'Railway proposals a win-win for industry and rail sector'

THE HINDU BUSINESS LINE ,OUR BUREAU

AHMEDABAD, FEB 1: 

Terming the Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's railway sector proposals as focused reforms, Bombardier has set its eyes on a robust Indian rail market and exports.

Harsh Dhingra, Chief Country Representative, India, Bombardier Transportation, said the Budget provisions clearly outlines the path and focus on safety with a focused fund corpus of Rs. 100,000 crore.

Capital and development expenditure has been pegged at Rs. 1.31 lakh cr for the Railways in 2017-18. We are pleased with the concentrated efforts to transform the rail industry in India.

The metro policy for India will create more jobs and help in the standardisation of metro systems in India. Bombardier is one of the largest metro suppliers in India and the new metro policy is a win-win for the industry and rail transportation sector.

Bombardier is excited about prospects for increasing speeds, electrifying current and existing lines, dedicated freight and passenger lines, which would increase the demand for procurement of rolling stock, rail equipment and signalling systems.

Funding was one of the biggest issues for Railways earlier and we are pleased with the concentrated efforts on outlining investments and funding avenues with innovative financing models.

Allocation of Rs. 55,000 crore for Railways is a step in the right direction with around 70 new projects identified.

Bombardier is one of the major global suppliers for commuter and inter-city trains along with semi-high speed (upto 200 kms p/h) and high-speed trains (from 250 to 380 kms p/h) across the world and we are delighted with the prospects of such projects gaining momentum in this Budget.

Bombardier is exploring various projects that are strategic for our local operations and are pleased with the actions taken to increase train speeds, upgrade existing rail infrastructure with increased track capacity, improve passenger comfort and technology innovations.

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Bombardier will keenly follow projects on Train Protection and Warning System (TPWS), which is a prime focus for Indian Railways.

In terms of transforming ways to operate, Bombardier clearly sees that Railways wants to objectively review and focus on life-cycle costs rather than the capital cost of procurement.

This is a positive sign for the rail industry that can build momentum for transforming the rail transport experience for commuters in the years to come.

(This article was published on February 1, 2017)