Railway Budget: Off the tracks and how

It would be safe to say that there were two rail budgets this year. One that was pragmatic, planned and done with the future in mind. Then there was another, which in one swipe ensured that status quo would be maintained.

The first raised passenger fares for the first time in 10 years. Not the kind that would make train travel prohibitively expensive, but 2 paise per kilometre at the lowest level to 30 paise per kilometre at the highest level. The hike was so nominal that even the poorest passenger would not have felt the pinch. More critically, if the previous rail minister was to be believed — and there is no reason not to — most of the Rs7,200 crore (which, with one wave of Mamata Banerjee’s magic wand, has become Rs300 crore) was essential to improve the safety of our archaic railway network.

The second budget virtually wiped out all the revenue that the first had hoped to generate. What sticks out is the categories in which passenger fares have been rolled back. Fares will now go up only for second class AC and first class, not even in the third class AC category, which is preferred by upper middle-class passengers.

Moreover, in a classic instance of throwing the baby out with the bathwater, as punishment for defying the party boss, all other important proposals of the earlier minister, including those related to safety, have been undone.

So, the next time your heart breaks when a horrific rail accident occurs, or even when you feel like complaining about the food on the trains, remember, all these are because the government that you elected did not have the spine to stand up to a maverick regional ally.