The Railways is in discussion with the NITI Aayog to have profits and losses shared not just for capital expenditure of new projects, but for the operational side too, according to a top official.

The Railways has started taking up projects on a cost sharing basis with States.

The move is important as many States do not close existing operational train lines, even though they are loss making for the Railways. The official added this is only for new projects not for existing projects.

Now, this year, the Railways has lost approximately seven million tonne of cargo (which could help it earn ₹700 crore) till January 24 in 2016-17 due to strike calls, fogs, and other unusual incidents.

On the passenger side, Railways has lost ₹100 crore due to such incidents, said Mohd Jamshed, Member-Traffic, Railways, at a press conference.

More special trains

The Railways is also increasing the number of special trains. “We have run 27,000 special trains this year against 24,000 trains last year. We are seeing 80 per cent occupancy in the trains,” added Jamshed.

Speaking of safety and security in the context of multiple accidents recently, he said the Railways was taking all possible steps to arrest such unfortunate occurrences. But, he said that there is no shortage of funds for safety.

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