By IANS,
Bangalore : A new rail coach factory, seven express trains, including a high-speed double-decker to Chennai, extension of six trains and new lines for Karnataka in the railway budget for fiscal 2012-13 evoked a mixed response Wednesday from trade and industry and passengers in the state.
Welcoming Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi’s announcement to set up a new rail coach factory at Kolar, about 100km from here, Bangalore Chamber of Commerce & Industry (BCIC) vice president H.V. Harish said the proposal would generate hundreds of jobs for local people and help in the development of the region in the state.
“Similarly, introduction of seven express trains, including an high-speed air-conditioned (AC) double-decker train between Bangalore and Chennai and setting up of a disaster management cell in Bangalore for skill development are laudable measures,” Harish said in a statement here.
The coach factory near Hudukul in Kolar will be set up under the public-private-partnership (PPP) model with the state government providing the land and infrastructure support, including power and connectivity.
Karnataka Small-Scale Industries Association (Kassia), however, expressed disappointment over the absence of mention in the rail budget on the proposed industrial corridor between Bangalore and Mumbai, which would have triggered investments and development of the state.
“The rail budget does not have much for the small industries in the state in terms of new railway workshops or maintenance facilities that would have given our units enough contract works. There is also no mention about the much-touted industrial corridor in the minister’s budget speech,” Kassia president Prakash N. Raikar told reporters here.
Lauding the budget for proposing specific organisations to improve passenger amenities and services at railway stations, PricewaterhouseCoopers India (PwC) executive director for transport & logistics Manish Sharma said though they (entities) would increase the private sector’s role in the state-run behemoth’s operations, they would generate only incremental business for private agencies.
“The budget should have implemented the recommendations of the ‘Expert group on Modernisation of Indian Railways’ to increase the share of the public-private partnership (PPP) financing to 27 percent in the 12th five-year plan from four percent in the 11th plan,” Sharma pointed out.
Regular travelers to Chennai from this tech hub hailed the move to run a high-speed double-decker express as it will reduce travel time between the two cities by three hours from five hours currently by the Shatabdi Express.
“Reducing travel time from Bangalore to Chennai by nearly three hours will be possible, as the double-decker express coaches are designed and built to run at 150km per hour on upgraded tracks with no stoppages in-between,” a senior South Western Railway (SWR) official told IANS here.
The double-decker rake, comprising eight stainless steel coaches and two power cars are rolled out from the Rail Coach Factory at Kapurthala in Punjab.
“A high-speed train will be a boon for frequent travellers, as it will not only be safe and economical, but also saves time. Frequent fliers will also find it convenient to travel by such a train as they won’t have to waste time rushing to airport at least an hour early for a 30-minute flight,” said Vijay Kumar, an executive in an export firm.
The state will also get a 72 megawatt windmill and a safety village near Bangalore.
The budget also proposes to initiate 14 new projects on cost-sharing basis with the state government.
The six other new trains for the state are Bangalore-Kochuveli Express (weekly), Bangalore-Indore Express (weekly), Bangalore- Puri Garib Rath Express (weekly), Mysore-Sai Nagar Shirdi Express (weekly) via Bangalore, Bangalore-Solapur Express (tri-weekly) via Gulbarga and Bidar-Secunderabad Intercity Express (six days a week)./Eom/fb/21:45 (600 words)