Rail freight up, hikes in passenger charges

Feb 27, 2013 - MANISH ANAND |

Age Correspondent

Railway minister Pawan Kumar Bansal, presenting his maiden Rail Budget, tried to play to the gallery by not raising passenger fares, but he was forced to cut short his speech after MPs from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu erupted in protest and trooped to the Well of the House.

While passengers have been spared any direct hike, they will have to cough up more with the minister raising the Tatkal, reservation and cancellation charges. Mr Bansal, facing a severe funds crunch, also unveiled an increase in freight rates averaging around 5.8 per cent that will give the Railways an extra Rs 4,200 crores a year.
Also, passenger fares may be hiked soon after the Union Cabinet gives its approval to the setting up of the proposed Rail Tariff Authority.
As the minister was speaking, members belonging to the Samajwadi Party, Trinamul Congress, JD(U) and AIADMK trooped into the Well of the House, accusing him of ignoring their states for new rail projects and new trains, shouting slogans like “Rail budget waapas lo (take it back)”. The BJP even went to the extent of calling this year’s Rail Budget as a “Rae Bareli budget”. Unperturbed, Mr Bansal continued with his presentation amid the din and was later helped by parliamentary affairs minister Kamal Nath to complete his truncated speech.
Later, Mr Bansal rejected the criticism by the TMC and others, saying: “Their behaviour on the floor of the House was not justified. They did not listen to my speech.” In the evening, he also ruled out any rollback of the charges, saying these would affect only three per cent of total tickets booked, and the steps would deter touts.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, praising Mr Bansal, said: “The Budget presents a realistic picture of the Railways, which is reformist and forward-looking.” As reported earlier by this newspaper, Mr Bansal has clearly favoured the parliamentary constituency of Congress president Sonia Gandhi: Rae Bareli has now got a wheel factory along with a Rail Neer

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