It’s not fair to raise fares before improving services, says Prabhu

In a first of sorts, after presenting his maiden Railway Budget, the Minister decided to face both the captains of India’s industry and the masses on the same day.

Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu participated in a ‘Talkathon’, organised by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry which broadcast it live on YouTube. In the Talkathon, moderated by this reporter, Prabhu answered questions sent by the public, including people like Chetan Bhagat, through Twitter.

To a question sent by one Habiba on how he will generate revenues for the Railways without a fare hike, Prabhu said he would be most happy if there were more people wanting a hike.

“We have prepared a plan (for fare). Resources on account of not hiking fare are not an issue. There is a fall in diesel prices. We also haven’t made a significant improvement in passenger services. So, it would not be fair to increase fares before I do all of this. I am sure in the coming times there will be more people who would come and ask me to increase the fares,” he said.

To a question by Vishwa Mohan, a journalist, on whether it will be possible to source the entire power requirement of the Railways from solar energy, and if so, by when, Prabhu said: “We are trying to use more solar energy for the Railways. We are trying to use all our footprints like stations and next to tracks to put up solar panels. There is also a possibility to generate solar thermal energy, which needs to be looked at. I am confident that Indian Railways could positively contribute for generating solar energy from its own resources.”

Bhagat asked how the Minister can strike a balance between commercial and social objectives and what is the status on bullet trains. In his reply, Prabhu said: “We are doing a feasibility study on bullet trains between Mumbai and Ahmedabad. The report will be ready this year and action will be taken after that. Alongside, there is also a feasibility study being undertaken to connect other cities.”

The Minister went on to talk about ‘Train Sets’, which can be a bullet train for the poor. “This will start operating on existing tracks and immediately. We will start this in the next two years,” he added.

“The Railways is a monopoly so we have to fulfil our social obligation. We have to take the Railways to the North East, Jammu Kashmir and Naxalite areas. It is a unique organisation which blends social, commercial, political needs. This is why we do cross subsidisation. We need to reduce cross subsidisation. We will achieve this trade off,” the Minister said on how he manages to balance social objectives.

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