Should Indian Railways move towards a market-oriented allocation of train paths? | The Indian Express

Should Indian Railways move towards a market-oriented allocation of train paths? | The Indian Express

Written by R Badri Narayan |Updated: October 23, 2019 9:39:59 am

The writer is an officer of the Indian Railway Traffic Service, 1986 batch. Views are personal

Should Indian Railways move towards a market-oriented allocation of train paths?

Private train operators can introduce competition. Separation of infrastructure management from transportation services is not required

Recent announcements indicate that IRCTC, currently a fully-owned subsidiary, has been roped in to kick-start the process by operating train services with value-added features.(Representational)

Indian Railways is looking at the prospect of private operators running passenger services on the government-owned network. The Bibek Debroy committee had felt that the rail industry needs to be liberalised by allowing the entry of private operators to provide services.