CHENNAI: The financial situation of the Railways has grown precarious, said All India Railwaymen’s Federation (AIRF) general secretary S G Mishra. He urged the government to reimburse the subsidy bills incurred by Railways, to help it tide over the crisis.He said, while operating costs have risen tremendously, rail fares were not revised for over eight years. The Centre hasn’t reimbursed the amount — over `20,000 crore — spent by the Railways to meet the ‘social burden’ through lower passenger fares as well as subsidised freight rates. With over 200,000 unfilled vacancies, the existing staff, especially the safety officers, were overburdened and this has effected safety.The government’s promise of filling up vacant posts has not gained momentum, Mishra said. He also said, the AIRF general body meeting will start on Monday. Southern Railway Mazdoor Union general secretary N Kanniah said that while the driver was blamed on the Arakonam train mishap, the signals and Anti-Collision Devices snags had gone unnoticed.
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