Deputy Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj, who briefed the media on the Budget, said the Railway Minister “had not paid adequate attention to railway security and expansion of railway tracks” and that while “Mamata was expected to introduce revolutionary reforms, her document ultimately read a fantasy ride, while her speech itself appeared like a fairy tale”.

Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, Arun Jaitley termed the Railway Budget a “routine exercise” and a “Budget without a vision”.

BJP president Rajnath Singh said the Budget would be known “only when it is actually implemented”.

Both Jaitley and Sushma said there had been no significant expansion of railway tracks since the days of the British, something that had not been addressed in this Budget as well.

The BJP is likely to use the debate to address its middle class constituency when it will cite case studies from across the world to argue that “private players have always been a key component of the railway experience” and “governments have inherently been bad providers of hospitality”. “If Railways have hospitality and operations as two key components, governments have inherently been bad providers of hospitality... How can the government look after hospitality,” said Jaitley, who will lead the party charge on the debate on the Railway Budget in the Rajya Sabha. “We are still far away from making rail travel an experience to be cherished,” he said.

While participating in the debate, the BJP leader is likely to cite systemic flaws in the overhaul of the sector — for instance, the privatisation initiative for New Delhi Railway Station didn’t attract even a single bid, or the potters at railway stations across the country are still governed by an archaic licence raj rule.

The BJP cited former Railway Minister Nitish Kumar’s commitment to strengthening the safety measures for Railways as a contrast to the present minister’s doing precious little on the same. “The minister has announced measures like double-decker trains without looking at the capacity of the tracks. Has the minister taken into account realities like low-lying cables along railway tracks across the country,” asked Sushma.

She, however, welcomed the introduction of special train for ladies, the young and passes for those from the unorganised sector.

Leaders like Shahnawaz Hussain, on the other hand, complained over the stepmotherly treatment given to Bihar while some others from the BJP said Maharashtra had been handed a raw deal.