Mamata Banerjee to disclose finances of Railways in Parliament - India News and Travel Times Provides India-centric and other News and Features

Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee will present a document in Parliament on Friday, which will give details of the finances of the Indian Railways. The vision document presented by her would sketch out short-term and the long term plans of the Railways that carries around 1.8 million passengers a day. Earlier in June this year while presenting the Railway Budget, Mamata Banerjee had said the Railways required around Rs 1 lakh crore to clear all the imminent projects. Banerjee, while asking for funds from the Central Government had said she was transparent and accountable when the CPI-M members had raised eyebrows at her. With the Rajya Sabha returning the appropriation bill, the supplementary demands for grants allowing Railways to draw an additional Rs 731 crore for the current fiscal got parliamentary approval. The Lok Sabha has already passed these bills. Reacting to complaints about the Railways not having enough coaches, Mamata Banerjee said when she took over as the Railway Minister, she was told that for the extra coaches to come it would take time, even if the orders were placed without any delay. She said the Railways is the cheapest mode of transport and if the traveler wants facilities, he has to pay more, adding that everything cannot be built on the fares received by the Railways. Mamata Banerjee said, the Railways have suffered a loss of Rs 500 crore to its property, over the Telangana issue. The Railway Minister also announced that by January 2010, two trains would run in the northeast, and 45 trains would be introduced as proposed in the budget.