After crores of railway land, the train will now be leased to private companies

For online registration Rs. 1 lakh, for two years AC - Non AC AC hire companies will be able to decide the fare and route manually

Rajkot: Amid protests by employees, the Railway Ministry has launched an exercise to privatize railway services. Decisions are being taken under the guise of development to hand over crores of railway assets to private hands one by one. After the railways decided to lease crores of land for 99 years to build a staff colony in Rajkot, applications have now been invited from tour operators to hire trains in the name of promoting twin tourism to tourist destinations in Saurashtra.

The railway department, despite having sufficient manpower and machinery, is seeking the help of private companies for infrastructure development and rail services. Railway Board Ta. A 24 page circular has been sent to all the zones on 24-11-21 giving guidelines for running 'Bharat Goirav Train' to promote tourism and cultural activities, the research of which has been carried out by the zones and railway divisions. Under this project, railway coaches will be hired for a minimum of two years. AC - Non AC coach fares are kept separate. A minimum of 18 coaches and a maximum of 20 coaches can be hired.

If any tour operator or service provider is interested in renting these coaches to run the train, a fee of Rs. 1 lakh (non-refundable). The most important thing is that after hiring a coach, private companies will be able to decide the fare and route of this train, which means that the railway system will not have the job of determining the time, operational route and fare of the train. The circular also mentions that the railways have been involved in accidents and the companies concerned will be responsible for insurance and compensation.

Saurashtra has a railway network under the Rajkot and Bhavnagar railway divisions. Today, the authorities of these two railway divisions have invited applications from tourism professionals for hiring trains under the Bharat Goirav Train project. In Saurashtra, Somnath, Talala, Sasan, Junagadh, Dwarka, Porbandar, Okha, Jamnagar, Rajkot and other historical and tourist destinations have been developed. Employees' unions have long opposed the privatization of railway services, yet such decisions are being taken by the ministry.