Suburban Railways have Lost Rs 4,150cr in last 5 years

Mumbai’s suburban railway system is deep in the red. Cumulative losses over the last five years have touched Rs 4,150 crore, and losses for the year 2013-2014 alone amounted to Rs 1,111.8 crore. The situation has sparked fears that the quality of services may be affected if a turnaround does not happen.

The situation has been deteriorating at an alarming rate since 2008-09, reveals a white paper on the entire suburban system – the Western, Central and Harbour lines – that the Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation (MRVC) is preparing and that TOI has seen.

The losses had not breached the Rs 50 crore mark till 2006-07, but they zoomed to Rs 328.6 crore in 2008-09, the year in which the Central government announced payment of Sixth Pay Commission salaries with retrospective effect from January 1, 2006. An MRVC official said, “This dealt a body blow to the finances of suburban railway.”