New entity likely to run city's rly network

Union railway minister Dinesh Trivedi on Friday said his ministry was exploring the idea of handing over Mumbai's suburban railway network to a separate entity to run it in a professional manner.

Union railway minister Dinesh Trivedi on Friday said his ministry was exploring the idea of handing over Mumbai's suburban railway network to a separate entity to run it in a professional manner.

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The minister was in the city for a meeting with state government officials and parliamentarians from Maharashtra ahead of the Union railway budget. Trivedi also hinted that his ministry was open to the idea of roping in private players to run the suburban network.

"It's time to separate the suburban section from the Indian Railways. A special purpose vehi-cle can be formed for running the suburban system," said Tri-vedi. The minister also said they would undertake semi-privatisation (public-private participation) of major railway stations such as Dadar to provide world-class facilities to passengers.