Flexi fare system to be reviewed: Goyal -Governance Now

Flexi fare system to be reviewed: Goyal

Railways should go green and use renewable energy to bring down pollution, says minister

GN Bureau | September 28, 2017

#unmanned crossing #safety #Piyush Goyal #Railways #flexi fare

Railway minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday said the safety issue is of paramount importance and more measures are being taken to ensure safer operations.

He laid emphasis on making the railways more reliable for passengers.

While addressing the media on Thursday, Goyal said the traffic department is reviewing the time table of the railways to give adequate time to maintenance blocks to ensure repair and maintenance of the tracks are done properly.

“Field inspections, regular monitoring of tracks and maintenance blocks have to be given priority and the railways is working on this direction,” he said.

In what could be seen as a respite to people, Goyal hinted that flexi fare system would be reviewed to reduce the passengers’ problem.

Railways has been drawing criticism ever since it introduced dynamic or flexi fare system on premium trains which levies extra charges on AC first, two and three tier tickets similar to a mechanism adopted by air carriers.

The minister, however, dodged questions on Yashwant Sinha who attacked the government for its failure to improve the economy. Goyal cut short a scribe who asked a question on the economy.

Goyal claimed the vacancies in the safety department and other categories are being filled by the board.

He also said all unmanned level crossings (ULCs) in the country would be eliminated within a year.

The railways is having a tough time because of lack of coordination among many departments, leading to rise in accidents. Goyal said, “The railways needs an integrated approach and working in silos should be stopped.”

He said the railways would give a thrust to electrification and billions of rupees would be saved by reducing dependence on conventional fuel.

The speed of 48 mail and express trains would be increased and the services would be made superfast from November 1.

Comments

Other News

“Indians, yet treated like outsiders”

Moving to Delhi-NCR for education can be an exciting experience for students from Northeast India. It gives us a chance to meet new people, experience a different culture and become more independent. But living away from home also comes with challenges that people who have not experienced them may not al

Import duty on major edible oils cut

The government has reduced the Basic Customs Duty (BCD) on major imported crude edible oils with a view to moderating domestic edible oil prices, providing relief to consumers and mitigating inflationary pressures arising from the sharp increase in international edible oil prices.

From pyramid to platform: BRICS agenda for Global South

In his opening address at the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi on September 12, prime minister Narendra Modi did something India`s diplomacy has been building towards for three years: he moved the ‘Voice of the Global South’ from a slogan to a work plan. Addressing the leaders, he argued that t

How to realise the full transformative potential of PM-JAY

The Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY), a welfare scheme which covers approximately 45 crore beneficiaries across India, provides cashless health cover of Rs. 5 lakh per family per year. It is the largest health insurance scheme which helped crores of poor families by reducing out-of-pocket expend

The missing men in India`s family planning story

Every pregnancy requires two people. Yet India`s family planning programme continues to ask only one of them to bear almost all of its medical consequences. The newly released National Family Health Survey-6 (2023-24) confirms just how entrenched this asymmetry remains: 36.5% of currently married women a

`Development must be judged beyond GDP, with rights and justice at core`

Delivering the IXth Chief Justice M.C. Chagla Memorial Lecture on ‘Human Rights and Sustainable Development Goals’, in Mumbai Friday, former Chief Justice of India Bhushan R. Gavai questioned whether conventional economic indicators such as gross domestic product (GDP), national income,