Safe, secure and comfortable. That is the short message that Rail Budget 2015, which Union Minister Suresh Prabhu presented on Thursday in Parliament, is sending. In a welcome departure, the Budget proposes a multi-pronged approach to make travel on Indian Railways a joy, rather than the punishment it currently is.
Here are the reasons why:
Increased passenger amenities, more safety measures, timely completion of projects and increased financial discipline are the primary highlights of the Railway Budget 2014-15.
The growth in total receipts at 15.4% is in line with a 14% average over the last 5 years. There is now increased focus on revenue mobilization through other resources like monetization of railway lands and charges on passenger amenities.
We believe, if the economy picks up, there may be an upside to the budgeted projections. From this point, the Railway Budget numbers look reasonable and well balanced.
More thrust has been placed on passenger amenities, cleanliness and efficient station management. There has been no announcement of new trains in the budget.
It is also indicated that the Railways will take round the year decisions to improve the efficiency of the Indian railways.
Interestingly, beginning in the late 80s, Japan restructured Japanese National Railways (JNR) by converting JNR into seven different companies through a process called ‘vertical integration’. In fact, Indian Railways is possibly moving in that direction by unbundling the different services, for example Swachh Rail Swachh Bharat, a new department for cleanliness introduced in current budget.
On the whole, the Government has decided not to go the populist way but to restore credibility with tight discipline on execution.
