The Lok Sabha has passed the Demands for Grants of Ministry of Railways for 2017-18 after negating the cut-motions moved by the opposition members. Replying to a discussion which lasted over eight hours, Minister for Railways Suresh Prabhu said that merger of Rail Budget with General budget will not affect the functional autonomy of Railways. He said, the merger will also not lead to any dilution of its powers. Mr Prabhu said, the government is focussing on more investments in Railways to improve its financial conditions as well as railway facilities. He also informed that railway safety fund of one lakh core rupees has been created for over five years. <br/><br/>Earlier participating in the resumed discussion, Ramen Deka of BJP supported the demands for grants for Railways and said that the vision documents of railways will give a push for its development. He said, it will also scale up the economic development of the country. Mr Deka urged the Railway Ministry to connect the Darrang District of Assam with rail network.Thokchom Meinya of Congress raised the issue of improper rail facilities in Manipur. He also said, the budget has failed to throw light on the timebound completion of rail projects. <br/><br/>Sushil Kumar Singh of BJP demanded the reduction in cancellation charges for sleeper class tickets.He also said that passengers' amenity should be enhanced at Gaya Railway Stations as many foreign tourists arrive at this place. Dushyant Chautala of INLD demanded early completion of work of washing yard in Hisar and running of DEMU train from Hisar to Chandigarh. Yesterday, K H Muniyappa of Congress had initiated the discussion on it.

The Lok Sabha has passed the Demands for Grants of Ministry of Railways for 2017-18 after negating the cut-motions moved by the opposition members. Replying to a discussion which lasted over eight hours, Minister for Railways Suresh Prabhu said that merger of Rail Budget with General budget will not affect the functional autonomy of Railways. He said, the merger will also not lead to any dilution of its powers. Mr Prabhu said, the government is focussing on more investments in Railways to improve its financial conditions as well as railway facilities. He also informed that railway safety fund of one lakh core rupees has been created for over five years. <br/><br/>Earlier participating in the resumed discussion, Ramen Deka of BJP supported the demands for grants for Railways and said that the vision documents of railways will give a push for its development. He said, it will also scale up the economic development of the country. Mr Deka urged the Railway Ministry to connect the Darrang District of Assam with rail network.Thokchom Meinya of Congress raised the issue of improper rail facilities in Manipur. He also said, the budget has failed to throw light on the timebound completion of rail projects. <br/><br/>Sushil Kumar Singh of BJP demanded the reduction in cancellation charges for sleeper class tickets.He also said that passengers' amenity should be enhanced at Gaya Railway Stations as many foreign tourists arrive at this place. Dushyant Chautala of INLD demanded early completion of work of washing yard in Hisar and running of DEMU train from Hisar to Chandigarh. Yesterday, K H Muniyappa of Congress had initiated the discussion on it.