Railways to reach your living rooms
04 July 2006, Financial Express

NEW DELHI, JULY 03:

Earthy wisdom apart, Lalu Prasad now wants to draw audience by planning a television channel. The railways are currently scouting for a private operator with a pan-India presence to operate the channel.

The proposal, according to Rail Bhavan officials, is still being evaluated. After studying its feasibility, the ministry might call for expressions of interest from media companies and operators to provide content and run it, they said.

“It (the channel) would have normal television content like family soaps, serials and news, along with bulletins and updates on railways-related information like train timings and availability of berths,” an official said.

The channel will be owned jointly by the Railways, Railtel Corporation and a private operator. Once cleared, it will replace the existing closed-circuit television sets at railway stations across the country.

The officials said, the idea was to end passengers’ isolation as they waited for trains. The channel will have a captive audience of over 11 million passengers the railways carry every day. The venture was a part of the railways’ strategy to provide world-class facilities, the officials added.

Sources said Hindustan Futuristics Communication proposed to set up such a channel for Punjab. But the ministry was keen on a private operator with an all-India reach..

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