CHANDIGARH: The ministry of railways is all set to privatise the Kalka-Shimla toy train heritage section.
A policy envisaging this landmark change has been approved by NITI Ayog under the Centre’s National Monetisation Pipeline, an asset monetisation mechanism for central public sector entities announced in this year’s Budget.
As per the policy, most commercial activities under the Kalka-Shimla toy train section will be given to a private company, which may include ticketing, coach maintenance, tracks maintenance, cleanliness, tuck shops contracts, platform maintenance and other passenger amenities.
However, track repair and replacement as well as railway safety assurance will be vested with the ministry of railways. Privatisation will include signaling system, overhead electrification lines, overhead equipments (OHE), and general maintenance of tracks.
Ambala divisional railway manager Gurinder Mohan Singh said, “The policy has been notified by NITI Ayog, but I am yet to go through the points of the policy. Yes, privitaisation was on the charts and it may be implemented.”
The process to privatise the section has been initiated and it may come into existence by the end of 2022, reads the NITI Aayog report.
Key assets for monetisation over the financial year of 2022 to 2025 include 400 railway stations, including Chandigarh railway station, with 1,400km of the rail network and four hill railways, which include Kalka-Shimla section.
