



: In the railway Budget for 2009-10, operating expenses have increased to 92.5% of revenue, against 75.9% achieved in 2007-08. Obviously, the commercial viability of the railways is increasingly forgotten in the competitive populism exhibited by successive railway ministers. More and more subsidised services are introduced with each passing budget. If this kind of mindset prevails, the railways may be forced to come to the government for budgetary support like Air India has been asking now. The lifeline of the nation doesn’t deserve such a fall.
-P Esakki Muthu Mumbai
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