Why does the Rail Budget never keep its promises

Amid speculation of a hike in passenger fares and a plan to encourage the private sector to participate in the Railways’s future growth, Union Railway Minister and Trinamool Congress leader Dinesh Trivedi will present his maiden Rail Budget for 2012-13 in the Lok Sabha today.

Rail passengers and investors will be anxiously awaiting the Budget as expectations are running high on Trivedi’s big-ticket changes, one of which is a possible (and badly-needed) increase in passenger fares. Reports say the Budget could announce a safety cess, but will not call it a fare hike.The emphasis this time will be on modernisation, infrastructural overhaul and dedicated freight corridors. There is also a possibility of another surcharge, called the Union government development surcharge.

But as Trivedi gets ready to present his maiden budget, most of the measures announced by his party boss, Mamata Banerjee, in last year’s budget remain unfulfilled and just on paper.

Here’s a look back at some of those grand promises:

• First off, almost every Railway Budget announces new trains and extends the frequency of some existing ones. Last year was no different. TheRail Budget announced the introduction of 132 trains, the extension of 33 trains and increased in the frequency of 22 existing ones. Until February, however, only 115 new trains were introduced and 24 were extended. Also, the frequency of only 19 trains was increased.

• Of the 14 new trains that Banerjee announced for Rajastan, eight are yet to see the light of the day. These include the Jaipur-Delhi double-decker train, the Jaipur-Agra Shatabdi and Ajmer-Nizamuddhin express trains.

• The much-hyped AC Duronto Express between Secunderabad and Vishakapatnam, meant to operate thrice a week, has also not materialised.

• It was announced that the Ludhiana-Delhi Shatabdi would run on a regular basis. However, the service is available to Ludhianvis only three times a week. Moreover, the upkeep of Shatabdi trains remains poor and the quality of food is even worse.

• A wagon workshop, which was to come up in Kazipet in Andhra Pradesh, remains only on paper only due to the non-availability of land. In Kerala, the wagon factory at Cherthala, sanctioned in the 2007-08 Railway Budget, has also not been built.

• The Thiruvananthapuram-Chennai Duranto Express also remained a nonstarter, along with the ‘MEMU’ service announced between Ernakulam and Kollam. In Maharashtra, the Railways failed to introduce a new train, the Rajya Rani Express, between Manmad and Kurla Terminus.

• A rail factory that opened at Rae Bareli, Uttar Pradesh, remains in the nascent stages.

• Last year, Banerjee also proposed to create three thermal power plants- one each at Adra in West Bengal, Tharkuli in Maharashtra and Nabhinagar in Bihar. So far, only the Bihar plant has progressed to an advanced stage; very little work has been done on the other two plants.

• In 2007, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved setting up of an electric locomotive manufacturing unit at Madhepura and a diesel locomotive unit at Marhowra in the same state. These contracts have still not been awarded.

• Another unfulfilled promise is the much talked about rail-coach manufacturing unit at Palakkad in Kerala. The Cabinet had approved setting up this unit in February 2012. To be set up at a cost of Rs 550 crore (excluding the cost of land) the unit was expected to manufacture 400 coaches each year. There’s been no headway here either.

• Ditto for ‘world-class’ stations. Last year, Mamata has said 584 ‘world-class- stations would be created. Work has not even started on one station so far.

• The much talked-about ‘Go India’ smart-card ticket project, which was set to make pan-India travelling much easier, has yet to see the light of day.

• And finally, there was also a promise from Didi to provide trolleys to shuttle luggage around. The trolleys were meant to compensate a shortage of porters. But to date, not a single trolley has been provided at any railway station.