Key Points
The Coromandel Express accident at Bahanaga Bazar railway station of the South Eastern Railway in Balasore district of Odisha calls into question the objective of Indian Railwaysto run fast and safe trains at affordable cost..
The railway authorities give undue importance to punctuality at the cost of safety. The Centre announced a National Rail Plan that promised dedicated freight corridors and express lines but the current Economic Survey does not mention it..
To clear the arrears in renewal of assets, the government created a national rail safety fund, the Rashtriya Rail Sanraksha Kosh (RRSK), and it was planned to allot Rs.1 lakh crore in five years for safety alone, spending Rs.20,000 crore a year..
The Railways was to invest Rs.5,000 crore from its resources, essentially net revenue and its Depreciation Reserve Fund (DRF), while the balance Rs.15,000 crore would come from the Centres General Budget Support (GBS), which included the Railways share of the diesel cess..
Then the Centre announced a National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP) to invest Rs.13.69 lakh crore until 2023 in the Railways..
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