Railway unions protest against Coimbatore – Shirdi private train service

MADURAI: Dakshin Railway Employees Union (DREU) and Southern Railway Mazdoor Union (SRMU) staged demonstration in Madurai against Coimbatore – Shirdi Private Train services. The unions condemned the railway ministry for privatizing the railways and demanded that railways operate trains on its own.
Around 50 DREU members gathered at East Gate and raised slogans against the railways. DREU leaders R Sankaranarayanan and P Saravanan addressed the gathering.
SRMU members observed it as ‘black day’. They staged a protest in front of the IOW (Inspector of Works) office. They demanded suspension of the service of Coimbatore – Shirdi private train and withdrawal of the decision of selling Delhi – Nepal train as Ramayan Yathra to IRCTC (Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation). They said the railway should also abandon its decision to sell 100 express trains as tourism specials under ‘Bharat Gaurav’.
Assistant Divisional Secretary Ramkumar presided over the protest while SRMU divisional secretary J M Rafi addressed the protest meeting.
The private organization operating Coimbatore – Shirdi train is pricing the tickets at exorbitant profits, said Rafi. He insisted that railways should stop privatizing profit-making routes to private companies.
He said the railways should also stop selling railway assets in the name of monetization. The central government should stop selling profit making PSUs (Public Sector Undertaking) to private companies, Rafi said. Around 500 SRMU members participated in the protest meeting.