New Delhi, September 1: Indian Railways is focussed on modernising its ways, and for this, the public service undertaking is mulling to introduce private passenger trains soon. Along with this, the railways would corporatise all its seven production units such as the Raebareli-based Modern Coach Factory and the Integral Coach Factory in Chennai. Though the proposal is in place, the implementation of it might take some time. Indian Railways to Restore Service Charges on E-Tickets From September 1

According to a report, published in the Economic Times, the proposal has been tabled in the Union Railways Ministry, and the ruling dispensation is seriously considering these. Out of the 11 proposals, six proposals -- consisting the privatisation of its seven production units and plying private passenger trains -- are well on the shortlist transformative projects the Indian Railways.

The new Narendra Modi had in June had already approved these 11 projects and asked the concerned ministry to complete the task before it finishes 100 days of work on September 6. Railway Board Chairman Vinod Kumar Yadav’s letter, dated June 18, had asked the railways officials to complete their task by August 31.

As per to the initial detail, the projects are long-delayed as trade unions representing about 82,000 workers in the seven factories have objected the move and fiercely opposed the idea of converting their workplace into a public sector undertaking (PSU). The trade unions have been opposing the move as they see it as a ploy to eventually sell the asset to a private conglomerate. Manmohan Singh Blames 'Mismanagement' by Modi Government For Economic Slowdown, Urges Centre to Shun Vendetta Politics

Till this article was printed, only two of the six projects had been completed. One being the Rs 13,490 crore project to increase train speed of on the Delhi-Kolkata and Delhi-Mumbai routes from 130 kmph to 160 kmph. While the second one is the handing over of two trains to Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) to run, though the operations by the IR subsidiary has not started as of yet.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 01, 2019 01:12 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).