Railway fares might not be hiked

Despite Indian Railways' dwindling financial health, Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi on Wednesday showed disinclination towards hiking passenger fares. Instead, he advocated measures to attract private investment to tide over the situation.

"It is very easy to increase fares, but we have to think out of the box. Fare-hike is the easiest thing to do and I do not think we should have easy options," Trivedi said.

Railways have not touched passenger fares for the last eight years and there was a demand for fare hike from different quarters of the railway including railway unions.

While the Comptroller and Auditor General, in a report, suggested rationlisation of fares, a parliamentary committee also recommended fare hike.

Railways' surplus has been reduced to Rs 75 lakh (Rs 7.5 million) and there is a drastic reduction in the loadings of coal and iron ore in recent months due to various reasons.

Railways recently announced the setting up of an expert committee headed by telecom whizkid Sam Pitroda, advisor to the prime minister on public information, infrastructure and innovation, to suggest ways and means for modernisation of rolling stock, signalling system, stations and freight terminals.

Trivedi said, "By increasing fares of passengers and freight if we think that railways can be modernised, then I do not think so. We need total participation of private sector. We need private participation in order to modernise the railways."

Trivedi said the approach paper to the 12th Five-Year Plan envisaged $1 trillion investment for infrastructure. "Over 50 per cent of this amount would be coming from private sector," he said.

Seeking private investment, he said, "Strengthening of tracks, development of rolling stocks, signals and development of stations and freight terminals are four areas within the railways that held immense potential and would have to effectively be recognised and utilised by the industry."