A high-level safety-review committee of Indian Railways has recommended an increase in the passenger fares on an urgent basis and strongly advised against the introduction of any new trains.  For Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi, the recommendations concern two most-awaited features of the Railway Budget, which he is preparing to present on March 14 — fares and new trains.

“There is an urgent need to increase ridiculously low fares to at least recover the basic operation and maintenance costs...,” the report prepared by the committee headed by Anil Kakodkar, former chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, said. “Present financial position... is precarious and the most critical investment needed for the safety... of the railways systems has been badly neglected.” The report was presented on Friday.  After reviewing all safety aspects, the committee concluded that in the absence of fare-revision, the funds for safety-related investments have been thinning to the level of being unsustainable.

At the same time, the panel did not mince any words in calling the annual ritual of introducing new trains “ad-hoc, arbitrary and populist”. As reported in the media, the committee “strongly recommended stopping such practice of introduction of new trains without commensurate inputs to the infrastructure”.

It says: “This has strained the infrastructure way beyond its limit and all the safety margins have been eaten up.”  Trivedi, who has been vocal about the need to infuse funds into Railways with the government’s help, said the recommendations were “good” and would be studied carefully. “We are happy that it has taken such a critical look at railway safety. We have not decided on any recommendations yet,” he said. The Kakodkar committee also suggested a roadmap to infuse Rs 1 lakh crore in five years from a variety of sources.

Railways will go Air India way; funds must:  Funds crunch would push Indian Railways the Air India way if not saved with funds immediately, Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi said on Friday. “If Air India can get Rs 19,000 crore as bailout, why give only Rs 20,000 crore to Railways, which is much bigger and more important for the nation?” he said.