Despite India's independence 77 years ago, a railway line in Maharashtra remains under British control. Indian Railways has been unsuccessful in acquiring it and continues to pay royalties.
Even after 77 years of India's independence, a railway line in Maharashtra is still managed by a British company. Indian Railways made several attempts to buy this railway line, but they were unsuccessful. The British company, 'Killik Nixon & Co', still manages the Central Province Railway Company.
This company used to run the Shakuntala Express on the 190 km railway line from Amravati to Murtajapur in Maharashtra. After independence, the British left India. However, the British private company continues to hold authority over this route. Reports state that Indian Railways is paying a royalty of Rs 1.20 crore to that company.
Indian Railways has made several attempts to acquire the 190 km railway line from Amravati to Murtajapur. However, they were unsuccessful. Only one passenger train, Shakuntala Passenger, used to run on this railway line. Thus, the Shakuntala Railway Line is the name of this route. Shakuntala Express used to stop at 17 stations between Achalpur and Yavatmal. This train ran on a steam engine for almost 70 years.
A diesel engine was installed on the Shakuntala Passenger train in 1994. After that, the train was stopped due to unforeseen reasons. Locals are demanding that it be restarted. This train with 5 bogies used to carry 800 to 1,000 passengers to their destinations every day. Indian Railways was nationalized in 1951. But this railway line did not come under the purview of the Indian government.
Indian Railways used to pay a royalty of Rs 1.20 crore to the England company for using the Amravati-Murtajapur railway line. However, several reports say that the situation has changed now. It is said that there is no need to pay royalty now.
Cotton is grown in Amravati, Maharashtra. The British built this railway line to transport cotton from Amravati to the Mumbai port. The Central Provinces Railway Company (CPRC) established Killik Nixon & Co. of Britain to build this railway.
The construction of this railway line started in 1903 and was completed in 1916. When India got independence in 1947, Indian Railways entered into an agreement with this company. Therefore, royalty had to be paid to the company every year for using this route.