The Fifteenth Finance Commission today held interaction with Minister of Railways Piyush Goyal and other officials to understand the railway finances. According to an official release, during the meeting, detailed discussions were held on medium-term programme to improve capital expenditure in various initiatives like speed up electrification, doubling of track, technical upgrading and modernising the signals, making railways ODF and environment-friendly.

The officials highlighted recent measures to improve passenger comfort, strengthening infrastructure, increasing speed and reduce idling time. Mr Goyal highlighted that Railways is conscious of its dual responsibilities, both in social and economic spheres while seeking commercial viability. He said, Safety First’ is the motto of railways.

The Commission led by Chairman N. K. Singh highlighted other measures to further improve the productivity like monetising assets in multiple forums and speeding up pace of projects under implementation.