Singh said Congress, which was in power at the Centre for nearly 60 years, had appointed several panels to study the problems of the railways but none of the recommendations was implemented.
“What happened to the recommendations? Instead of protecting railways, you (Congress) were protecting chairs,” he said.
Hailing the proposal for recruitment for 4,000 women constables to ensure safety of women, Singh said the Prime Minister and Railway Minister have “honoured” women in the country by announcing measures to ensure their safety.
Singh said there has been a decline in operating ratio of the Railways which has impacted its performance in the past 10 years.
The ratio stood at 93.5 per cent in the Budget for 2014-15. The interim budget in February had pegged the operating ratio at 90.5 per cent.
He said during the UPA tenure, the functioning of Railways has moved towards deterioration.
AIADMK member Ponnusamy Venugopal said the Public Private Partnership (PPP) model proposed for development of railways and plans for diamond quadrilateral are welcome.
Saying that most areas of Tamil Nadu still remained unconnected, Venugopal demanded a bullet train from Chennai.
“The second bullet train must be from Chennai,” he said.
The Railway Budget tabled in the Lok Sabha on July 8 had proposed to start bullet trains on Mumbai-Ahmedabad route and a Diamond Quadrilateral project of high speed trains to connect all major metros.
Yogi Adityanath (BJP) said the Budget was presented at a time when there were concerns about railways' functioning from all quarters.
The Railways have deteriorated and come to a bad shape in past 10 years. The Minister (Sadananda Gowda) has a huge task before him, he said.
Sparing passengers of any further fare hike, Railway Budget for 2014-15 proposed to attract private domestic and FDI in infrastructure projects and pursue private-public partnership to boost its finances.
