Trivedi flays Govt. decision to roll back hike in rail fare

New Delhi, Mar 22 (ANI): Former Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi on Thursday ndirectly flayed the Central Government's decision to roll back the hiked rail fares, saying he was concerned about the safety of passengers, which was linked to modernization and resource generation.

"I have no reaction. And I think it is not proper for me to react on present railway minister's statement. And I am concerned about safety. And you can't have safety without modernization. You can't have modernization without resources. So one thing is linked with another," said Trivedi.

"You can't keep on increasing the freight charges and the freight can't keep on subsidizing the fare," he added.

Trivedi, who was shown the exit door after he invited the wrath of his party chief Mamata Banerjee following the hike in rail fares, further said history would judge what was right and what was incorrect.

"I have said it, what I have to say in my budget speech and my budget speech has not been withdrawn. It is a matter of record. And it will always remain a matter of record. And history will judge what was right and what was not right," he added.

The new Railway Minister, Mukul Roy, earlier in the day announced that the hike in passenger fares in the Union Railway Budget of 2012-13 has been withdrawn partially.

Roy, who replaced former railway minister Dinesh Trivedi, said the hike in general, passenger and AC 3 tier travel fares have been annulled.

He, however, kept untouched the increase of 15 paise per km and 30 paise per km respectively in passenger fares in AC 2-tier and AC-I announced by Trivedi in the Railway Budget that was presented last week.

Replying to the debate on the Railway Budget in Lok Sabha, Roy also put on hold Trivedi's proposal of setting up a committee to examine whether there should be an independent tariff regulatory authority. (ANI)