Nitish rules out privatisation of Railways

JABALPUR: Union Railway Minister Nitish Kumar on Sunday ruled out privatisation of Railways, though he said private participation has been allowed in services like catering.
Talking to reporters after inaugurating broad gauge line work between Jabalpur and Gondia (Maharashtra) section, Nitish said the railways would be spending around Rs 16,000 crore on renovation of old rail tracks during the next six years.
Earlier, speaking at a function after flagging off the Jabalpur-Habibganj (Bhopal) ‘Janashatabdi Express’ here, the minister said railways is chalking out a work-plan for giving a boost to tourism.
He said the Railways had started 16 ‘Shatabdi Express’ trains in last 16 years while 16 ‘Janashatabdi Express’ were launched in last nine months to commemorate 150 years of Indian Railways.
Appealing to the passengers not to travel without purchasing tickets, he said the Railways had to spend around Rs 1.5 crore per coach, Rs 5 crore per engine, in addition to a huge amount for running the establishment, and passenger fares and freight amount was the only way of generating resources for the system.
He also released a book of Hindi poems written by Sushil Chandra, PA to general manager of Central Railway, on the 150-year-old history of Railways.
The Union Minister for Civil Supplies Sharad Yadav, Minister of State for Tribal Welfare Faggan Singh Kulaste, MPs Prahlad Patel, Ram Naresh Tripathi and Jayashree Banerjee were among those present on the occasion.