No proposal to change railways fare: Minister

Railway Minister Piyush Goyal on Friday informed Rajya Sabha that there is no proposal before the government to change the railway fare after the recent hike in diesel costs due to increased excise duty in the general budget.

During Question Hour the Minister said, "At present, there is no proposal to change the fares."

He informed the House that Railways was reducing its diesel cost inputs by electrifying its tracks on a large scale and will also produce solar energy on its vacant land.

The Minister also said efforts are on to make Indian Railways the first Green Railways in the world in the next 10 years, with steps like setting up solar energy installations on its unutilised land, electrification of tracks and moving to bio-diesel.

The minister said the Railways had set the target of 100% electrification of its tracks by 2022.