The Indian Railways is all set to modernise its services and operations to meet the aspirations of the new generation rail travellers as well as to fend off competition from low-cost airlines.

  • The first and one of the most important plans is to run private trains. The plan is to allow Indian Railways tourism and services company, IRCTC to run two private trains o. The PSU will be free to fix its own fares. If the trial is successful, bids would be invited from private train operators.
  • Railways is upgrading tracks between Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Kolkata to increase the maximum speed of trains from 130 km/h to 160 km/h.

Other projects for modernisation involve: –

  • To eliminate all 2,568 manned railway crossings and replace them with underpasses or overbridges by 2023.
  • Corporatise the seven production units of the Indian Railways which manufacture coaches, wagons and locomotives.
  • To provide wi-fi coverage at 6,485 railway stations across the country.
  • To install advanced signalling systems to increase the speed of trains along with improved safety.
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