Happy that the Railway budget has spared the common people by not increasing fares, AIADMK general secretary Jayalalithaa asked the Centre to speed up pending projects by allocating sufficient funds.
In a statement, Ms. Jayalalithaa said the budget made no mention of new projects. The State had sought support for 10 new critical projects. Similarly, 22 projects announced on earlier occasions were pending execution for want of funds.
Responding positively to the request from Railway Minister to participate in the development of projects, the Tamil Nadu government had suggested that three projects – Chennai-Tuticorin freight corridor, Chennai-Madurai-Kanyakumari high speed passenger link and Coimbatore-Madurai high speed passenger link — could be implemented through a Special Purpose Vehicle, she said and expected progress on the issue.
Similarly, there was no specific announcement on the integration of MRTS with Chennai Metrorail to enable effective synergy between various modes of public transport in Chennai, Ms. Jayalalithaa pointed out. She requested Chennai routes to be given high priority on the Quadrilateral High Speed Rail network.
While the investment of Rs 8.5-lakh crore over five years was welcome, former Railway Ministers had announced a number of such projects in successive budgets which had raised public expectations considerably, but the work was very slow.
Tamil Nadu had requested the Railway Minister to allocate sufficient funds to expedite the completion of the projects, she said, expressing the hope that investments would be allocated fairly to the State as well.
Ms. Jayalalithaa welcomed measures to improve passenger safety, particularly for women, cleanliness and environmental sustainability. The proposal to purchase cheaper traction power by the Railways should not be at the cost of the health of State power utilities, which were already bearing a heavy burden, she cautioned.
It was disappointing to note that the Railway Minister had not made the much-awaited announcement on new trains. People who were eagerly looking forward to an announcement would feel short-changed, she said.
