Indian Railways Thread

Katare · Post by **Katare** » 24 Jun 2009 01:43

Instead of higher peak speed for select route, IR should focus on increasing average speed on all major routes which would help large section of passengers and railway as well. The way to do that is to spend money on modernizing signal system and creating additional bypass tracks. But than it's not as glorious as starting several dozens new trains each year on railway budget day, is it?

Anyone who has travelled long distance on IR would know how many useless stops and delays are faced by trains mainly due to antiquated signaling and communication system, which requires very large safety margins but still is an accident prone system.

With Didi on the helm with the real chance to displace left’s rule in WB on anti industrialization slogan, railway is Rambharose for next 5 years

vera_k · Post by **vera_k** » 24 Jun 2009 10:31

Katare wrote:With Didi on the helm with the real chance to displace left’s rule in WB on anti industrialization slogan, railway is Rambharose for next 5 years

Is there any proposal to privatise railways?

Sachin · Post by **Sachin** » 24 Jun 2009 15:29

vera_k wrote:Is there any proposal to privatise railways?

And hope they don't privatise railways and take it to what Railways in UK are now. Lots of companies, and the only motive being profit.

Dileep · Post by **Dileep** » 24 Jun 2009 15:35

Indian railways should not be privatized. Only certain passenger services could be.

milindc · Post by **milindc** » 24 Jun 2009 16:12

Now, imprisonment for those crossing rly tracks

The police booked Prakash Jayantilal Pathak (42) under Section 147 of the Railway Act 1989 (trespass and refusal to desist from trespass). The accused was sentenced to seven days’ simple imprisonment.

In another case, the court sentenced Raju Babu Gediya (35) to three days’ simple imprisonment and slapped a fine of Rs 100 on him. According to the Indian Railways Act, 1989, if any person enters upon or into any part of a railway without lawful authority, or having lawfully entered upon or into such part misuses such property or refuses to leave, he shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend upto six months, or with fine which may extend upto Rs 1,000, or with both. This is the first time that offenders have been given a prison term ahead of a fine as punishment.

Definitely step in right direction...

vera_k · Post by **vera_k** » 25 Jun 2009 10:33

Well, the railways will be in decline as substitution kicks in due to improving roads and civil aviation in another 20 years at the outside. Better to sell off when the government can get a decent amount of money for it. Plus it will free them from the shackles of disinterested politicians.

krishnan · Post by **krishnan** » 25 Jun 2009 10:34

Railways will never decline, it will not especially in india.

Sachin · Post by **Sachin** » 25 Jun 2009 11:04

krishnan wrote:Railways will never decline, it will not especially in india.

Could not have said it better. One thing India with its current population - every one will not be in a position to own a car or catch an air-plane and fly around. These would still be a possibility for only the middle class and the rich. Encouraging every one two own a four wheeler (like the US style) is only going to cause chaos on the Indian roads. We cannot just increase the size of highways to accomodate every one. So with these conditions the only option is good affordable public transport system. And Indian Railways is the better among the lot. We need to improve the railway services, but privatisation or selling it out is not the correct thing IMHO. Railways is and will be a mode of travel for lakhs of people in India.

krishnan · Post by **krishnan** » 25 Jun 2009 11:07

When i got married , and came back we were a group of around 20 people who came with us to attend the reception here, grand parents and all. Just imagine what would have we end up paying if we had taken the air route.

amardeep_s · Post by **amardeep_s** » 25 Jun 2009 12:35

Very true Indians are very indisciplined.. put up as many signs as you want, but they'll cross the 200 km/hr tracks.

need I say more ? this is a famous clip : evil :

People in desh are only worried about stepping on all kind of $hit and not trains while crossing tracks

Now, imprisonment for those crossing rly tracks....Definitely step in right direction.

indians crossing tracks indisciplined , evil, jaahil onlee and do not have sense to use overbridge ?
and in mumbai ( vasai road station ), imprisonment for those crossing tracks ???

how many have travelled with family, adn luggage on trains ofetn?
railway foot overbridge engineering is marvelous in itself. the entrance is from the one side but the bridge is at the other side. so you carry the stuff and walk, climb the bridge to go the other side and walk more steps to reach your bogey. that makes it walking hundreds of metres on a leisurely crowded platform. what a pleasure

none of you observing poor sense in indians see that there are poeple who cannot climb bridges due to various factors? escalators and all cannot work in our conditions. one suggestion in the thred of ramps is perfect as per me.

as for the persons imprisoned in mumbai , it is poor implementation of law. the station was vasai road junction, where one platform ( pf no 1 ) is disconnected from the rest. no bridge goes there. so even the grp have to cross the track. the person who got one week

must have definitely argued with palm greasing grp. here is the photo from google.

http://images.google.co.in/imgres?imgur ... N%26um%3D1

the railways is the lifeline of the country. and the lifeline is in poor shape. heard that mamata is implementing ten rupee puri-bhai on all major stations. and how will the contractor provide 7 puris and bhaji for ten rupees onlee??

this is logical culmination of what laloo did. ruin railway- pimp( privatise) it.

krishnan · Post by **krishnan** » 25 Jun 2009 12:45

So would privatizing railways put more common sense in people?

Sachin · Post by **Sachin** » 25 Jun 2009 12:49

amardeep_s wrote:as for the persons imprisoned in mumbai , it is poor implementation of law. the station was vasai road junction, where one platform ( pf no 1 ) is disconnected from the rest. no bridge goes there. so even the grp have to cross the track. the person who got one week must have definitely argued with palm greasing grp. here is the photo from google.

As per the reports which I read.
1. The chap who was caught was right under the over-bridge.
2. He was arrested, but let out on a bail of Rs.1000/- and he had to appear in the court.
3. The court heard his case, and put him behind bars for a week (the maximum is 6 months). I am sure if the chap was caught in a platform which does not have any over-bridge to reach it, he could have explained his position to the Railway Court Magistrate.

krishnan wrote:So would privatizing railways put more common sense in people?

Exactly. And do you think any private firm will show any interest in re-modelling the railway stations? They would do only a thing which would give them immideate cost benefits. I personally had lots of gripes against how BSNL (or its earlier avatar DoT) behaved. But today when I see the tactics used by various private service providers, some times I feel BSNL was better.

I feel Railways is privatising in many non-core areas. In some stations, sanity and cleaning work is outsourced, caterers are out sourced, people who provide blankets etc. in trains have also been contracted.

krishnan · Post by **krishnan** » 25 Jun 2009 13:11

Just privatize customer service areas, and let them just run the trains, they can even give the railway station to some pvt company on a public-private participation. One thing i hate about Chennai central is the way information is displayed. They have like 4 screens with redundant info being displayed.

saumitra_j · Post by **saumitra_j** » 25 Jun 2009 13:20

as for the persons imprisoned in mumbai , it is poor implementation of law. the station was vasai road junction, where one platform ( pf no 1 ) is disconnected from the rest. no bridge goes there. so even the grp have to cross the track. the person who got one week must have definitely argued with palm greasing grp. here is the photo from google.

Hi Amardeep,
I go to Vasai Road every now and then and I can assure you that PF1 has an over bridge that connects it to other platforms - I use it everytime!

This bloke would have been caught in the act unfortunately when the the RPF/GRP were possibly asked to complete their "quarterly quota" of collecting official fines

Too bad for the guy but it will serve him a lesson and also to those who know him - in Mumbai people do all sorts of things like jump from one train to another, jay walk on tracks, sit on rooftops and so forth - having done my life time quota of local train travel in super dense hours for 15 years, I Can assure you that all the above activities are completely unnecessary and tremendously dangerous!
On the other hand, one of the most stupid things IR has done in Mumbai is to get rid of card tickets - they "print" every ticket using dot matrix printers and queues have only become much longer....

amardeep_s · Post by **amardeep_s** » 25 Jun 2009 13:45

saumitra_j thanks. i was not aware

does the bridge go from pf no 1 towards the ST depot..

sachin, you are right. there is one fob and he was caught there.

another report..

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Citi ... 694299.cms

Dileep · Post by **Dileep** » 25 Jun 2009 15:10

Privatization works at the threat of monetary losses, be it by competition, or by rules enforcement. Where these two are favourable, you can privatize.

For example, you can give the operation of the Alleppey-Chennai Exp and TVC-Chennai Mail to TWO DIFFERENT operators. They will run it nice, because they know that the pax will choose one over the other. But you can't privatize the TVC-Bengaluru Exp. The operator knows there is no choice for the pax.

Vipul · Post by **Vipul** » 26 Jun 2009 06:41

Well Mumbaikar's better start using those bridges, as Railway authorities have started cracking down on track crossers by having them jailed for a week(just paying fines wont get you off the hook).
The first batch of offenders got released from jail this week after their time in the slammer.

krishnan · Post by **krishnan** » 26 Jun 2009 11:11

I dont think selective privatization of routes will work. It will create problems only

Sachin · Post by **Sachin** » 26 Jun 2009 12:50

Dileep wrote:For example, you can give the operation of the Alleppey-Chennai Exp and TVC-Chennai Mail to TWO DIFFERENT operators. They will run it nice, because they know that the pax will choose one over the other.

But what different things can Chennai-Alleppey provider and TVC-Chennai Mail offer better? They still have to operate on the existing infrastructure. They also cannot decide on a time table/schedule for their own, as that would cause problems in the operations of other trains. Their speed etc. would also be dependent upon the existing signalling infrastructure. The only differentiating factor would be then stuff like food and general amenities.

Dileep · Post by **Dileep** » 26 Jun 2009 15:02

That is what I meant Sachin. The services. The KingFisher (ALP/MAS) express will have PYT "RailHostess" in SRS*, while the CGH (TVC/MAS) express will have kaLLu and karimeen pollichathu served. Tough to choose no?

*SRS: Skimpy Red Skirt

Sachin · Post by **Sachin** » 26 Jun 2009 15:22

Dileep wrote:That is what I meant Sachin. The services. The KingFisher (ALP/MAS) express will have PYT "RailHostess" in SRS*, while the CGH (TVC/MAS) express will have kaLLu and karimeen pollichathu served. Tough to choose no?

That being the case, Railways should now give the contract for two competing vendors. Now I guess, the highest bidder gets the contract and others sulk and go away. W.r.t your example, guess I should go by the CGH (TVC/MAS) express

.

PS: It was a pleasent surprize that GNER (London X Cross to Edinburgh) in UK, serves alchohol inside the trains. Just like chai-wallah in our trains, the vendors move around with a trolley selling hot licker. But with the our version of drunkards, law and order would become a problem if this is tried out in IR.

Dileep · Post by **Dileep** » 27 Jun 2009 12:07

In 1990, we did Bangalore-Vasco trip as part of the study tour. After the overnight run we reached Londa, and aguy comes in with boiled eggs. My friends bought them (I wondered why) and collected the disposable coffee glasses (I wondered why). Eventually we reached Castle Rock, and began to cross the heavenly beautiful ghats. The train stops at every section, blows the whistle to get the signal. I saw guys carrying duffel bags board the train. They produced bottles of fenny and other spirits from the bags.

The eggs, bottles of pickles and snacks etc came out, glasses got filled, and we 'arrived in goa'.

Sachin · Post by **Sachin** » 29 Jun 2009 11:12

Dileep wrote:In 1990, we did Bangalore-Vasco trip as part of the study tour. After the overnight run we reached Londa, and aguy comes in with boiled eggs. My friends bought them (I wondered why) and collected the disposable coffee glasses (I wondered why).

Brings back memories. During 1990s we had an NCC trekking camp in Goa, and had taken the same route. From Kerala by the legendary Bangalore-Kanyakumari "Island" Express. Then after a day freaking out in Bangalore (Majestic area), going by the Bangalore-Dharmavaram Fast Passenger. And a late night change over at Dharmavaram to the then "metre gauge" Dharmavaram-Vasco Fast Passenger. Londa, Gadag and Castle Rock stations seems to be the major ones which we crossed. Steam engines were still active in Gadag, do not know if they are still running. A halt right in front of the "Dudh Sagar" water falls. And the return trip, every one had atleast two "opened" bottles of Fenny. The police did come for a cursory check, but we being in uniform were not checked up much

.

They produced bottles of fenny and other spirits from the bags.

. Mallus seems to be the most liquor-crazy individuals. During the days before the arrival of SHQs, most of my friends boarded a train with some thing referred to as "ready mix" (soda/cola + your favourite liquor). In between ERN and PGT at OTP there is a bar right next to the station platform. Latest rumours I hear is that the bar now keeps people in the platform for supply of liquor to the passengers.

While all this is illegal in India, it was a pleasent surprize to find this legal sales of liquor in a train in UK.

The train stops at every section, blows the whistle to get the signal

If I am not mistaken at every Home Signal in the ghat section had a board - "Drivers to draw close signal xxA, whistle for calling on signal"

.

Dileep · Post by **Dileep** » 29 Jun 2009 15:25

That is right. Every home signal had that sign. Not only home, but there are block limits in the jungle, with a cabin. There too, the train stopped and whistled for signal.

The very reason for the craze is the fact that it is illegal. Same goes with the 'other' trades also.

Jamal K. Malik · Post by **Jamal K. Malik** » 29 Jun 2009 22:52

Indian Railways post double-digit growth in revenue earnings
http://www.business-standard.com/india/ ... s/65983/on
Double digit growth for 10 days only

Gaurav_S · Post by **Gaurav_S** » 03 Jul 2009 18:23

No fare, freight hike, Mamata unveils slew of goodies

New Delhi, July 03: True to her promise of presenting a ‘pro-poor’ budget, Railways Minister Mamata Banerjee announced a slew of passengers friendly amenities while avoiding a fare hike and freight rate hike.

Among the major highlights of the budget, are the construction of 50 world class stations, better food for passengers, environment friendly toilets, ticketing facilities from post offices, and non stop trains.

Sprinkling her speech with quotes and smattering of hindi, emphasised 'social viability' as against 'economic viability' for the Railway budget.

“The Railways is a mission and vision,” she said.

Passenger amenities

Press correspondents to be given 50% discount along with spouse

Student concession: High Madrassa and Senior Madrassa students to be included in discount scheme

Rs 25 per month ticket without surcharge for unorganized sector employees under ‘Izzat’ scheme for people with salary upto 1500

National sportspersons to be preferred at in recruitment

E-ticketing to be enhanced, simplified

Unreserved ticketing terminals to be expanded from 5000 to 8000

Automatic ticket vending machines to be increased

Computerised issuance of tickets from 5000 post offices

SMS updates to indicate berth and confirmation status

Railways to develop cold storages for farmers to store vegetables and fruits

Tests on environment friendly, green toilets

Mobile ticketing vans for purchase in local markets: 50 such vans to be introduced

Vacuum toilets in trains

Railway hospitals to be upgraded

Ambulance services for passenger in metro cities to start

Online infotainment services in major long distance trains including Rajdhani and Shatabdi trains

PRS is now in 800 locations with more than 600 terminals, will cover 200 locations more

All MPs can now identify one PRS location of their choice in their constituencies

Automated ticketing vendors in 200 large stations

AC double decker coaches for intercity travel

ADGM of each zone will be responsible for supervision

At least one doctor in long distance trains

Punctuality, safety, good food, water and toilet facilities. Also emphasis on cleanliness.

To launch ‘janata khana’ with regional cuisines

Some of the stations that would be upgraded to world class standards are:

CST Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Howrah, Sealdah, New Delhi, Bhubnaeashwar, Varanasi, Guwahati, Chennai, Trivandrum Central, Tirupati, Ahmedabad, Bhopal, Agra, Mathura, Chandigharh, New Jalpalguri, Mangalore, Cochin and Puri

ashish raval · Post by **ashish raval** » 03 Jul 2009 19:19

Gaurav_S wrote: Some of the stations that would be upgraded to world class standards are:

CST Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Howrah, Sealdah, New Delhi, Bhubnaeashwar, Varanasi, Guwahati, Chennai, Trivandrum Central, Tirupati, Ahmedabad, Bhopal, Agra, Mathura, Chandigharh, New Jalpalguri, Mangalore, Cochin and Puri

Notice the number of stations from West Bengal : 3 blatant favouratism. Making WB stations world class which gives 1/4th revenue than that of stations in Gujarat is absolutely bo*ke*s. The only thing I like is Izzat scheme which helps poor travel around cheaply. Very nice step.

harbans · Post by **harbans** » 03 Jul 2009 21:04

I don't know how right i am, but Mamata is a sort of a bad coalition partner for the Congress. Just like they induced Laloo to the Raliwa ministry and he neglected Bihar and lost out..how much of a ploy is getting Mamta to head Railways a ploy to shunt her from regular party work in WB. Laloos stint in railways eroded his base in Bihar. So will Mamtas..and the vacuum will be replaced with Congress in the future. Is that the thinking that went into the Congress inner circles before giving Mamta the Railway portfolio? Personally i doubt she'll do anything good there really. Also personally i sort of never doubted that Laloo would improve passenger comforts. Something i don't think Mamta has either the vision, conviction or flair it takes to take Railways to the next level.

Student concession: High Madrassa and Senior Madrassa students to be included in discount scheme

WTF is that for??! !!!

Akshut · Post by **Akshut** » 03 Jul 2009 21:10

Did you guys hear it?

Railway Budget of West Bengal was presented today, by Railway Minister of WB, Mamata Banerrjee.

Apparently this state budget was a National News!

suryag · Post by **suryag** » 03 Jul 2009 22:18

Was there any mention of funds for upgradation of signalling systems. On a side not have any of you seen yellow boards adjacent to a track which says W/L cee/faa what does it mean ?

Jamal K. Malik · Post by **Jamal K. Malik** » 03 Jul 2009 22:27

Karunanidhi welcomes Railway Budget
Low-cost 'Yuva Trains' for major cities
Railways plans to invest Rs 40,745 cr this fiscal
'No increase in passenger fare & freight tariff'

Bade · Post by **Bade** » 03 Jul 2009 22:44

Vacuum toilets in trains

This is a measure of progress

whatever that means. Hope it also comes with water jets from a flexible hose than a lota operated press down water taps of yore.

RayC · Post by **RayC** » 03 Jul 2009 23:33

I am not too sure of the water jets.

A person with an upset stomach can leave one's prints around!

As it is, the toilets are most horrid.

Gaurav_S · Post by **Gaurav_S** » 04 Jul 2009 05:47

Unfortunately no announcement for high speed railway system from didi. Which means we are still preparing some kind of reports on its feasibility. Which only means more delays and increase in costs of the project.

Rahul Mehta · Post by **Rahul Mehta** » 04 Jul 2009 08:33

SBajwa The biggest hurdles are
1. Land acquisition (not enough money given to people and subsequent lawsuits).
2. Encroachment of the government land.
3. Lawsuits by Environmental nazis like "Railways is cutting the trees"

So the bottom line is that the solution has to be sort of Delhi Metro to use the current land by going up instead of going wide.

ashish raval : I dont know why other countries dont face this problems !! They too have same democratic issues to deal with except China where people are just lease owners. Environmental nazis can be taken care of by planting 5 times more trees than which is cut down. Least GoI can do is to carry out a definite feasibility study with a will to implement a project on a trial basis and if it is successful it can be replicated elsewhere. Delhi Metro is good example but extending these to more suburban areas will reduce housing/traffic problems in the capital.

In Western countries, courts dont supporter disrupters much. So land acquisition does not face long stay orders, encroachment of Govt land is near zero and lawsuits by Environmentalists dont go on forever.

In India, judges support these disrupters. And land acquisition takes years and years, the encroachment is rampant and stay orders in the name of enviorment go on and on. Fixing thos problem will help Railways and for growth of Railways, fixing this problem is MUST.

----

Re : Railway Magistrate imprisoning a person for week for crossing over the tracks.

Not related with railways. Will reply elsewhere on this joker Magistrate.

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 04 Jul 2009 10:29

ashish raval wrote:
Gaurav_S wrote: Some of the stations that would be upgraded to world class standards are:

CST Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Howrah, Sealdah, New Delhi, Bhubnaeashwar, Varanasi, Guwahati, Chennai, Trivandrum Central, Tirupati, Ahmedabad, Bhopal, Agra, Mathura, Chandigharh, New Jalpalguri, Mangalore, Cochin and Puri

Notice the number of stations from West Bengal : 3 blatant favouratism. Making WB stations world class which gives 1/4th revenue than that of stations in Gujarat is absolutely bo*ke*s. The only thing I like is Izzat scheme which helps poor travel around cheaply. Very nice step.

you think howrah, sealdah and NJP generate 1/4th revenue of stations in gujarat ?

AFAIK only ahmedabad and surat are the big league rail stations in Guj. also, do note that this is an incomplete list. anyone has the complete list ?

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/railwaybudget.cms
first the good moves :
>> 12 NON-STOP fully AC trains between the metros.

>> ladies special in delhi kolkata and chennai sub-urban lines

>> Ms Banerjee also announced 57 new trains, extended 27 and increased the frequency of 13. Former railways minister Lalu Prasad had revolutionised the purchase of train tickets by making them available online. Following his cue to increase the spread, Ms Banerjee will ensure that computerised tickets are available at 5,000 post offices and 50 Mushkil Aasaan mobile ticketing vans. These vans will issue tickets, both reserved and unreserved, in “market places, mohallas and other busy places”.

>>taken a leaf from the rival service book: airlines, passengers on Rajdhanis, Shatabdis and other long-distance inter-city trains will be get a dose entertainment with via direct-to-home TV service. “We are targeting luxury trains like Shatabdis, and this technology can be extended to the first-class coaches of most other trains,” said Salil Kapoor, COO at Dish TV.

The much-criticised food service of the railways will also revamped with national and regional cuisine on offer as Janta Khana. The railway station will get a facelift with widely-available drinking water, clean toilets, catering services, waiting rooms and dormitories. The railway proposes to convert 375 stations as adarsh stations this year.

>> "Ms Banerjee has given a fresh impetus to a plan she had announced in her earlier stint as railway minister in 2001-02—laying of optic fibre along railway tracks.Technocrat Sam Pitroda will advise Indian Railways on innovations to utilise the optic fibre cable network, which has the potential of taking information technology to rural areas, thereby contributing to the enterprise’s revenues. "

>> "She said that during this year, 50 such railway stations would be developed in places of pilgrimage, industry and tourist interest.

"The responsibility for development of Multi-functional Complexes would be entrusted to IRCON and Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA)," she added.
The 49 identified stations to be developed as MFCs are: Alipurduar, Allahabad, Anandpur Sahib, Banspani, Bikaner, Bilaspur, Cuttack, Darjeeling, Dehradun, Digha, Durg, Ernakulum, Gandhidham, Ganga Sagar, Ghatsila, Gwalior, Hajur Sahib, Hubli, Hyderabad, Indore, Jabalpur, Jammu Tawi, Jasidih, Jhansi, Jodhpur, Kanyakumari, Kathgodam, Katra, Khajuraho, Madurai, Manmad, Mysore, Nanded, Nasik, Palakkad, Parasnath, Raebareily, Raipur, Rajgir, Rameshwaram, Ranchi, Shirdi, Silchar, Tarapith, Tiruchirapalli, Udaipur, Ujjain, Vadodara and Visakhapatnam. "

>> 18000 new wagons as against 11,000 last year.

>> trains to have on-board doctors, starting as a pilot project on shatabdis and rajdhanis.

>>select stations to have ambulance service

>>A diamond freight corridor connecting the metros, the delhi mumbai part was started by lalu

>> to set-up a land bank of 43,000 hectares from unused rail land to be developed by pvt public partnership (PPP)
etc etc

now the bad part :

The railway ministry estimates its cash surplus (earnings net of operating expenses & pension) after dividend of Rs 5,479 crore to the Centre will be Rs 8,722 crore, 31% lower than the Rs 12,683 crore (actuals) in 2008-09.
That means the organisation’s dependence on budgetary support and market borrowings heightens as the cash surplus, the amount available for capitalisation (transfer to the development fund and capital fund), is down to Rs 2,642 crore from Rs 6,356 crore in the revised estimates for 2008-09.

and in other news :

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Mam ... 736226.cms
Mamata picks holes in Lalu's 5-yr joyride

Earlier in the day, Ms Banerjee, while presenting the rail budget for the year 2009-10, had made a determined bid to pick holes in her predecessor’s report-card. With the RJD strongman in attendance, she not only announced that she’d undertake a review on the “unrealistic targets’’ set in the interim budget, which was authored by Mr Prasad, but also told the Lok Sabha that the ministry would come out with a white paper on the “organisational, operational and financial status based on the last five years’ performance.’’

The railway minister’s remarks were seen as a direct attack on her predecessor’s stint in the Rail Bhawan during the Manmohan Singh government’s first term. Mr Prasad has not only claimed credit for reversing the fortunes of the ministry, but also leaving behind a glorious legacy. By promising the white paper, Ms Banerjee has now sought to put a question-mark over the RJD leader’s claims.

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 04 Jul 2009 10:30

Gaurav_S wrote:Unfortunately no announcement for high speed railway system from didi. Which means we are still preparing some kind of reports on its feasibility. Which only means more delays and increase in costs of the project.

none for improvement in signaling system as well.

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 04 Jul 2009 10:31

Akshut wrote:Did you guys hear it?

Railway Budget of West Bengal was presented today, by Railway Minister of WB, Mamata Banerrjee.

Apparently this state budget was a National News!

welcome to Yindia ! where were you all these days ?
is this the first rail budget you've followed ?

RayC · Post by **RayC** » 04 Jul 2009 11:46

The Railway Budget has always been a State Budget.

That is the sad commentary, but that is the reality and realpolitik.

I wonder if Ms Bannerjee could be so brazen about a White Paper, unless she had the nod from the highest quarter to nail Mr Lallu Pershad and put him in his place.

vera_k · Post by **vera_k** » 04 Jul 2009 13:23

Just noticed that about 60% of the readers of the Economic Times feel Lalu did a better job than Mamta.