Indian Railways is all set to privatize two very crucial train routes: New Delhi to Lucknow and Mumbai to Shirdi.
What is the logic behind this?
Meanwhile, as per the recently unveiled 100-day plan of Indian Railways, important trains running between New Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata will now run at 160 km/hr, and a budget too has been allocated.
We will try to find the exact reasons behing these two new developments.
New Dehli-Mumbai, Mumbai-Shirdi Routes Will Be Privatized
We had reported this week that privatization is about to hit indian Railways, and now, it has been almost confirmed.
As per reports coming in, Indina Railways will initiat privatization of several routes, which cover a distance of less than 500 kms.
New Delhi to Lucknow and Mumbai to Shirdi routes have been finalized for the trial run, wherein private operators will handle everything related with fares, operations and more.
New Delhi to Lucknow covers 550 kms, and is one of the busiest routes with 50 trains running daily, including one Shatabdi, and several long distance Rajdhanis.
This can be a very interesting move.
Mumbai Shirdi route is under 300 kms, and there is no Shatabdi in that route as of now, but and two super-fast trains are currently running between them. Being a pilgrimage route, this is also jam-packed almost every month.
Bengaluru-Chennai, Ahmedabad-Mumbai and Trivandrum-Kannur are other routes which are being considered for privatization.
There has been no news regarding the reaction of employee unions regarding this new development, since they have opposed privatization since long.
Rajdhani, Shatabdi Will Run At 160 Kmph Speed
Meanwhile, new updates are coming in, regarding the speed of trains between New Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata.
Under the 100-days plan, Delhi-Mumbai, Delhi-Howrah routes will be upgraded to support trains running at 160 kmph speed. To start with, all Rajdhanis and Shatabdi Express trains running in these routes will be upgraded to 160 kmph speed.
And this is not just rumor, because Indian Railways has already allocated a sum of Rs 13,500 crore for the same.
A senior unnamed Railway official said, “In a proposal approved by Railway Minister Piyush Goyal, the Railways plans to increase the train speed to 160 kmh on the busy routes of Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Howrah in the next four years.”
Final approval regarding the same will be received from Cabinet Committee for Economic Affairs (CCEA).
We will keep you updated, as we receive more updates.