New Delhi ( Metro Rail News): The Railways has recently invited private firms to run private trains on 109 busy routes of the Rail Network. In the progress of the matter, as many as 23 private players are taking part in the process including the biggest players of the World Market of Railways & Metros Alstom and Bombardier.
The documents released by the Railways said that there shall be no regulatory authority to decide the fare of these private trains giving a free hand to the private operators to decide a fare which will probably be higher than the existing fares of Rajdhani and Satabdi trains of the Indian Railways as per different sources.
The entry of the private companies is going to change the whole game of Railway sector in India. If they are successful in operating on these 109 routes which the government is taking as a trial, we may then expect more private trains in the future. As these all firms are not coming to the board of Railways for any charity, it shall be clear that they shall be charging well to make profits.
Everything has its pros and cons. This move too has same thing when we analyse the complete scenerio. A lot of routes are there on the network of Indian Railways which always run with overcrowded trains. The initiative to run private trains will ease travel on these routes and it will be beneficial for those who may afford a good price. The services too will be better in these proposed trains as well as they will provide faster travel than those of the existing trains.
The move is being criticised by many political associations as they term it an anti-poor move. There are chances but as of now, these trains are not going to affect the poors as the Railways will still be running 95% of total trains once these private trains start operation in full swing. However, if the government decides to go for further privatization of the sector then it may create problems for the commoners.
As these corporate sectors plan and prepare to execute their ideas for running these trains, there is both Optimism and Pessimism among the two classes of Indian society. The people who need better & safe travel and have enough money to pay for it , are optimistic about the move while those who can’t pay are pessimistic about the matter as they are taking it as a move to fully privatized Railways.
The reality, however, remains with the future and the success of these private players in running these trains. Speculations are however on that the Railways may get fully privatized but as of current scenario, it doesn’t seem feasible at any cost. The future, however, is unknown and anything may happen. We shall wait and see at least the full operation of these trains to determine whether the Railways is going to be a joint venture of Private & Public trains or gets fully privatized.
The opinions and views expressed are personal.
Stay tuned with us for latest updates on the matter.
