Manmohan Singh finds rail budget forward-looking

New Delhi, Mar 14 (ANI): The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, on Wednesday said Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi has presented a forward-looking budget with emphasis on safety and modernisation of the Indian Railways.

"The Budget for 2012-13 has been formulated against the background of Railways' responsibilities in meeting the demands of the 12th Five Year Plan," said Dr. Singh.

Trivedi in his Railway Budget presented in Parliament today seeks to raise investment in modernization and upgradation of rail infrastructure.

Trivedi proposed a Budget with highest ever plan outlay of Rs. 60,100 crore which provides Rs. 6,872 crore for new railway lines and significant funds for passengers safety, security and amenities.

In this Budget, the Railway Minister has focused on five important fields, which are: safety; consolidation; decongestion and capacity augmentation; modernization; and to bring down the operating ratio from 95 percent to 84.9 percent in 2012-13. (ANI)