Monsoon Session of Parliament: No proposal to privatise Indian Railways, says Union minister Piyush Goyal

Indian Railways has been in news over rumours of privatization over the last few days, however, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal recently informed Lok Sabha that there is no proposal to privatise the national transporter. The announcement came against the backdrop of a proposal of Indian Railways to give two trains to private operators.

The Railway Minister, in his written reply stated that so far, no specific passenger train has been identified to be run by private payers. However, sources told Financial Express Online that Indian Railways has identified New Delhi-Lucknow Tejas Express train as the first to be run by private operators via IRCTC.

On the other hand, Minister of State for Railways Suresh Angadi, while responding to a supplementary question, said that further studies on the issue are on and trials will be conducted in the coming days. According to the report, Goyal was also asked whether he is aware that a report submitted to the United Nations General Assembly last year in September had highlighted challenges presented by large-scale privatization to the protection of human rights.