Funds may be a roadblock in fulfilling the dreams that the railway ministry has. There are 32,000 level-crossings in the country, 15,000 of which are unmanned.
Safety is our primary concern, even if it is at the cost of developmental works, said Union minister of state for railways KH Muniyappa at a press conference, after the budget of Dinesh Trivedi that cost him his job.
Funds may be a roadblock in fulfilling the dreams that the railway ministry has. There are 32,000 level-crossings in the country, 15,000 of which are unmanned.
“The ministry’s dreams of making all the level-crossings unmanned will cost at least Rs50,000 crore. We do not have that kind of funds,” said senior officials in the railways.
Further, the minister is enthused about the high-speed rail network, which has been planned across six sectors in the country, one of which is along the Bangalore–Chennai corridor.
“HSRL will drastically reduce the time of travel. It will give you connections to the heart of the city and this they will do at a price much lesser than flight charges,” he said.
Muniyappa also announced plans to promote the use of renewable energy in railways. The plan was made in the budget and the Railways is in the process of identifying locations that will be suitable for harnessing renewable energy.
Considering that the Railways has tried harnessing renewable energy at places such as Saklespura and Subramniapuram, they are identifying other possible locations where it can be done. Possible locations fall along land Chithradurga, Hubli to Belgaum and so on. In places where there is no electricity, the railway also plans to use solar energy to light up the stations.
Muniyappa said more than one lakh vacancies in the Railways would be filled in the coming year.
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