<p>Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal today hinted at a hike in passenger fare as he asked Parliamentarians to be "realistic" if they want the railways to move forward.<br /><br /></p>.<p>"All that I would like to say is that I would expect the House to be realistic," Bansal said replying to a query from Trinamool member Saugata Ray on passenger fare hike.<br /><br />He said implementation of various safety measures would entail an expenditure of Rs one lakh crore over a five-year period.<br /><br />"If we want to move forward; if we want the Railways to serve the country as it was mandated to; if we want the Railways to contribute, as we say, about 1.5 to two percentage points to the GDP growth of the country and be a veritable engine of growth; I think I have to come up sometime and then I would solicit the support of the House at an appropriate time," Bansal said.<br /><br />He said projects totalling to Rs four lakh crore have been delayed for a number of years. "These are projects which have been announced following demands from members and the way we are raising funds, I think it would be difficult for us to complete these projects in the next 50 years," he said.<br /><br />"We have been spreading our resources very thinly across the board and across the large number of projects," Bansal said.<br /><br />He sought cooperation from the members in prioritisation of railway projects to be taken up for implementation.<br /><br />"I wish to make it clear that no project would be scrapped or left out," he said.<br /><br />Bansal had hinted at passenger fare hike soon after he assumed charge as Railway Minister a month ago.</p>
<p>Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal today hinted at a hike in passenger fare as he asked Parliamentarians to be "realistic" if they want the railways to move forward.<br /><br /></p>.<p>"All that I would like to say is that I would expect the House to be realistic," Bansal said replying to a query from Trinamool member Saugata Ray on passenger fare hike.<br /><br />He said implementation of various safety measures would entail an expenditure of Rs one lakh crore over a five-year period.<br /><br />"If we want to move forward; if we want the Railways to serve the country as it was mandated to; if we want the Railways to contribute, as we say, about 1.5 to two percentage points to the GDP growth of the country and be a veritable engine of growth; I think I have to come up sometime and then I would solicit the support of the House at an appropriate time," Bansal said.<br /><br />He said projects totalling to Rs four lakh crore have been delayed for a number of years. "These are projects which have been announced following demands from members and the way we are raising funds, I think it would be difficult for us to complete these projects in the next 50 years," he said.<br /><br />"We have been spreading our resources very thinly across the board and across the large number of projects," Bansal said.<br /><br />He sought cooperation from the members in prioritisation of railway projects to be taken up for implementation.<br /><br />"I wish to make it clear that no project would be scrapped or left out," he said.<br /><br />Bansal had hinted at passenger fare hike soon after he assumed charge as Railway Minister a month ago.</p>