Piyush Goyal takes charge of railways again, says keen to improve passenger experience

NEW DELHI: Piyush Goyal took charge of the railway ministry on Friday afternoon terming it as a “homecoming”. The Union minister, who had created a record by eliminating unmanned crossings from all broad gauge lines during his first tenure and brought down accident figures to the lowest ever, said the government will try to improve the experience of Indian Railways both in the passenger and freight segments.
“I am happy that there will be continuity in the work that we had begun in the first stint. I hope that we will be able to improve the passenger experience as well as the process of loading of goods,” he told reporters. Goyal added, “I hope we can take the work of railways to newer heights of innovative thinking, of growth both in passenger and freight traffic, newer speed of implementing infrastructure projects, and of customer satisfaction.”
Earlier in the day, Goyal took to social media to share how Thursday was special for him when he took oath as a Cabinet minister for the second time. “30th May 2019, what a day for my family, DAUGHTER and FATHER, both graduate in their respective fields, one graduates from Harvard, one becomes a Cabinet Minister, 2nd time, one in Boston, one in New Delhi ...CAN’T THANK GOD ENOUGH...” he shared in Facebook.
Speaking to reporters at Rail Bhawan, Goyal said there was “continuity with change” as he welcomed his new colleague Angadi Suresh Channabasappa, an MP from Karnataka who has been appointed as the minister of state in the ministry.
Goyal first became railway minister in September 2017.
Sources said that railways is likely to get the full attention of the government in the next five years and one of the major targets is to make the first bullet train corridor operational by 2023.
The BJP in its manifesto promised Rs 100 lakh crore investment into the infrastructure sector and railways will will receive a large chunk of this investment. Some of the major tasks that have been identified are: complete electrification in the next 3-4 years, identifying more bullet train corridors besides the Gujarat-Maharashtra project; redevelopment of more railways stations and improving the financial health of the national transporter.