New Delhi: Indian Railways lost 789.51 bln rupees from 2015-16 (Apr-Mar) to 2017-18 on account of offering passenger services below cost of operations, Railways Minister Piyush Goyal said in a written response to Lok Sabha.
The railways recorded losses of 222.62 bln rupees in 2015-16, 255.61 bln rupees in 2016-17, and 311.28 bln rupees in 2017-18.
The railways make up for the losses incurred in the passenger services segment through cross-subsidisation of revenues generated from the freight segment.
Tariffs under the flexi fare scheme, which increase by 10% with every 10% increase in berth occupancy, have been reduced to 1.4 times from 1.5 times earlier, Goyal's statement said.
The scheme has already been discontinued fully from 15 trains such as Rajdhani Express, Shatabdi Express, and Duronto Express, and partially from 32 trains during the pre-defined lean period - February, March and August.
Goyal, in another reply, stated that various measures had been taken to modernise railway infrastructure that involve upgradation and maintenance of tracks, installing modern signal systems, and electrifying rail routes.
The ministry has also undertaken development of locomotives with speed potential of 200 km per hour and aerodynamic cab as well modern Linke Hofmann Busch coaches.
Real Time Information System to provide real-time information of trains at stations and on running status is also being implemented, the statement said.
The ministry is working on 100% electrification of entire the entire railway route, the statement added.
