Mumbaikars looked at the Railway budget with high hopes. Prabhu has come out with user friendly budget and it is welcomed by all the strata of society. There is no hike in passenger fares. Railway budget seeks to fulfil the long-felt desires of the common man such as reserved accommodation on trains available on demand, time tabled freight trains, high end technology to improve safety record, elimination of all unmanned level crossings, improved punctuality, higher average speed of freight trains, semi high speed trains running along the golden quadrilateral, zero direct discharge of human waste by the year 2020. In order to make travelling more comfortable, the Indian Railways proposes to give more facilities to the passengers. 65,000 additional berths will be provided in the trains and 2500 water vending machines will be installed. The railways have developed world’s first Bio-Vacuum toilet and 17,000 Bio-toilets will be provided in the trains. Ensuring safety of railway passengers is the need of the hour and we wish to have a theft free travel when we board an Indian Railway train.
S. Abhishek Ramaswamy
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
