Indian railways suffer from lack of investment: Suresh Prabhu

New Delhi, May 10 (IANS) Union Minister Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu on Tuesday said the Indian railways system suffers from lack of investment which has hampered its growth.

Railway Minister Prabhu, who spoke at the inauguration event of Comrade Umraomal Purohit Memorial Research Centre here, compared the under-investment situation in the Indian railways with that of the Amtrak railway system of the US.

Prabhu pointed out that studies have shown that Amtrak got "derailed" due to lack of timely investment.

"Similarly, there was lot of concern in India that not enough investment was made into the Indian railway system over the years, hampering its expansion and modernisation," Prabhu was quoted in a railway ministry statement.

Further Prabhu said that the government's decision to enhance investments into the sector will save Indian railways from under-investment.

"Now the tempo of investment is continuing and more and more funds will continue to be invested in the railways in the years to come," the minister said.

"Secondly, we are focusing on brining in best technology to ensure fully safe railway operations. We are also concentrating on more investment in research and development."