New Delhi: The upcoming Rail Budget may give a miss to the announcement of new trains one more time, in line with the penchant of Union minister Suresh Prabhu to focus on financials and transformative ideas for the railways.
“Even while no new trains were announced in last year’s Rail Budget, scores of trains have been flagged off during the course of the year. And that is what the railways will stick to again in the upcoming Rail Budget. The announcement of new trains leads to dilution and distraction from the main thrust of the Rail Budget,” sources said.
Incidentally, the Railway Board is flooded with requests from MPs for new trains to connect their constituencies.
The cash-strapped railways does not want to miss the opportunity to earn additional revenue and is taking recourse to introducing premium trains with additional features in which passenger fares are kept roughly 15% higher than normal trains.
