Railway minister Dinesh Trivedi is gearing up to draw a roadmap to restructure the railways with his first railway budget. His focus is on revenue generation, a revamp of the railway board and even a proposal for a fare regulator – to de-politicise his ministry.

 “The revenue model is just missing in the system,” Trivedi said, adding, “We should have a member finance and a member revenue (in the railway board). Ideally there should be more members like member - customer service, passengers and freight in the railway board.”

“Unless and until there is focus on organisational restructure, no delivery will happen. The time has come to change the entire railway system,” he told a Ficci summit on public-private partnership (PPP). He said a roadmap to this effect will be presented in the railway budget.

He strongly supported a regulatory body that would suggest train fares and freight rates. “I always say if I am a parliamentarian, I cannot decide my salary. There has to be somebody else who would tell us what should be the fare and the freight rate,” said Trivedi.

The last time passenger fares were increased was in 2002. Successive railway ministers have ducked the issue, preferring the populist route. This, however, has added to the financial strain of the railways.

“Railway stations have the potential of generating 30 percent of the overall revenue for the railways,” he said, favouring an independent ‘railway stations authority’ to oversee the makeover of railways stations which also include shopping malls, eating places and other amenities for the travelling public.

The railway minister also talked about de-politicising his ministry. “Like we have the foreign policy, defence policy, it doesn’t matter which government or which minister comes. On the same lines, there should have been a national policy for the railways,” said the minister. “Unless we de-politicise it, we can’t modernise the railways.”

He, however, was quick to clarify: “There is no interference at all, I must say. I am talking of policy for 50 years and not for two years or three years. Parliament should decide on it (the fare regulator). There has to be a long-term policy.”

He also said that a restructuring of railways is necessary for maintaining a high GDP growth.

The railway minister also pointed that two committees, one of them headed by Sam Pitroda, were already working on the issue of a complete overhaul and were likely to come out with their reports soon.

PTI reports:

Trivedi pitches for regulator to suggest fare hike

Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi today strongly pitched for a regulatory body that would suggest train fares and freight rates.

Trivedi also advocated "de-politicisation" of the Railways for undertaking modernisation of the national transporter.

"There is lot of room (for a regulatory authority). If you want to de-politicise, you must have some kind of regulator which deals with the fare and freight and quality," Trivedi said at the sidelines of a FICCI conference.

He said "I always say if I am a parliamentarian, I cannot decide my salary. There has to be somebody else who would tell us what should be the fare and the freight rate."

Trivedi, known for his pro-reform agenda said, "Unless and until you de-politicise the Railways I am not sure whether we can modernise it as a long-term policy."

However, he hastened to add that "de-politicise does not mean somebody is interfering. There is no interference at all I must say. I am talking of policy for 50 years and not for two years or three years. Parliament should decide on it (regulator). There has to be a long term policy."

Referring to the Vision 2020 made by his predecessor Mamata Banerjee, he said, "If you cannot implement the Vision 2020 with the change of government then what is the point? So a vision which has been passed by Parliament should be carried forward."

Asked whether regulator should be under Railway Ministry or outside of the purview of the ministry, he said, "We can start somewhere. Ultimately regulatory body must have an authority. If they do not have authority then what is the point?"

"The focus of the organisation structure should be changed. Safety is supreme. There cannot be any compromise on safety. Safety can be ensured when we modernise the system."

Giving the example of Delhi Metro, he said, "Unless railway system is modernised we cannot achieve 100 per cent safety.

About the fare hike, he said, "When the fare increases major share goes for improvement of AC segment. The time has come when we improve the general class segment. I feel there is lot of rooms for improvement in general class."

He said currently the general class is neglected. "We need to get the money and put it more in general classes and there has to be a guaranteed reservation for all the classes.

There should not be any waiting list and everybody should get confirmed seats. Unless I improve condition in general class, I will not be satisfied."