No privatisation of rail services: MoS

Minister of State for Railways Manoj Sinha on Monday said that there are no plans to privatise the railway services. However, outsourcing of certain facilities like cleaning, pay and use toilets, retiring rooms, parking, ticketing etc. is done on <g data-gr-id="20">need based</g> manner to improve efficiency. “As per the sectoral guidelines for domestic/foreign direct investment issued in <g data-gr-id="25">November,</g> 2014, private participation is permissible in suburban corridor projects through PPP, <g data-gr-id="21">high speed</g> train projects, dedicated freight lines, rolling stock manufacturing and maintenance facilities, railway electrification, signalling system, freight terminals/logistics parks, passenger terminals, etc,” said Sinha in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha.

Minister of State for Railways Manoj Sinha in Lok Sabha said that Railway proposes to provide Wi-Fi in all A1, A & B category stations. There are total 709 such stations on Indian Railways (A1-75, A-332 and B-302), including 34 stations in Gujarat and 45 stations in Maharashtra. Trials for <g data-gr-id="23">provision</g> of Wi-Fi at stations with no capital investment from Railways have been conducted. These trials were conducted to find a suitable business model to sustain the system.  At present, the Wi-Fi facility has been provided at 11 stations.