Security aspect being looked into: Piyush Goyal

With the Railways department jotted with a series of accidents, newly-installed Minister Piyush Goyal today said they were taking a comprehensive view of the security requirement, before coming out with requisite measures. Speaking during the 12th National Quality Conclave here, Mr Goyal said during 2004 to 2014, the investment on safety and maintenance of Railways had been very less, which hugely impacted the sector. 'Mr Suresh Prabhu (previous Railways Minister) put the Railways on a fast track to recovery and we will take that further,' he added.

Asked about the measures he was taking, the Minister said, 'I don't speak in a rush. It's a big Ministry and I'm just a two week-old Minister. Let me first prepare myself, read the files and study the projects. After that, I will certainly come out with some concrete decisions.' On a query over the quality of food served in the trains, which has been a subject of scrutiny for some time now, Mr Goyal said he was seized of the issue. 'It is also on my priority list, but you will have to wait for some time to get my full-fledged view on this.'

The Ministry was working on a proposal to get trains run on 100 per cent electricity, bringing down the total expenses to almost 50 per cent of the current costs, he revealed, adding that diesel worth around Rs 16,000 crore was being used to run the trains, apart from coal and other raw material, leading to high operational costs. Electricity-run trains in Railways will bring down the overall cost to almost 50 per cent, thus saving a huge amount and leading to efficient service.