Fast trains at slow speed: Why railway privatisation should not be hasty

The experience with 50 stations and 150 trains should be a learning experience, helping frame sensible rules that are not unfair to new operators and also don't attract criticism, writes T N Ninan

The issues to do with privatising railway services are not matters of principle, but practical questions to make the exercise a success. Many countries have privatised parts or all of their railway operations: the UK, Japan, Canada, Sweden, Australia, New Zealand, and so on. Egypt has started the process, while Argentina has moved much further down the road (or rail track). Many of these countries had begun with private railways a century or more ago, nationalised them when railway companies ran into trouble, and are now rolling back state ownership and/or operations.
 
India too began with private railway companies