Cash-strapped railways to get a makeover plan soon

A high-level committee set up to suggest a blue print for modernisation of cash-strapped railways will submit its report shortly, said its chief Sam Pitroda while dismissing report of having recommended 25 per cent hike in passenger fares linking it to inflation.

Pitroda said the panel would submit its recommendations in the "next couple of weeks" as it has been "working intensively hard for over 90 days" to prepare the report.

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Railways had constituted the expert committee last September on modernisation under the chairmanship of Pitroda to recommend modernisation of the public transporter with a focus on track, signalling, rolling stock, stations and terminals, for improving efficiency and safety.

"We have not finalised the document or submitted the report. As far as I am concerned, we do not have a draft of the report yet, we are working on it," Pitroda said.

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Asked whether the committee has made any presentation before the Plan panel, Pitroda said, "We do not have any presentation. We (the committee) are talking, we have talked about track modernisation, signalling, PPP, stations etc."

When queried if it is feasible to link rail fares with inflation, he retorted, saying, "I do not comment on it until the report is done".

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He also refuted suggestions that the committee made a presentation in this regard before the Planning Commission.

Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi had earlier this month hinted at a possible fare hike, saying, "There is definite case to re-look at the fares which have not been touched for eight years".

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Planning Commission as well as Parliamentary Panel on Railways have suggested rationalisation of rail fares, which have remained untouched despite increase in input costs.

The other members of the expert committee include Chairman HDFC Ltd Deepak Parekh, former SBI chairman M S Verma, Prof of Raghuram of IIM-Ahmedabad, MD of IDFC Rajiv Lal, and chairman of Feedback Infrastructure Services Vinayak Chatterjee.