Prime Minister Modi’s Bullet Train fails to run in this budget also: Rahul Gandhi

Team Udayavani, Feb 1, 2017, 2:12 PM IST

New Delhi:  “The union government hasn’t mentioned anything about bullet train which was proposed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his last Loka Sabha election campaign. The union government didn’t provide any importance to the safety of the Indian Railway, said AICC Vice President Rahul Gandhi criticising the budget speech delivered for the year 2017-18 by the Union Fiance Minister Arun Jaitely in Loka Sabha on Wednesday. For the first time in the history of India, the government presented its financial estimation for Indian Railways as part of the Union Budget.  

Union Finance Minister has said in his budget speech that, all trains will have bio toilets in the country in an attempt to ensure cleanliness. In addition to this, the government is also planing to install solar panels at railway stations in the country to get clean energy for its functioning. The union government will also commission 3, 500 km long railway track, said finance minister.

The government has also decided not to impose any service charge on online railway ticket booking to promote cashless translation and to support the people to go digital in the country.

The government is also plans to set up a railway safety fund named ‘Railway Sanraksha Kosh,’ –  with a collection of Rs 1 lakh crore over a period of five years. This announcement of the Railway Safety Fund came in the wake of increased train accidents reported last year.  

Meanwhile, the total capital expenditure of railways for 2017-18 year is estimated at Rs 1.31 lakh crore, which includes Rs 55,000 crore provided by the government for in Budget 2017, according to the budget speech by Arun Jaitely. 

“At least 25 stations in the country are to be awarded for station redevelopment and 500 stations will be made disabled friendly by providing lifts and elevators,” finance minister said in his budget speech.