Why in the news?

Railway minister informed the lok sabha that his department would approach the Union Cabinet soon with a proposal to completely switch over to computerised signalling.

More about it

• The railway minister was Responding to the questions in Lok Sabha.
• When asked about the delays of trains due to fog related issues, the minister said there had been fewer instances of trains running late compared to flights this year. “We are not satisfied with this. The problem of fog is getting severe, and impacts safety. We have more or less taken the decision and will now go to the Cabinet. We are now trying to ensure that the entire railway system is run by modern technology and moves to computerised signalling to control the movement of trains,” Minister said.
• He said the government was spending 1.2 lakh crore this year to upgrade infrastructure and move to completely computerised signalling.

Revenue and passenger traffic

• The Minister said a committee had been set up to review the flexi-fare system and recommend best options to protect the interests of passengers and the Railways
• The flexi-fare system, started in September 2016, has generated more revenue but overall passenger traffic in popular premium trains like Shatabdi, Rajdhani and Duronto Express had gone down.
• This has prompted the Railway Board to review its dynamic pricing system since it pushes up fare by 10% after a certain number of seats priced at a particular price band gets sold out.

Source

The hindu.