Govt hikes railway fares by 14.2 pc, freight charges increased by 6.5

[arnabmit]

Re: Govt hikes railway fares by 14.2 pc, freight charges increased by

https://www.facebook.com/ArunJaitley/posts/247158712139351

The Truth of Railway Fare Hike

The Indian Railways for the last few years have been running at a loss. The only way that Railways can survive is when users pay for the facilities that they avail. The passenger services have been subsidized by the freight traffic. In recent years even freight fares have come under pressure.

On 5th February,2014 when the UPA was in power, it was the Railway Board which proposed a 5% increase in the freight rates and a 10% increase in the passenger fares. The proposal was to rationalize the freight rates with effect from 1st April,2014 and the passenger fares with effect from 1st May,2014. Even as the Interim Budget of the Railways was yet to come, the date 1st May,2014 was chosen hoping that the General Elections would be over by that day. The Railways had proposed that this increase would give the Railways an additional revenue of Rs.7900 crores. Armed with this decision, the then Railway Minister Shri Mallikarjuna Kharge met the then Prime Minister Shri Manmohan Singh on 11th February,2014. The then Prime Minister approved the hike and suggested that both freight and passenger fare should be implemented with effect from 1st May,2014 itself.

The Railway Board accordingly notified this increase on 16th May,2014 when the Election results were being declared. This decision gave effect to what the Railway Board, the Rail Minister and the then Prime Minister had concurred. The Railway Minister developed cold feet and in the evening of 16th May,2014, even after the UPA had been defeated in the Elections, he countermanded the order of the Railway Board so that theoretically the decision taken by him and the then Prime Minister is implemented by the Railway Minister of the NDA Government.

By withdrawing the countermanding order, the present Railway Minister, D.S. Sadananda Gowda has taken a challenging decision. The choice before Shri Gowda was whether to allow the Railways to bleed and eventually walk into a debt trap by following the policy of the UPA Government or implement the decision which the UPA Government had taken to increase the fares for both passenger and freight but did not have the courage to implement . A loss making railway will provide below-par services. It will eventually not even have the resources to pay its' bill. India must decide whether it wants a world class Railway or a ramshackled one. The Railway minister has taken a difficult but a correct decision.

Maybe the economist and financial gurus on DFI can comment on this and the effect it will have on the Indian economy and will it benefit the Indian public in the long run?

Will this increase inflation?

What will be the effect on this if FDI in Railways commences?

 

[Peter]

Re: Govt hikes railway fares by 14.2 pc, freight charges increased by

I am not an economist and I have a very poor knowledge on railways,however I do support this move by Modi govt.

This is a very bold move by him. The railways was making a lot of annual losses and was nearly on its way to privatization. This hike would prevent that. I can find only one problem with this move. This hike which is actually for the welfare of the country may be seen as detrimental and outrageous by the common ignorant people of India. While we, the "hoi oligoi" or so called educated middle class may see this as a good move, the "hoi polloi" or the poor commuter may see it as an evil one. The Congress is already portraying this move as as "anti people move". While Modiji now has the majority,this issue of fare hike may be inconsequential. However this hike might be brought up during the next elections by Congress and hurt the BJP govt.

 

[JBH22]

Re: Govt hikes railway fares by 14.2 pc, freight charges increased by

Saw this on Facebook would be unfair not to share with you guys

 

[rock127]

Re: Govt hikes railway fares by 14.2 pc, freight charges increased by

Ok saw the Railway Price Hike in few channels including TimesNow.

The fact is that the hike was pending since Feb and ComCon wanted to increase it but was scared for backslash due to elections.

So it was a ploy not to increase so the BJP is blamed since they knew NJP was gonna win elections.

TimesNow reporter had all the facts handy but Sanjay Jhalla kept in denial mode and all his LIES and kept moving his hand in a stupid manner.He kept blaming BJP and ridiculing "acche din" but the fact is that price hike was coming just that BJP had to implement it and ComCon deflected it.So not taking responsibility is another name of ComCon.

Now ComCon is doing dharna pardarshan and showinng fake sympathy for common man.

UPA destroyed economy for 10 years and now how can we expect economy to get well in 1 month???

 

[VIP]

Re: Govt hikes railway fares by 14.2 pc, freight charges increased by

This is one of the few decisions of UPA government I support. Good Job....

 

[VIP]

Re: Govt hikes railway fares by 14.2 pc, freight charges increased by

1 thing will surely increase, ticket less travelling. Like modi said, bitter decisions have to be taken for the good in long run. But this is going to hurt a lot of people in Mumbai.

I do support this decision but we want better services, the level of incompetence shown in railways is of gigantic proportions, which is why the situation is more worse than actually it should be.

Railways must start being competent from Mumbai only. Ahmedabad-Mumbai corridor only may be generating 1/3rd of the revenue of Railways. If Mumbai gets the best, nobody will hate Modi for taking this decision.

 

[rock127]

Re: Govt hikes railway fares by 14.2 pc, freight charges increased by

this is one of the few decisions of upa government i support. Good job....

upa??
........

 

[Ray]

Re: Govt hikes railway fares by 14.2 pc, freight charges increased by

This is one of the few decisions of UPA government I support. Good Job....

UPA proposed it and then backed out because the elections were looming.

Or are you meaning that you support S Jha's contentions?

Not understood.

 

[VIP]

Re: Govt hikes railway fares by 14.2 pc, freight charges increased by

upa??
........

UPA proposed it and then backed out because the elections were looming.

Or are you meaning that you support S Jha's contentions?

Not understood.

It was the decision of UPA but as usual Congress being Congress, it's tough decision and Congress doesn't have that courage to declare such decisions and it got election as a tool to blame everything on BJP if it would not alter the hike. So yes declared by the BJP but carved by congis.

 

[Ray]

Hike in rail fares was a move towards rational pricing, now follow up

Hike in rail fares was a move towards rational pricing, now follow up with policies to revive the economy

When the UPA government hiked rail fares ahead of the Union railway budget in 2012, the move elicited strong protest from Prime Minister Narendra Modi who was then in opposition. Now Modi`s NDA government has acted in exactly the same fashion, moreover it's cited UPA's precedent in doing so. But politics aside, the government's decision last week to increase both passenger fares and freight rates was painful but correct given the parlous state of railway finances. It should be accompanied by efforts to improve railway services in tangible ways while also cutting unnecessary costs.

Modi has indicated his government's approach to deal with economic challenges would be through a dose of tough love. Rail fare increase was the first instalment of it, but it shouldn't be the last. India's economy needs to move towards rational and transparent pricing of everything, be it rail tickets or natural resources. The prevailing system of a messy chain of subsidised pricing extracts hidden costs, which show up in the form of shortages, inflation and a slow pace of job creation.

For a decade railway ministers have been reluctant to increase passenger fares as it is perceived to burden people. But the entire cost of running any commercial operation has to be borne by society. If users of a service do not pay its full price, someone else must be made to pay for it. Costs are transferred in stealthy manner and lead to a chain of hidden subsidies that harm the economy.

For example, rail passengers have been subsidised out of profits arising from freight. This pushes up freight costs and therefore costs of goods as well as of doing business, hurting job creation. Costs of carting coal go up, leading to higher electricity bills (unless they are subsidised, starting up a further merry-go-round of shortages and other negative economic effects). Instead of looking for subsidies railway minister Sadanand Gowda should look to cut costs of overall railway operations by enhancing efficiency. Allowing fiscal deficit to slip out of control between 2008 and 2012 was partly responsible for high inflation. Finance minister Arun Jaitley may not control the monsoon, but he has a decisive role to play in rational pricing of diesel, cooking gas and kerosene. He must usher in reforms here to fight persistence of high inflation.

Hike in rail fares was a move towards rational pricing, now follow up with policies to revive the economy - The Times of India
**********************************************************************

Muskil Din before 'Acche Din'?

Justified? If so, why? If so, how can the economy be NOT revamped without hardship?

Not justified, if so why? If so, how can the economy be revamped without hardship?

 

[Ray]

Re: Govt hikes railway fares by 14.2 pc, freight charges increased by

7 facts about the railway fare hike that you must know


Here are the seven facts about the 'historic' rail fare hike that you must know:

1) As railway minister, Pawan Bansal had to bit the bullet and raised fares by 5-10% after a decade in June 2013. Reservation and supplementary charges for superfast trains were also hiked by 5.8%.

2) The next hike of fares took place in October 2013. It was initiated by Bansal's successor, Mallikarjun Kharge. Fares went up by 2% and freight tariff increased by 1.7%. A few days later, the cost of food on Rajdhani, Shatabdi and Duronto express trains was raised by Rs 25-27.

3) Danish Trivedi, Pawan Bansal's predecessor in the railways ministry, had hiked fares in February. However, the increased fares had to be rolled back following opposition within his party, Trinammol Congress. In fact, Trivedi also resigned from his post following the controversy.

4) Rail fares were reduced twice during the UPA's two-time tenure at the Centre. The first time was when Lalu Prasad was minister (UPA-I) and the second time was when Mamata Banerjee was railway minister.

5) The biggest reason that has been cited by railways for increasing fares in massive shortage of funds. Railways has been losing Rs 30 crore every day after the UPA government withdrew the fare hike announced on May 16, the day Lok Sabha election results were declared.

6) Passenger subsidy alone had been adding up to Rs 26,000 crore.

7) It seems like a wary UPA had left fares unchanged in the interim rail budget in February.

7 facts about the railway fare hike that you must know - The Times of India

 

[Ray]

Re: Govt hikes railway fares by 14.2 pc, freight charges increased by

Shiv Sena: Let this be final rail fare hike

Reluctantly accepting the steep hike in railway fares and freight rates, the Shiv Sena on Monday urged the government this should be "the final increase".

In a sharp editorial in the party mouthpiece Saamana flaying the sudden hike, the party has pointed out that its ally Bharatiya Janata Party has armed the opposition with a weapon.

The steep hike of 14.2 percent in passenger fares has particularly hit the Mumbaikars hard as they will have to shell out more than double for monthly and quarterly season tickets.

The government has said the hike was intended to provide safety, security and comfort to the passengers, but the people and opposition parties are not convinced, the edit said.

"Compared to the railway systems in developed countries in Europe, Russia, the US, ours resembles a khatara gaadi. Our railway stations, railway tracks, signals etc. are in a horrible state. Crowds have increased but new routes have barely been introduced and whatever the British had built, we continue to overload it," the edit said.

It alleged that in the past 15-20 years, all the Railway Ministers simply looted it. The Congress's P.K. Bansal's relative was caught red-handed accepting a bribe, and huge rail works tenders are awarded only for commissions.

"This is the reason accidents keep taking place. People are dying but in every railway budget, the rulers show new dreams to the people. People want all facilities and for this they are ready to shell out money — not for the development of the politicians only... People who feel run over by the latest hike will demand the account now," the edit added.

The Shiv Sena said that if the same hike had been taken up by the Congress, the opposition would have bombarded it with criticisms and abuses.

Now, the same (opposition) is running the government with full majority and they should introspect on it (the abuses it hurled at the Congress in the past) and should dedicatedly work towards improving the railways.

"In the meantime, the people have condemned the hikes and hope that this will be the final... The people's expectations must be fulfilled," the edit said.
Shiv Sena: Let this be final rail fare hike - The Hindu

 

[abhi_the _gr8_maratha]

Re: Govt hikes railway fares by 14.2 pc, freight charges increased by

the present condition of railway economy should be blamed for lalu and mamata...... No price hike of passenger from 12 years! Basically there is huge hike in cost of coal and electricity and as well as the salaries of railway department workers, so this hike is no wonder but a good move

 

[anoop_mig25]

Re: Govt hikes railway fares by 14.2 pc, freight charges increased by

Where is BJP social media team.they must explain why hike was necessary .

An attempt is beging made from news tarder which are defaming Modi gov specially in mumbai where local train travellers are pissied by 150% increase in fair

Modi must himself communicate this to travelers that why it is necessary for hike

Or they would loose very early

 

[Ray]

Re: Govt hikes railway fares by 14.2 pc, freight charges increased by

I think Modi, who is said to be a great communicator, is also a past master and timing and location.

He will surely have his say after the Budget, where he will either put greater burdens or show a way out to the Acche Din concept.

One can't predict this man.

I am sure he is politically savvy that you can't lose the elections in Maharastra and elsewhere.

After all, he is a political animal.