Government starts process of privatising 50 Railway Stations & 150 Trains

October 10: It was in the cards for a long time, but finally the Narendra Modi led BJP Government at the centre has initiated the process of privatising operations of 150 trains and 50 railway stations and is forming a task force to complete the process in a “time-bound” manner.

A letter from Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant to Chairman, Railway Board V.K. Yadav said an empowered group will be constituted to “drive the process”, which will comprise of Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs and Secretary, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs apart from Mr. Kant and Mr. Yadav.

The Tejas Express on Lucknow-Delhi route, which was flagged off on October 4, is the railways’ first experience of running a train by non-railway operator, its own subsidiary, IRCTC. A railway official has said that public response to this train has been impressive with trains running on full capacity. IRCTC has figured out a number of benefits for its passengers — combination meals, free insurance of up to ₹25 lakh and compensation in case of delays.