"We will continuously endeavour to improve the Operating Ratio of the Railways. The tariffs of Railways will be fixed, taking the costs, quality of service, social obligations and competition from other forms of transport into consideration," Jaitley said.
A spate of rail accidents in recent times has forced the Central government to put passenger safety up on the priorities. For the first time, the Finance Ministry may announce a special fund of Rs 20,000 crore for rail safety in the general budget to be presented on February 1.
Gross Budgetary Support (GBS) of Rs Rs 40,000 crore was announced in the 2015-16 Rail Budget. However, the Finance Ministry for the current year had slashed it to Rs 28,000 crore, citing slow spending pace.
The Department of Economic Affairs has been entrusted with the work relating to preparation of central budget including rail budget, as per a recent order issued by Cabinet Secretariat.
It has announced cash rewards for best innovative ideas on various aspects, including new design of wagons for efficient loading and transportation of new commodities.
Burdened with an operational loss of Rs 33,000 crore, Railways has decided against announcing new trains and rail lines. Doling out sops in the rail budget has been a major tool to gain political gains particularly in pollbound states.
He said that unless the railways strengthen its performance and internal management system, they will lose out to competition from other sectors like highways and airlines in both passenger and cargo transportation.
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