New Delhi: Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Tuesday said the railway fares in India have remained constant since 2020 and are far less than the neighbouring countries like Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
He also asserted that railway accidents have come down by 90 per cent from the time when RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav was at the ministry’s helm.
Vaishnaw made the remarks in the Lok Sabha while replying to a debate on the Demands for Grants under the control of the Ministry of Railways for 2025-26. The Lok Sabha later passed the Demands for Grants.
In his reply, Vaishnaw said the national transporter has emerged from difficulties of the Covid pandemic to meet its own expenses.
Amid noisy protests by the opposition over not being allowed to speak on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statement on the Maha Kumbh, the minister said the railways has taken numerous steps for crowd control at stations and is running several special trains during festival seasons.
He asserted that with Prime Minister Modi’s focus on safety, accidents have come down by 90 per cent from the time when Lalu Prasad was at the ministry’s helm.
“During Lalu Prasad’s time, in a year about 234 accidents and 464 derailments took place, about 700 in a year. During Mamata Banerjee’s period, 165 accidents and 230 derailments took the accident tally to 395 in a year and during Mallikarjun Kharge’s time, 118 accidents and 263 derailments happened, taking the total number of accidents to 381,” he said.
Prime Minister Modi focused on safety and brought in new technology and investment, and now it has come down to 30 accidents and 43 derailments, which is 90 per cent less from the earlier period and 80 per cent less than what it was in 2014-15, Vaishnaw said.
He also said that a big roll out of Kavach was being made on 10,000 locomotives and 15,000 km.
The minister said the railways has not increased fares since 2020 and they have been constant since then.
“If we compare with neighbouring countries, our fares are very less. For a travel of 350 km, fare in India is Rs 121, in Pakistan it is Rs 436, in Bangladesh it is Rs 323 and in Sri Lanka it is Rs 413,” Vaishnaw said.
The minister said the prices in European countries are more than five to 20 times higher than India.
Hailing the Budget for Railways as “historic”, Vaishnaw said the national transporter faced a lot of difficulty during the Covid pandemic and it had now emerged from that to be in a healthy situation.
The railways is now meeting nearly all its expenditure from its own income, he pointed out.
The minister also elaborated on the steps taken by his ministry for managing crowd, including running of special trains during the holiday period.
“Last year, during the Holi period, we ran 604 special trains, about 13,000 special trains were run during the last summers and 8,000 such trains were run during Diwali and Chhat. During the Maha Kumbh, as many as 17,330 special trains were run and 1,107 special trains were run during the Holi period this year,” he said.
Recalling the tragic stampede at the New Delhi Railway Station last month, Vaishnaw said many permanent steps were being taken, including building in holding area in 60 stations, installing CCTV cameras, building war rooms and foot-over bridges, among other measures.
He also said India is among the top three loading countries and 1.6 billion tonne cargo will be carried this year.
Vaishnaw said five lakh people have got employment in the railways and recruitment is on for one lakh more people.
He said 34,000 km of railway tracks have been built, which is more than the entire rail network of Germany and 50,000 km of old tracks have been removed due to which there has been a big improvement in safety.
Asserting that India has become a big exporter in railways, Vaishnaw said, “We are sending metro coaches to Australia, coaches to the UK, Saudi and France and operation equipment to Mexico, Spain, Germany and Italy.”
Soon, Bihar’s locomotive and wheels made in Tamil Nadu will run around the world, Vaishnaw said.
“There is a lot of focus on railway safety. Many technical changes have been made. The Indian Railways is constantly being improved by taking many big steps like longer rails, electronic interlocking, fog safety devices,” he said.
The minister said 12,000 rail flyovers and rail under-bridges have been built, which has benefited the country a lot.
Vaishnaw pointed out that there has been good progress in projects in the North East.
He cited the examples of the project in Sikkim from Sevoke to Rangpo, new works in Assam and broad gauge line coming up to Tripura for the first time after independence.
The minister further said historic work has been done in the Kolkata Metro Rail Project.
“It started in 1972 and till 2014, i.e. in 42 years, 28 km of work was done. Whereas in 10 years of Modi government, 38 km of work was done,” he said.
Talking about the bullet train project, Vaishnaw said, “I would like to tell you about the bullet train that we have to move ahead, we have to take the country forward. Such projects have to be set up for the coming generation.”
On the running room where the loco pilots come and rest after completing their duty, he said all 558 running rooms are 100 per cent air conditioned, adding today 1,100 locomotives have toilets for women loco pilots.
