Reaction to the Rail Budget
Bihar CM Nitish Kumar called it disappointing. He accused the UPA II government of “lacking courage” and resorting to “cleverness” by increasing fares in the month of January itself and not announcing any hike in the Budget presented in Parliament on Tuesday.“On the one hand the government is claiming it did not raise fare but on the other hand other charges of tatkal and cancellation etc have been increased which will adversely hit the passengers,” he said.
“No new train has been given to Bihar despite the fact that it has maximum number of train travellers in the country. Besides, fund for past projects like rail bridge over Ganga at Patna and Munger has also not been allocated,” he said.
Taking a potshot at the current railway minister for announcing search of new technology to stop collision of trains, Kumar sought to know why anti-collision devices developed by the Konkan Railways, which he had introduced during his time in NF Railways and which yielded good results, was stopped.
Kumar also criticised the announcement of new projects without making proper arrangements for gathering funds and taking other clearances. “The NDA government had stopped this practise (announcing projects without required clearances) but its been resumed again now, which is unfortunate,” he added.
Bihar has not much share in the Union Railway Budget 2013 compared to other states despite being the largest Revenue Generating State for Indian Railways. Here are the highlights of what Budget had in for Bihar.
New Trains for Bihar
- Katihar – Howrah Express (Weekly) Via Malda Town
- Kolkata – Sitamarhi Express (Weekly) Via Jhajha, Barauni, Darbhanga
- Patna – Sasaram Intercity Express (Daily) Via Ara
- Patliputra (Patna) – Bangalore Express (Weekly) Via Chheoki
- Rajendra Nagar Terminus (Patna)- New Tinsukia Express (Weekly) Via Katihar, Guwahati