Describing the railway budget presented Thursday as part of a "trilogy of documents" that together set out a vision for the network's future, Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu told parliament that the transporter would have to undergo a transformation over the next five years.Apart the Railway Budget 2015-16 document, the trilogy consists of a White Paper and a Vision 2030 document that is to be unveiled later, Prabhu said. The Indian Railways will undergo a paradigm change, inducting faster trains, modern stations and skilled staff, according to the White Paper tabled by the railway minister just before the budget.
"The next five years should change the face of Indian Railways. Faster trains, modern trains, swanky stations and skilled staff should be the railways of tomorrow," the White Paper said. It said that in the face of resource constraints and stressed finances, an ambitious five-year plan has been drawn up. "Its network is congested and finances are not easy to come by. Resources for development and replacement are stressed. It is finding it difficult to even meet its operational expenses. To make an attempt at resurrecting itself, Indian Railways has drawn up an ambitious five-year action plan," the White Paper said.
"The realization is there that if the vicious cycle of under-investment is to be turned into a virtuous cycle of prosperity; crutches of support will have to be abandoned. Indian Railways will have to generate its own resources for its development," it added. It has also highlighted certain areas that need urgent attention, such as cleanliness, punctuality, safety, terminal quality, capacity of trains, food quality and ease of booking tickets. The White Paper also said that by 2020, Indian Railways will undertake measures to ensure delivering safe and punctual services, increasing average speed by 50 percent and increasing loading to 1.5 billion tonnes from the current one billion tonnes. The Vision 2030 document to be released later in the year comprises a blueprint of long-term investments in the railways.
Later, responding to a question from the media on the increase in freight rates from April 1, Prabhu said the railways are severely constrained by lack of capacity in handling additional goods traffic.