Addressing the economic editors' conference, organised by the Press Information Bureau, here on Thursday, he said the Railways had already made a beginning in this direction by not hiking the freight rates and beginning the process of ending cross-subsidisation of passenger fares by freight earnings.

"As things stand now, there are no proposals to raise the fares. If at all we decide to hike the fares, it will be done in the Railway Budget only," Naik said.

Referring to resource constraints, the minister said they had inhibited the Railways from strengthening, modernising and expanding the system.

He said the share of the capital from the general exchequer to the Railways had been constantly declining over the years. From 75 per cent in the Sixth Plan, he said it hadcome down to just 18 per cent.

The minister made a strong plea for compensating the Railways, as is the practice in foreign countries, for undertaking projects, which are socially obligatory but not commercially viable as development of the rail network in north-east and other backward regions.

On their part, Naik said the Railways was taking all steps to generate additional resources. This, he said, included commercial utilisation of the the land space available with it. An experimental beginning in this direction, he said, would be made in Mumbai.

The Mumbai Railway Development Corporation (MRDC) had been set up to utilise western railway lands for commercial purposes. A memorandum of understanding (MoU) had also been signed with the Maharashtra government for this, he said.The Railways was also thinking of leasing their surplus telecom capacity to raise resources, he said.

"We can give it to telephone users, Doordarshan or anyone in the visual media," he said, adding tenders would be floated soonfor these lines, while a decision would be taken in due course.

About the pending projects of an outstanding value of Rs 35,000 crore, the minister said a decision about prioritising them would be taken soon. Commercially viable projects and projects which are nearing completion would be accorded priority, he said.

He suggested that a percentage of the funds provided to members of Parliament for developmental activities in their constituencies should be provided to construct manned level crossings in the country.

Naik said if his suggestion was accepted, it would go a long way in helping the Railways increase the number of manned level crossings to avoid mishaps. The railways was facing financial constraints, he added.

On the proposal of increasing earnings by commercially utilising the unused lands under their occupation, the idea was to build multistoried buildings and let and retain ownership. This would be totally different from the earlier proposal of commercial exploitation of lands, headded.

One third of the trains of Indian Railways now run on an average speed of 4O km per hour. This must be increased if the railways was to succeed in attracting more passengers and freight traffic now diverted to the roadways, he said.