

VADODARA : China will help in ramping up Indian Railways . This is what railway minister Suresh Prabhu said here on Saturday.

On PM Narendra Modi's visit to China, Prabhu said the agreement between National Railway Administration of China and the Ministry of Railways is for enha- ncing cooperation in the railway sector. The agreement was one of the 24 deals signed between the two countries during the Prime Minister's visit to China.

"China has agreed to help us on the rail link from New Delhi to Chennai for which a feasibility report is being prepared. Also, China will support us in railway station development project," said Prabhu, who was on a one-day visit to the city. He further added, "China will also provide us expertise in development of railway universities."

While China has expressed its intention to support Indian on the high-speed rail corridor project, other countries like Japan and France too have come forward to help modernize India's rail system. "Japan is supporting us in Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project for which a feasibility study is being carried out. Similarly, other railway modernization projects are being supported by countries like South Korea, France, Germany, Spain and Czech Republic among others," said Prabhu.

"In fact, whichever country Prime Minister Narendra Modi has visited - be it Germany or Canada - he has talked about development of the Indian Railways. PM's focus is on development of Indian Railways as he believes that railways can transform India," he said.

On announcements made in the railway budget, he said, "Whether announcements were regarding passenger amenities or about infrastructure projects, we have ensured that work on most of the announcements starts immediately on the ground without any delay."

Comparing the condition of Indian Railways with that of a patient in ICU, Prabhu said you can't expect a patient who has just come out of an ICU to run the marathon. "We know about the problems. We have the prescription but everything takes time," he said.

