Railway Board chairman hails Centre's plan for Indian Railways in Union Budget 2021

CEO and Chairman of the Indian Railway Board (Ministry of Railways) Suneet Sharma on Monday hailed the Centre’s allocation of Rs 1,10,055 crore to Indian Railways, calling it ‘path-breaking’ and ‘transformational’.

“The budget that has come for the Railways is path-breaking, transformational, and is a future-ready budget. It has emphasized capacity enhancement, focus on technology and deliverance. I believe that with the quantum jump that we have been given in this budget, we will finish expansion projects soon,” Sharma said.

While talking about the interruptions in railway services due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, he said, “We have resumed 65 percent of mail express services. We are trying to completely normalize the services keeping in mind COVID protocol and are discussing the issue with state governments,” Sharma told ANI.

READ | Union Budget: FM Sitharaman Endorses National Rail Plan; Announces Outlay Of Rs 1,10,055cr

FM Announces Plan For Indian Railways in Union Budget 2021

On Monday, while presenting the Union Budget 2021-22 in Parliament, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman endorsed the National Rail Plan for India-2030 and also announced a record outlay of Rs 1,10,055 crore to Indian Railways, of which Rs 1,07,100 crore is for capital expenditure. The Union Finance Minister apprised that the Indian Railways have prepared a National Rail Plan for India - 2030 with an aim to create a 'future-ready' Railway system by 2030. Stating that bringing down the logistics cost for the Railway industry is at the core of 'our strategy' to enable 'Make in India', the Union Finance Minister said, "It is expected that Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) and Eastern DFC will be commissioned by June 2022. I am providing a record sum of Rs 1,10,055 crores, for Railways of which Rs 1,07,100 crores is for capital expenditure."     

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Highlighting that the Union Budget also puts emphasis on passenger convenience and safety, Sitharaman said that for an enhanced travel experience, the Railways will introduce an aesthetically-designed Vista Dome LHB coach on tourist routes. The FM also informed that an indigenously developed automatic train system will be provided to high-density network and highly utilized network routes of Indian railways to eliminate the occurrence of train collision due to human error.   

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(With ANI Inputs)