Gaps in the network will be bridged: Lalu Yadav

New Delhi, Feb 13 (ANI): Union Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav has said the spheres in which the Indian Railways lacked would be rectified.

Yadav, who is all set to present the interim Railway Budget in Parliament today, said: "We will give preference to those areas in which our Railways is lagging behind. In fact, there are around 11,000 trains in operation ferrying around one crore of persons (daily) and everything is going on efficiently."

He also said the budget has not been prepared with an eye on elections, but keeping in view the interests of all citizens since Indian Railways is the lifeline of the country.

"Whatever programmes we execute, are not with an eye on elections. Indian Railways has been doing its work and has its own profits and surplus," he added.

The Indian Railways is the second largest train network in the world under a single apex management, running more than 11,000 passenger trains every day.

This is apart from the freight and container services, better known as goods trains.

The Railway Budget last year had reduced fares across-the-board apart from focussing on hygiene, new routes, punctuality, better coaches and mobile ticketing.

This is the sixth Railways Budget that Yadav will be presenting and the last one for the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government before the April-May general elections. (ANI)