What people expect for Railways in budget

The Railways Budget always assumed great significance. Last year, the government decided to end the 92-year-old practice of holding a separate Railways Budget speech,however, it still attracts maximum attention..

Here are a few major expectations for Railways in the Union Budget 2018:

• As the year 2017 has witnessed many train accidents, safety is of prime concern. The major expectation would be of better precautionary measures, improved infrastructure.
• As the Indian Railways is planning to use GPS-based navigation systems to reduce delays and accidents caused by fog, allocations in these areas can further bolster the railway network.
• Railway Minister Piyush Goel has stated that he is looking at innovative means of revenue generation to reduce dependence on Union Budget.
• Since a lot of people still depend on Railways for travelling, comfort is a necessary aspect for the people.
• Cleanliness with safe food are the two necessities that need to be improved to ensure better travel experience. For this, installations of bio-toilets and upgraded seats should be prioritised in many trains.
• Cost of tickets is typically a major factor that is looked into when allocating funds. With the 2019 general elections approaching, the government is likely to ease up on reservation fees.

In the last Union Budget, Jaitley had pegged the Indian Railways’ capital expenditure for 2017-18 at Rs 1.31 lakh crore, the highest ever in the history of the national transporter. It also alocated Rs 55,000 crore from the finance ministry as gross budgetary support.