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Mumbai suburban trains have incurred a loss of ₹3,394 crore in three years ending 2014-15 due to highly subsidised fare structure, Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu said today.
Expressing concern over the excess load in Mumbai suburban railway section, he said the Centre is holding discussions with the Maharastra government for construction of an elevated corridor to decongest the traffic.
Other local trains
“Mumbai suburban railways and other local trains in Chennai and Kolkata are incurring losses. The reason is highly subsidised fare structure,” Prabhu said during the Question Hour in the Rajya Sabha.
Despite running to their full capacity, the Minister said, Mumbai local trains are incurring losses due to subsidised rates as commuters are given subsidised monthly, quarterly and yearly tickets which are more subsidised than the second-class ordinary fares.
The other reason is that the rail earnings are not keeping pace with the increase in expenditure every year, Prabhu added.
Elevated corridor
Replying to another query on decongesting the traffic in local trains, the Minister said, “For Mumbai, suburban railway is a lifeline. Maintenance and strengthening local trains is our priority. The present capacity is not sufficient to carry the load. Very soon, we are going to set up an elevated corridor.”
The matter is being discussed with the State government, he said while suggesting that there can be “dual pricing system” when elevated corridor becomes functional.
Intra-State railways is the responsibility of the State government. However, the Centre has been taking the responsibility for historical reasons, he added.
Rly enquiry
Replying to another supplementary on assistance to rail passengers, the Minister said the government has started a new campaign to answer passengers’ queries.
“However, it is a mammoth challenge to address all queries as 27-28 lakh people travel every day. We are tying our best,” he said, adding that the government is thinking of a single website for all railway-related queries.
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