Rail Budget 2014: The turbulent 5 years of Indian Railways

The UPA 2 will present its interim Railway Budget on Wednesday, with a change in fares unlikely. It is the last Rail Budget for the UPA 2 before the Lok Sabha elections and the past five years have been a turbulent phase. The question is whether things are on track.

This will be the last budget of the most turbulent phase of the Indian Railways. The two parties that ruled the railways in the past five years blame it on each other.

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"Pawan Bansal was accused of bribery, Mallikarjun Kharge is of no use, both spoiled the railways," said Trinamool Congress MP Saugata Roy. But Congress MP Oscar Fernandes has said that Railways is on the right track. "Railways is on track as development is taking place," Fernandes said.

In the past five years, the Rail Bhawan saw six new ministers. For the first time in 17 years, the portfolio went to the Congress. Pawan Bansal did end 10 years of populism by announcing a hike in passenger fare, but soon exited on charges of corruption.

The episode shook the Railways raising questions over the system, which most saw as opaque. Experts say the Railway Board is equally responsible for derailing the Railways.

"What stops them from expanding the dedicated freight corridor, there are no new ideas, old systems are more than 90 years old," said former Railways member Sumant Chak.

As the ministry prepares for the last budget of UPA-II, sources have told CNN-IBN that it will be a cosmetic budget but with growth orientation.

Over 20 premium trains could be announced. The Railways are likely to take up about 1500 km route for electrification in the next fiscal. Currently, only about 24,000 km is electrified out of the total 65,000 km route. With increase in fire on trains, announcements are expected for new safety mechanisms and expansion of passenger reservation system for ticket booking.

In 2009, the then railway minister Lalu Prasad, had announced a 2 per cent passenger fare cut. But given the current dismal financial scenario, all eyes will be on Railway Minister Mallikarjun Kharge to see if he will announce any such populist measure.