NEW DELHI, Dec. 25 (Xinhua) -- Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday ruled out privatization of the state-owned railways, putting a rest to all speculation about the issue.

"We will not privatize the railways," Modi said while addressing a gathering in his parliamentary constituency of Varanasi in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh.

Claiming that the government has to take the railways ahead, the prime minister said "Through the railways, we have to take the nation ahead."

He stressed the need to bring the world's wealth and put it in railways to take it forward and take progress forward.

"We see it as the backbone of India's development."

"If we use the railways properly, we can bring development to our villages. There is always electricity near a railway line. Even if there is one train that stops there, a station exists," Modi said.

He added that all the government needed to do "is to build two or three extra rooms at railway stations and use them for skill development and to train our youth."

"Whatever development has taken place since independence, you will see more development than that in the coming days," Modi said.

The ailing Indian Railways criss-crosses the country from north to south. It operates 9,000 passenger trains and carries some 18 million passengers daily.