Parliament Diary

The Minister of Railways, D V Sadananda Gowda, presented the Railway
Budget 2014-15 to Parliament today. In his address, he commented on the
performance of Railways in 2013-14 and laid out his budget proposals for
2014-15. The Ministry targets to become the largest freight carrier in
the world and also proposes 58 new trains, 18 new lines, as well as the
extension of 11 existing trains. Read more on the Railway Budget here.

The Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2014 [to replace an Ordinance] was also introduced in Lok Sabha today.

Both Houses repeatedly adjourned today due to disruptions. Lok Sabha
functioned for 43% of the scheduled time today, an improvement from
yesterday when it functioned for 10% of the scheduled time. On the other
hand, Rajya Sabha was productive for 34% of the scheduled time today, a
decrease from its 101% productivity yesterday.

A PRS Vital Stats on the Functioning of Railways shows that:

• Cross subsidisation of passenger traffic by freight has increased 
• India has a low passenger fare to freight rate ratio

• Share of Railways in Total Freight Traffic has declined 
• Infrastructure investment is directed more towards Roads, less towards Railways
• Number of accidents has declined in the last 10 years