Lalu credits Sonia with Rly success

“Soniaji asked me to reduce fares. We reduced fares each year and even then earned profits,” Lalu told the audience. “Bina hing ya phatkari, humne Rs 20,000 crore kamaya,” he said, trying to drive home the point that he had transformed Railways into a Rs 20,000-crore cash surplus entity without any major input costs. He added, “Soniaji ne Haryana ka kaya kalp karaya”.

Lalu also laid the foundation stone for a new rail line between Rohtak and Rewari via Jhajjar and inaugurated the gauge conversion project of the second line between Delhi-Sarai Rohilla and Rewari. The proposed rail link between Rohtak and Rewari assumes significance since the Haryana Government will be sharing 50 per cent of the cost of construction.

The conversion of the 79-km-long meter-gauge line to broad-gauge at a cost of Rs 207.31 crore is in line with the Indian Railways policy to have a uni-gauge policy. Significantly, this line, before conversion, was the oldest meter-gauge line in Asia. The newly-converted line is expected to facilitate better connectivity to Jaipur, Jodhpur, Ahmedabad and Mumbai.

Lalu also laid the foundation stone for the electrification of Shakurbasti-Rohtak section of Northern Railways and flagged off two new trains — New Delhi-Rohtak Express and Delhi-Rewari Passenger.