Lalu provided more trains to Bihar

PATNA: Though Bihar hasn’t got a major share in the rail budget this year, it can boast of having given most of the railway ministers to the country. The Biharis who helmed the Rail Bhawan included Jagjiwan Ram, Ramsubhag Singh, L N Mishra, Kedar Pandey, Ram Vilas Paswan, Nitish Kumar, Digvijay Singh (junior minister) and Lalu Prasad.
These eight railway ministers contributed a lot to the development of railway network in the state.But Paswan stole the show as he initiated a plethora of projects, including a zonal railway HQ at Hajipur, his parliamentary constituency. Critics, many railway officials included, had then termed Paswan’s move as ‘Hajipurisation of railways’. Many railway officials even today make no secret of their discomfort as they have to travel to Hajipur from Patna amid horrible traffic snarls on the Gandhi Setu every day.
The actual development and modernization of railways started during Nitish’s tenure as railway minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government in 2001. Nitish played an instrumental role in stepping up safety measures in railways following the Gaisal accident and the derailment of the Howrah-Delhi Rajdhani Express on the Dhawa bridge near Gaya. He set up a safety corpus of Rs 17,000 crore for renovation of tracks, bridge and signalling systems. The move brought a sea change in the railway safety measures across the country, said a Railway Board official.
German LHB coaches were also introduced in the railways at Nitish’s behest. Three mega bridge projects at Digha (Patna), Munger and Nirmali were also Nitish’s gifts to Bihar. However, these bridges are awaiting completion. The introduction of track circuiting, route-relay interlocking system and computerized reservation system were the major gains for Bihar during Nitish’s tenure. However, anti-collision devices remain a dream for Bihar.
Bihar got railway projects worth a record Rs 45,000 crore during Lalu’s tenure. Compared to other railway ministers from Bihar, Lalu gave more passenger trains (36) to Bihar during his tenure, thereby connecting Patna to all major cities of the country. Bihar is still viewed in railway parlance as the hub of Indian Railways because, barring a coach manufacturing factory, all other factories are located in the state.
East Central Railway, which came into existence with Hajipur as HQ in 2002 along with other newly created zones, has now become a part of Indian Railways’ prestigious club of zones that yield Rs 1,000 crore as revenue per year, sources said.