The Indian Railways needs massive investments to remain sustainable or it risks meeting the same fate as beleaguered American rail utility Amtrak, Union Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu said.
“There is a need for investment in railways. In China, the investment in railways is about Rs. 9 to 10 lakh crore whereas here it is Rs. 40,000 crore a year…as a result, rail traffic is going to the other sectors. So, we have decided to enhance investment into the rail sector and it will go up in the coming years,” Mr. Prabhu said after inaugurating the Late Comrade Umraomal Purohit Memorial Research Centre here. The centre will conduct research related to trade union movement in India and abroad.
Indian Railways may suffer a similar fate as the U.S. railroad service Amtrak, which suffered due to lack of timely investment, he said, citing a research report.
Learning from Amtrak“We should learn from Amtrak. They did not invest in it so its future is doomed. According to a research report, Indian Railways was also suffering because of lack of investments on the lines of what happened to Amtrak. There is a need for investment in railways,” Mr. Prabhu said.
The Railways market share in freight has eroded over the years. The share of railways in the total transportation of freight traffic has declined from 89 per cent in 1950-51 to 36 per cent in 2007-08.
In his second Budget this year, Mr. Prabhu announced increasing investments by 21 per cent to Rs 1.21 lakh crore in 2016-17. The Railways intends to spend Rs 8.5 lakh crore over the next four years.
