"The Railways today has become a mess," former railway minister Dinesh Trivedi told
rediff.com as he spoke about the fire on the Tamil Nadu Express that claimed 37 lives in the wee hours of Monday. "Cancer has set in the Railways years back. It's like a disease that has never been treated and hence people continue to die."
"The Indian railway system has become obsolete. I tried to bring in railway safety and you know what happened. I had said that the Indian Railways needs to be modernised."
Trivedi was asked to step down as railway minister in March after he hiked passenger fares.
"The system is letting people die every day. It amounts to murder and utter negligence. You ask me if there
is hope? I do not see any hope. As long as there is politics in the railways nothing will ever improve. Depoliticise the railways if you want solutions. There can never be any easy solutions. We know the problems and we know the solutions too. But do we want to act on it," asked the former minister.
Slamming Dr Manmohan Singh, Trivedi said, "The prime minister is more worried about losing his chair. He ought to understand that the lives of the people are far more important.""Money for the Railways is not the problem. It is the intention that counts. Poor people are dying and why would they care. They announce a compensation of Rs 5 lakh and end the matter."
"If there is no improvement in the Railways then you will see such deaths more often," he added.