Hike in train fares
Posted on: 18/Jun/2014 11:38:10 AM
The Railway Ministry is considering proposing a hike in passenger fares in the Rail Budget 2014-15. The UPA government had left passenger fares unchanged in the interim railway budget in February ahead of the general elections, presenting a vote-on-account leaving the difficult job of managing the national transporter`s weak finances to the next government. The announcement is likely to be made by railway minister DV Sadananda Gowda in his maiden budget speech next month.
Among the proposals in the pipeline include a 14.5% hike in passenger fares and a 6.5% increase in freight rates besides setting up of a new corpus to undertake passenger safety related works.
A final decision would be taken this week after the railway minister’s meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi it was announced by Gowda on Monday following a pre-budgetary meeting with finance minister Arun Jaitley wherein the railway minister sought an enhanced central financial assistance to the railways by way of gross budgetary support (GBS).
