NEW DELHI, March 22 (agencies): Newly appointed railway minister Mukul Roy announced a rollback in some of the rail fares that were announced last week in the Rail Budget.<\/p>\n
Mukul Roy told Parliament that fares for first and second class passengers in air-conditioned carriages would still go up, but there would be no increase for other classes of travel more commonly used by the poor.<\/p>\n
“The proposal to increase (fares) will impact the common man,” Roy said. “I intend to give relief by not increasing fares in any of these classes.”<\/p>\n
The proposed increase in passenger fares, the first in eight years, was aimed at shoring up the finances of a rail network whose dysfunction has become a major drag on the economy.<\/p>\n
The objection to the increase, led by UPA ally Trinamool Congress, underscored the inability of Manmohan Singh`s government to take unpopular steps and its vulnerability in the face of querulous coalition allies.<\/p>\n
Saying it was important to run railways economically and safely, Roy announced there would be no increase in passenger fares.<\/p>\n
Mukul Roy also said he intends to launch an aggressive drive to mop up resources for the railways. Unmanned level crossing to be removed, he said.<\/p>\n
Former railway minister Dinesh Trivedi, who had announced an increase in passenger fares across all classes in the Rail Budget on March 14, faced a lot of flak from Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee and was forced to resign over the issue a few days later.<\/p>\n\n
Read more \/ Original news source: http:\/\/kanglaonline.com\/2012\/03\/mukul-roy-announces-rollback-in-rail-fare-hike\/<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"