Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu today said a passenger could be assured of a confirmed berth on his preferred train by 2021, if the plan to augment capacity on busy routes materialises.
Addressing the annual session of CII in Delhi, Mr Prabhu said this could be made possible once goods trains are shifted to dedicated freight corridors and infrastructure on the busy Delhi-Howrah and Delhi-Mumbai routes is upgraded to speed up trains. He also said augmentation of infrastructure is required in high demand routes to increase passenger reservation.
Mr Prabhu said two dedicated railway freight corridors are lagging behind which should be completed by 2019.
Speaking on the occasion, Civil Aviation Minister Jayant Sinha said government is planning to have 200 airports in 2 to 3 years under UDAN scheme for enhancing regional connectivity.
He said 31 airports have been added with a subsidy of only 200 crore rupees. He said Ministry has estimated an expense of 3 lakh crore rupees to expand aviation network over next 10 to15 years. Mr Sinha said Delhi will be among the top five airports of the world with around 100 million passengers per year.
