"We must seize the opportunity, build more railways, and build them fast," he told a conference in 2009.
But the Chancellor did talk about more than railways in his speech.
Note, though, that there are exceptions; for example, low-traffic roads with a high proportion of heavy vehicles may be more like railways in terms of the noise profile.
He added that privately funded railway projects based on customers' needs were "exactly what Network Rail is all about" and called for "many more railway upgrades following this model in future".
This new railroad initiated the construction of more railway lines, causing significant developments in railway mapping and cartography, iron and steel manufacturing, as well as in any industries requiring more efficient transportation.
Mr Modi points out that foreigners may now invest more in railways, insurance and defence.
There was more oil spilled from railways in 2013 in the US than in the 36 prior years combined.
On Tuesday, Mr. Bansal managed to raise more revenue for the railways in the budget he presented in Parliament, without resorting to additional fare increases.
The Serco Group now runs everything from prisons to railways in more than 30 countries, combining, in the words of its website, "a deep public service ethos with the commercial know-how that gives us the ability to deliver".
It's also nice to see organisations such as Network Rail, which usually grind their projects into dust through processes of procurement and value engineering, rediscovering some of the vim of their railway-building forebears, especially as more people now travel on railways in Britain than at any time before, including their Victorian-Edwardian heyday.
