additional grant of Rs 5.5 crore was sanctioned for the zonal training centre for the RPF dog squad in Tamil Nadu.
The minister, along with RPF DG Manoj Yadava, felicitated 33 personnel with police medals for their meritorious service and Jeevan Raksha medals for their courageous efforts in saving passengers’ lives in 2023 and 2024.
