Chennai, July 3 (Inditop.com) Railways Minister Mamata Banerjee’s budget proposals presented in the Lok Sabha Friday did not include private sector participation in running of passenger trains on tourist routes, as suggested by the Economic Survey 2008-09.
“Private entry into provision of passenger trains must be allowed to and from all the tourist destinations,” the survey tabled in parliament a day earlier had said.
“About a dozen tourist routes could be identified and a single licence issued to private companies to provide passenger service to one or all routes,” it added.
The Indian Railways have allowed the entry of private companies to run luxury trains like the Palace on Wheels, Royal Rajasthan on Wheels and Deccan Odyssey to specific locations.
These trains are operated in partnership with the state governments on a revenue-sharing basis.
Banerjee, however, is in favour of the public-private partnership (PPP) model for setting up of electric multiple units (EMU) factory, development of integrated commercial complexes, modernisation of Railways’ printing presses and setting up of logistics parks.
