Private role mooted in rail projects

HYDERABAD: Union minister of state for railways Bandaru Dattatreya said that priority would be given to public-private participation in completion of pending railway projects.
Similarly, state sharing in railway projects is also being mooted. Talking to reporters at Rail Nilayam after inspecting the premises, Bandaru Dattatreya said that the South Central Railways (SCR) was facing a shortage of funds for the completion of projects.
It requires around Rs 6,400 crore, while they had a budget of only Rs 280 crore. “At this rate, it would take nearly 17 to 18 years to complete the projects,� he said.
Expressing confidence that at least some trains under the Multi-Modal Suburban Commuter Transport System (MMTS) would be launched by November 1, Dattatreya said that the MMTS was taken up under the ‘state-sharing concept,’ in which the state government was investing Rs 35 crore, in addition to the Railways allocation of the same amount (Rs 35 crore).
The minister said that the SCR was facing a problem in land acquisition in Balkampet, Ameerpet, and at James Street in the city.
Spelling out the details of the review meeting held with senior officials of the SCR, including the SCR general manager S M Singla and others, Dattatreya said issues like punctuality, accident rate, and thefts in the SCR zone were discussed.
He said the punctuality rate in the South Central Railways was 97 to 98 per cent. The accident rate came down during the current year as compared to the last two years. Chain-snatching and theft cases in trains had also come down, he said.
The Railways had declared this year as the ‘Passenger Amenities Year,’ and in this context, stress was being laid on providing better sanitation at railway stations and in trains.
Referring to gauge conversion works taken up by the South Central Railways, Dattatreya said that the Nizamabad-Bodhan route would be completed next month.
Similarly, conversion of Katpari-Tirupati line, Renigunta-Gooty, and Renigunta-Gudur, would be completed by March 2003. The conversion work on the strategic route of Vijayawada-Krishna Canal will also be completed by March, he added.