"We welcome the Railway Budget as it has not caused any additional burden to the common man while charting a path for the long-term improvement of the Indian Railways," Jayalalithaa said in a statement.
The former Tamil Nadu chief minister said she was happy that railway minister Suresh Prabhu had spared the common man and not increased rail fares.
"He has planned to achieve a substantial improvement of the operating ratio in the coming fiscal year through efficiency measures, which is a welcome step," Jayalalithaa said.
However, she said it was disappointing to note that the railway minister had not announced any new trains. "The travelling public eagerly looks forward to such announcements," she said.
"Passenger safety, in particular, the safety of women passengers, cleanliness in the railways, and environmental sustainability has all been accorded appropriate high priority by the railway minister. Passenger amenities are also being improved by harnessing information and communication technology. These are areas of necessary and welcome emphasis," she said.
Jayalalithaa urged the central government to make sure that the proposal to purchase cheaper traction power by railways should not be at the cost of the health of the state power utilities.
"Any step in this direction should be in consultation with the state governments and power utilities," she said.
The AIADMK leader said she was happy to note that preparatory work on the Diamond Quadrilateral High Speed Rail network had commenced. "I request that routes to Chennai should be given high priority under this network," she said.
Jayalalithaa expressed the hope that the railway ministry would provide enough funds for projects in Tamil Nadu through a financial mechanism proposed by the ministry.
"Though the announcement has been made for fast tracking the sanctioned works on 7,000 kilometres of the existing lines and commissioning 1,200 kilometres in 2015-16 at an estimated cost of Rs 8,686 crore, commissioning of 800 kilometres of gauge conversion and expanding the capacity of 9,400 kilometres of railway lines at a cost of Rs 96,182 crore, no mention has been made of any new projects or any of the earlier announced projects which were languishing for want of funds," she said.
Jayalalithaa added that the state had sought support for 10 new projects which need to be taken up and 22 projects are pending execution which were announced on various earlier occasions but were not taken up for want of funds.
"We hope that after the review is completed, our demands will be addressed adequately while announcing new trains," she said.
Jayalalithaa said the Tamil Nadu government had suggested that three railway projects -- the Chennai-Tuticorin freight corridor, Chennai-Madurai- Kanyakumari high speed passenger link and Coimbatore-Madurai high speed passenger link. "It may be implemented through such an SPV (special purpose vehicle). We look forward to speedy forward movement on this issue," she said.
She recalled her memorandum to the Prime Minister in June 2014 and urged the Centre to fulfil the expectations of the state. "I had requested the integration of the Chennai Mass Rapid Transit System with the Chennai Metro Rail. Such integration would enable effective synergy between various modes of public transport in Chennai," she said. "Although there was no specific announcement on this aspect, I expect that this request would also be speedily considered," she added.
"I am happy to note that the railway minister has planned an investment of Rs 8.5 lakh crore over the next five years," said Jayalalithaa.
Tamil Nadu has requested the railway minister to allocate sufficient funds to expedite these projects. "I expect that investment funds will be fairly allocated to Tamil Nadu as well," she added.
Rail Budget 2015: Highlights
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