The Hindu Business Line : Mamata leaves passenger fares, freight rates untouched

Unlike earlier Rail Budgets that contained hidden cost increases or conditions-apply discounts, Ms Banerjee has unambiguously spared both passengers as well as corporates from any fare and freight charge hikes.

What is more, the tatkal scheme of charging commuters extra for short-notice bookings has been streamlined by linking it to the actual distance travelled. Thus, a passenger commuting from Delhi to Bhopal by Tamil Nadu Express will be charged the tatkal fare only from Delhi to Bhopal and not for the entire Delhi-Chennai route.

Further, the period of advance booking under tatkal has been reduced from five days to two days, so as to make it a genuinely short-notice ticketing service. The minimum tatkal charge has also been lowered from Rs 150 to Rs 100. The move is unlikely to affect the Indian Railways’ (IR) revenues much.

“We earned Rs 665 crore through tatkal charges in 2008-09. But the average utilisation under this scheme was hardly 12.5 per cent (of the tatkal seats available). By reducing the charges, we hope to make it more attractive to users,” said Mr Shri Prakash, Member (Traffic), IR.

Ms Banerjee’s decision to leave the fare structure unchanged comes even as the Railways is battling the twin challenge of sluggish revenues along with the hefty staff cost liabilities arising from the Sixth Pay Commission award.

With the Pay Commission entailing an extra outgo of Rs 13,600 crore in 2008-09 and another Rs 14,600 crore this fiscal, the IR’s cash surplus before dividend for 2009-10 is expected at Rs 14,201.27 crore — compared with Rs 25,006.19 crore in 2007-08. Another indicator of the deterioration in its financial position is the operating ratio — working expenses as a proportion of gross earnings — which is budgeted at 92.5 per cent, against the 75.9 per cent of 2007-08.

On the revenue front, the Railways was able to achieve a freight loading of only 833 million tonnes in 2008-09, against the originally budgeted 850 mt. The impact of the downturn has meant that Ms Banerjee has set a target of 882 mt for 2009-10, which is way below the 910 mt that her predecessor, Mr Lalu Prasad, had envisaged in the Interim Budget presented less than five months ago.

Pressure on internal resource generation and also tepid response to projects under the public private partnership (PPP) umbrella have prompted the Railway Minister to rely more on borrowings and exchequer support to finance a Rs 40,475-crore investment plan for 2009-10. While the Plan size is Rs 4,139 crore higher than last year, more than 60 per cent of it is funded through Budget support and borrowings.

Over 30 per cent of the Plan investment this fiscal would go for acquisition of rolling stock, with wagon purchases alone going up from 11,000 to 18,000 units. Ms Banerjee also proposes to spend Rs 1,102 crore in improving passenger amenities. These include, among others, developing 375 ‘Adarsh stations’ that will have all basic facilities from drinking water and catering services to waiting rooms and dormitories.

More Stories on : Railway Budget | Railway Budget

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
‘Low’ may lack sting, but monsoon largely in tact

Salaried need tax breather

Budget guess swings between aam aadmi and growth

8 banks face NPAs of Rs 1,300 cr on PSU arm’s scrap woes

RNRL moves apex court to make Reliance execute order

Railways ropes in Pitroda to head cable network panel

Mamata-Lalu battle livens up presentation

Is Mamata plan more realistic than Lalu’s?

Mamata leaves passenger fares, freight rates untouched

NBFCs lower auto loan rates in race with public sector banks

Analysts see Friday’s populism on Monday too

Monsoon, rail budget give stocks a boost

SBI’s consolidation proposal hits union hurdle

IRFC allowed to float tax-free bonds for Rs 5,000 cr