'Railway profit-magic was a trailor, a film to follow'

Aurangabad (Maharashtra), Jan 6: Assuring the common man that therewill not be hike in passenger fares, Railway Minister Lalu Prasad todayhinted for greater expansion and development in the goods trains andsetting up of outlets for the farmers to take the Railways to yetanother height of profiteering in the coming year.

Addressing a gathering as part of the Silver Jubilee celebrationsof leading Marathi newspaper, Daily Lokmat here, Mr Prasad said, ''Ifconverting Railways into a profit making venture was magic, then it wasjust a trailor of the film. Wait and watch to see the full film soon,''he said.

He was never in favour of increasing the passenger fares, theminister said assuring that he will stick to his stand and find ourother avenues to generate profits.

Plans are afoot to set up outlets at prominent railway stationsfor farmers to sell their produce. It will be helpful for them to sellperishable goods, he added.

The Railway Minister said cleanlines will be given highestimortance and the passengers would be offered all kinds of amenities asthe railway stations would be upgraded to meet the world standards.

Mr Prasad, who has been receiving accolades for his vision for theIndian Railways, said during allocation of ministries under theleadership of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, he never insisted for theRailway Ministry as he was interested in others. However, it was adecision of the UPA government he said.

He announced that the recently started Shatabdi Express betweenMumbai and Aurangabad on a trial basis, would be made a regular train.

Various organisations and individuals submitted severalmemorandums pertaining to the long pending development of Railways inMarathwada, on the occasion.

In his hour long speech, Mr Yadav not only shared his experiencewith the students but also advised them to preare for a struggle toachieve success.

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