Representative image of an Indian Railways train.
Credit: iStock Photo
New Delhi: Members of Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) headed by senior Congress MP KC Venugopal on Thursday emphasised the need for integrating railways and metro systems to improve urban infrastructure.
The suggestions came during the examination of a CAG report on ‘Working of Mancheswar Carriage Repair Workshop in East Coast Railway and Construction of 5th and 6th line between Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) - Kurla Station’.
Over the delay in the completion of the CSMT-Kurla project, sources said MPs argued that integration of the railway network with the metro projects in cities will add to urban infrastructure development.
Sources said NCP MP Praful Patel told the meeting that integration of railways with metro was not happening in Maharashtra while BJP MP Tejashwi Surya too raised the issue of non-integration of railways and Bengaluru Metro.
Surya highlighted that there was no coordination happening between local administration and the railways and such integration would add to urban infrastructure, sources said.
With Railway Board Chairman Satish Kumar in attendance, Venugopal raised complaints about the quality of food served on trains. He referred to the recent seizure of expired food from a Vande Bharat caterer in Kochi on Wednesday.
Venugopal and other MPs also raised the issue of hygiene in trains while seeking details of the monitoring mechanism of Railways. They said it is not just the local trains but premium trains like Vande Bharat also face issues.