Indicating that it was her political opponents who were creating “obstructions” to railway services, Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee said here on Sunday that she was “willing to fight them [her opponents] politically but the railways will have to be protected for the sake of the people.”
Ms. Banerjee came down strongly on those who called bandhs “every other day” and disrupted the running of trains. “Railways are the life-line of the nation and they should be protected,” she said.
She regretted that the Railways had to bear the brunt of “political problems as well as law and order problems.”
“There is a bandh every other day — a Bangla bandh, a Bharat bandh — but why should people suffer? Trains are for the people; they are environment-friendly, ecologically-friendly and passenger-friendly. That is why we seek co-operation from all. Do not get the people to suffer,” she said at a function at Dhakuria station here. She flagged off three trains including a “matribhumi” local – a women's special.
No hike in fares
Ms. Banerjee reiterated that despite the hike in the prices of petroleum products and the additional pressure it had put on the railways the fares were not raised. “Prices of every other thing has gone up but not so the fares in trains…We are concerned about providing relief to the people,” she said.
