End of the line for India’s national railways? [BBC News]
Date: 07/04/2015
India is a trainspotter's paradise. The rail network has more than 9,000 locomotives - 43 of which are still steam-powered. This vast fleet pulls almost half a million wagons and more than 60,000 passenger coaches over 115,000 or so kilometres (70,000 miles) of track. The railways operate more than 12,000 trains, carrying some 23 million passengers daily. This vast public enterprise is virtually a state within a state. It runs schools, hospitals, police forces and building companies and employs a total of 1.3 million people, making it the seventh biggest employer in the world. But it could soon be broken up.
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A new report suggests that India's railways need a bracing injection of competition, but will the government relent?
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