No question of privatising railways, focus is on affordable service: Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw

Nashik: Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Friday said there is no question of privatising the railways and asserted the national transporter's focus is on providing affordable service to all.

The aim is to ensure people can travel up to 1,000 kilometres in comfort in less than Rs 400, the railway minister said here.

"In the next five years, the railways will undergo a complete makeover. Trains like Vande Bharat, Namo Bharat, deployment of Kavach train protection mechanism will lead this change. This is the era of transformation of railways," he said while addressing the Railway Protection Force Raising Day event here.

"There is no question of privatisation of the railways. I urge those spreading such rumours to remember the railways and defence are two backbones of India and must be spared all kinds of politics. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has ensured the politicisation of the railways has stopped. The focus is on performance, safety, technology and providing affordable service to all," Vaishnaw said.

The railway budget currently stands at Rs 2.5 lakh crore and 31,000 kilometres of new tracks have been laid in the last 10 years, which is more than the network of France, he said.

"We plan to start 3,000 train services in the next six years. During UPA rule, Maharashtra used to get Rs 1,171 crore for railway works. This figure has gone up to Rs 15,940 crore under the Modi government. A sum of Rs 33,000 crore is earmarked for the bullet train segment in the state as well as Rs 12,500 crore for the state leg of the dedicated freight corridor," he said.

A Rs 7,000 crore project is planned to connect Marathwada to port facilities, while nod has been given for the Jalna-Jalgaon and Indore-Mumbai direct connectivity projects, he added.

"In all, total investment in railway projects in Maharashtra stands at Rs 1.64 lakh crore. Under the Amrit Bharat station project, 1,337 stations have been identified, 132 of which are in Maharashtra. Due to a giant telescope coming up at Khoda near Narayangaon, the Pune-Nashik rail line work is facing problems. We are trying to overcome these," the minister said.

The detailed project report of the Nashik-Shirdi South rail line will be ready by next month, while plans to connect Nashik and Dahanu as part of connectivity to the upcoming Vadhvan mega port are underway, he added.

"The demand to design a special coach for transport of onions, soybean, bananas, food grains and grapes from North Maharashtra is there," Vaishnaw said.

Speaking about the RPF, he said Rs 35 crore has been earmarked for upgrading the force's zonal centres, while various demands pertaining to service rules and promotions are under consideration.

Inputs from PTI