reporter: a belief borne out by warren buffett's 26 billion dollar investment in the burlington northern santa fe railway. >>yet in india the trains are neglected and the system is creaking. >>construction started in the mid-1800s and rail was nationalized in the 1950s. this points control equipment was installed in 1932 and has seen better days. >>agnihotri: it faces the problem of funding. they only have to make a road and the trucks and everything else is brought by somebody else. in railways you not only make railway lines you have to provide for locomotives, coaches, wagons, everything. so it is actually what i should say a very intensive utilisation of capital. >>reporter: the focus for the government in recent years has been on expanding the roads. it has embarked on a programme to build 15,000 kilometres of new roads at an estimated cost of 30 billion dollars. cheaper than improving the rail freight network, but perhaps only in the short term. >>mehrotra: over a long-distance transportation, roads can never match the cost benefits which the rail transportation gives. rail transportation will be a