Passenger trains do not make good profits because the fares for the non-AC classes are very cheap, and the unreserved class fares are practically nothing compared to the running cost of the train ( Fuel bills, maintenance cost and electricity bills etc). It is said too often that IR makes losses on passenger trains, but to be more accurate, they often get a profit, but the profit will be too less compared to the expenses ( officially termed as 'Operating ratio'). While there is definitely a lot of corruption, the lack of profits from passenger trains is largely due to cheap fares.