Railway earns commendable profit:Lalu

Saharsa, Oct 4 (UNI) Railway Minister Lalu Prasad today ruled out any move to privatise the railways and said it earned profit of over Rs 20,000 crores during his tenure of two-and-a-half-years.

Inaugurating the fully airconditioned 'Garib Rath' between Saharsa to Mansi, Mr Prasad said here that the previous union government was all set to privatise railways but in the given situation ''I have achieved the huge profit which has put any move of its privatisation on the back burner''.

Mr Prasad said he had taken the railways on the developmental track as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh too had said that the nations progress directly depends on development of railways.

He announced to ply another 'Garib Rath' from Patna to Delhi followed by subsequent such trains between Delhi and Chennai and to Mumbai. Outlining the benefits of such raths he said apart from providing comfortable journey at an affordable price to the poor, such trains would help earn profits. The employees associated with introducing the concept of 'Garib Rath' would also be honoured.

He also assured to attach containers with freezers from all railway stations for transportation of perishable goods like fruits and vegetables. The farmers would get benefit of such facilities, he added.

The union minister announced to complete construction of the Kosi rail mega bridge over river Kosi by the end of 2009. He announced to take up survey for a new railway line between Saharsa to Kuseswarsthan while such survey for some of the new tracks had been completed and at some places it would be finished by 2009.

Mr Prasad announced to introduce new Purnia express from December betweeen Saharsa and Delhi. Construction of the much awaited road-cum-rail bridge in Patna would be complete by 2009, he said and added outlined several measures have been taken up to ensure safety and security of the passengers.

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