Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu on Thursday hinted that train fares would not be reduced in the upcoming Railway Budget.
During his press conference in the city, he was asked whether ticket fares would be reduced in line with the fall in diesel prices. Prabhu responded that the Railways bears 50 per cent of the cost of every train service and the passenger the rest, and so there is a huge subsidy for the passenger already.
On the matter of starting a suburban rail network in Bengaluru, the minister said in Mumbai, 75-80 lakh commuters use suburban transport and the Mumbai Rail Vikas Nigam was set up to cater to them. He promised to discuss with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah the possibility of setting up a similar body in the city.
Meanwhile, it was not a good day with math for Prabhu, who repeatedly spoke about how he had flagged off three trains, when he had, in fact, flagged off four!
