The expectations from Nitish Kumar were high, known as he is, to understand the problems faced by the Railways. He had done well earlier by systematically highlighting the issues perplexing the Railways in the Status Paper and the White Paper which were duly tabled in the Parliament.

The Status Paper, among other things, talked about the drastically declining share of the Railways in carrying both, freight and passengers. In 1950-51, Railways carried 89 per cent of the freight with 11 per cent being carried by road. But last year, Railways carried less than 40 per cent of the freight traffic and roads the remaining 60 per cent. The decline was drastic even among passengers. Railways carried 80 per cent of the passengers in 1950-51, and roads 20per cent, but last year, it was just the reverse.The Status Paper highlighted how cross-subsidisation of passenger services by freight services was damaging the railway finances. The effort put in by the Railways to carry passengers vis-a-vis freight in terms of number of trains, is in the proportion of 60:40, the revenue contributed by the two is in the ratio of 28:72. In financial terms, the cross-subsidisation amounted to Rs 2,800 crore, last year. This was disclosed in the Status Paper which the Railway minister referred to at the beginning of his budget speech.

But that was the end of it. The remaining speech, outlining the budget provisions, gave no indication that the problems will be rectified. On the contrary, the cross-subsidisation will go up further with freight rates being increased by four per cent and the 90 per cent of the passengers, travelling by second class, left untouched. No attempt has been made to bridge the gap in the budget, clothed as it is in the garb of `Year of thePassenger.'

This comes after various expert committees recommending a hike in the passenger fares. The US-based consultants, McKinsey, hired by the Indian Railways last year, had said in their report that rail passenger fares in India were among the lowest in the world. They strongly suggested an increase in the fares to reduce cross-subsidisation and to make the Indian Railways commercially more viable.

The White Paper too was punctiliously mentioned by Nitish Kumar in the same breath as the Status Paper. The White Paper highlighted the present status of all pending Railway projects, amounting to a whopping Rs 35,000 crore of which new line projects are around Rs 20,000 crore and gauge conversion, Rs 9,000 crore. The White Paper also gave details about the socially desirable and economically non-viable projects -- which accounted for most of them -- announced by previous railway ministers, with an eye on the vote bank.

Nitish Kumar should be credited for coming out with the complex problems of theRailways and frankly discussing the compulsions of the railway ministers. But it would have been more creditable if he had followed it up with actions in the budget making him different from the others before him. But he too succumbed, announcing new lines and gauge conversions. He allocated Rs 600 crore for new lines, 59 per cent more than last year, and another Rs 645 crore for gauge conversions.

But nobody can accuse Nitish Kumar of not making the right noises. In his speech, he referred to the ongoing debate in the railway ministry whether more money should be spent on new lines and projects or on maintenance of the existing system and on safety. Though, the allocation to safety related aspects like track renewal and signalling and telecommunication also increased but not by much in comparison. Rs 1,500 crore was allocated for track renewal which is only 19 per cent more than last year and signalling got only Rs 50 crore more, the outlay going up from Rs 325 crore to Rs 375 crore.

To give NitishKumar his due, he seems to have allotted his 14 new trains well, considering there was a demand for nearly 500 from Members of Parliament (MPs) all over the country. Only those seem to have been chosen which were actually required. The Chennai-Tirupati Shatabdi might have pleased TDP chief N. Chandrababu Naidu, but then it also pleases hundreds of devotees facing hardships in reaching Tirupati.

There seems to be something for everyone in it. With Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee getting her West Bengal package with the Shalimar-Haldia Intercity Express and increase in frequency of Howrah-Purulia (from six days a week to daily) and Kurla-Howrah Super Deluxe from once a week to three times a week. Then, Mamata also got what she wanted for the Calcutta Metro. No wonder, it made her say that it was the ``best budget in recent years.''

Care was also taken to keep allies in Maharashtra (Shiv Sena) and Punjab (Akali Dal) happy. Catering to Maharashtra were the Mumbai-Sawantwadi-Madgaon IntercityExpress, biweekly Kurla-Patna Superfast and Pune-Ernakulum. The poll-bound Karnataka too got a fair share with a train from Jaipur to Bangalore via Secundrabad and Raichur-Gulbarga intercity service.

Nitish Kumar also appeared indulgent to his home state Bihar with three trains Kurla-Patna Superfast Express, Amritsar-Darbhanga Express via Narkatiaganj and Patna-Mughalsarai via Gaya. These too were explained as ``much needed'' with the first two trains facilitating the labour movement and the third being the only train connecting South Bihar to the Capital city.