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With traffic suspended in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, railway workers undertaking repairs to the track on the bridge across the Krishna in Vijayawada on July 10, 2020. Gross underfunding has meant that projects for modernising and refurbishing of existing assets have languished because of prolonged neglect

The Finance Minister has dressed up the Indian Railways’ balance sheet, indulged in tokenism and in grand projections

The budget reveals a shocking collapse of the Railways’ revenues and shows that no significant investments are likely to be initiated to build its neg
R. Elangovan
Railway lines narrowing down as they proceed towards the outer signal at the Visakhapatnam railway station in Andhra Pradesh.

Off-track Budget

The Union Budget’s focus on the Indian Railways is cursory. An exercise in obfuscation, it reveals utter neglect of India’s largest enterprise.
R. Elangovan
CHENNAI: TAMIL NADU: 11/01/2017: As the bus strike continued for the 10th day, commuters turning to suburban train and it becomes overcrowded in Perambur Railway Station in Chennai on Thursday. Photo: V. Ganesan.

Train of neglect

Jaitley’s Budget offers little to railway passengers or businesses and is marked by a singular failure to address the deep faults in the system that h
R. ELANGOVAN
Workers repair the track near the upturned coaches of the Kalinga-Utkal Express after an accident near Khatauli, in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, India, Sunday, Aug. 20, 2017. Rescuers using cutting torchers and cranes have worked through the night to pull apart 14 coaches of a crowded train that went off the tracks in northern India. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

Chasing a chimera

The bullet train project is being undertaken at a time when a significant proportion of the Indian Railways’ assets are in a state of utter disrepair.
R. ELANGOVAN
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