Rail freight charges likely to go up: Bansal

Railway minister Pawan Kumar Bansal indicated on Sunday that freight charges were likely to be increased, considering the annual losses of Rs22,000 crore incurred by the Indian Railways due to low passenger fares.

Freight charges have not been increased in the last 12 years, Bansal pointed out.

The minister was speaking with reporters at the residence of local MP Vijay Inder Singla before inaugurating a flyover on the Sangrur-Barnala highway over a railway crossing.

Freight carried by the railways network declined 2.5 per cent in November compared to the previous month, he said.

Emphasising the need to lay new railway tracks in the country, Bansal said that 2.30 crore commuters travel in trains and 36 lakh items are loaded and unloaded in goods trains every day.

Bansal sought the cooperation of state governments in acquiring land to lay more railway tracks.