The Whitepaper and Vision Document project a cumulative losses of Rs.14, 000 crores during the five year stewardship of Lalu Prasad from 2004-05 to 2008-09 in the UPA-1 without raising passenger fare, and endeavouring to make Indian Railways from the existing No.3 to No.2 and then No. 1 with expansion of its network by 25,000 route kilo metres in the next ten years against 10,000 route kilo metres added during the last 63 years since Independence with high speed dedicated freight and segregated passenger services, and raising speed of freight trains to 100 kilo metres per hour and passenger services from the existing 130-140 kilo metres to 200-250 kilo metres with several bullet trains at the higher speed of 300 plus kilo metres per hour. All these require massive resources. There is a question mark as to where from the required resources will come?

Railways raise its resources from three sources: internal resource generation from earnings from fare, freight and also now commercially unutilised land bank, budgetary support and market borrowings. Unless fare and freight rates are increased, (not possible given Minister's public posturing) budgetary support increased considerably, (not possible given Centre's other pressingly important priorities, market borrowings enhanced, (not possible given the fact that it is a debt trap and private sector being wary to invest in the development of railways because of long gestation period and their cherished profiteering not fructifying). So the options before Banerjee are limited. One is at wits end how will she meet ambitious railway development plan! People are watching!