Cheers to hike, boos for TMC

KOLKATA: The city on Wednesday welcomed the marginal hike in railway passenger fares and lambasted the Trinamool Congress bosses for choosing to oppose it.
It was ridiculous to keep fares unchanged since everything else has turned costlier, forcing the railways to compromise on safety measures and defer modernisation plans, felt Kolkatans. They also lashed out at successive railway ministers for ‘adopting populist stances’ which has not helped the railways.
“Services have deteriorated and the downslide could only be checked by generating more revenue. A fare hike is long overdue and it has got to be the first step,” said Ranji Koshi, a third-year student of St Xavier’s College. Koshi added that passengers now prefer to travel by air even though it is costlier. “Just look at the ill-maintained stations and the stinking toilets. Till recently, it would be a pleasure to travel by rail, but no longer. Security is another issue that needs to be looked into. Trains have been running late as well. They call the railways a mini India. They ought to take better care of it,” said Koshi.
School teacher Sharmila Majumdar argued that if people can buy vegetables at Rs 100 a kg, they can surely afford to pay a little more for railway tickets. “This outcry against the hike is unjustified. Daily expenses have gone up manifold. What's wrong with paying more for a train ticket if it can provide us a with better and safer journey. So far as Mamata Banerjee’s reaction is concerned, it doesn’t really affect the common people,” she said.
The railways was under tremendous pressure to raise passenger fares which have not been revised for 10 years, felt economist Ajitabha Roy Chaudhuri. “It had become a norm to raise freight charges, keep passenger fares unchanged and cross-subsidize. This couldn’t have gone on forever, especially at a time when Bengal is expecting a financial package from the Centre,” he said.
The Centre expected the railway minister to hike fares, even if nominally, Roy Chaudhuri said. “It would lessen the need for general budgetary support for the railways to an extent. If the state expects aid from the centre, it has to let its minister accede to their demands as well. So far as Trinamool’s decision to oppose the fare hike is concerned, I guess they are doing it more out of an urge to keep it on record that they are not deviating from their stated principle of not effecting a hike,” he said.
A second class AC compartment was now almost like a general compartment, said banker Shyamal Das. “I returned from Puri this morning in an AC II compartment. It’s quite apparent that the railways is reeling under a funds crunch. I expected Mamata Banerjee to oppose the hike, for that has been her general stand. She is more interested in maintaining her populist image than anything else,” Das said.
Without a hike, the railways would have cracked, felt Supriti Dasgupta, who runs an advertising agency. “Even if Mamata Banerjee opposes the hike, common people are going to welcome it. The populist budgets might have pleased a section of the people, but they have left the intelligent consumers shocked and unhappy. I fervently hope that the excess revenue generated will now be used to augment facilities and security and it will be a pleasure to be back on the train,” she said.
Tolly Club CEO AR Mukherjee agreed. “You can’t keep fares stagnant for eight years. If you do, you will invariably be compromising with infrastructure and services. Security is also very important since we have seen a spurt in dacoity cases and accidents. These show that the railways need funds. As the leader of her party, Mamata Banerjee should have been privy to the fare hike decision. Her reaction leaves me confused. This could even be a political game which we are not being able to decipher," Mukherjee said.
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