Pvt trains to be introduced in phases
NEWDELHI:INDIAN Railways plans to introduce private trains on its network in phases, with the first dozen due to start running in the 2023-24 financial year and all 151 by 2027, officials aware of the plan said on condition of anonymity.
According to the railway ministry’s projections, the transporter will select the companies that will run the private trains by April 2021; the first 12 are expected to start plying by 2023-24, followed by 45 more in FY 2024-25, the next 50 in FY 2025-26 and the last 44 by 2026-27.
“It may be noted that private trains are slated to run from March 2023 only. Tenders will be finalised by March 2021 and trains will operate from March 2023,” the railway ministry said in a statement on Sunday.
The railway ministry on July 1 began the formal process of allowing private trains on 109 routes -- a process that aims to, for the first time, to open up one of the government’s most prominent enterprises that has in recent decades been outpaced by the demands of a rapidly growing economy.
The ministry issued request for qualification (RFQ) for private companies to run 151 trains spread over these routes, laying down specific conditions that will need to be met in a move that is meant to “introduce modern technologies and world class services” for one of India’s most popular modes of transport.
The ministry plans to run the trains along 12 clusters across its network. It has planned two clusters each it Delhi and Mumbai, and one cluster each in Secunderabad, Chennai, Howrah, Jaipur, Prayagraj, Chandigarh, Bengaluru, and Patna.
According to the ministry, the planned investment will come to around ₹30,000 crore, and a majority of the rakes (70%) will have o be manufactured in India; private entities cleared to run the train services shall be responsible for financing, procuring, operating and maintaining the trains.
“The investment by private sector will enable Indian Railways to spend its existing resources for accelerated development of railway infrastructure in the north-eastern states, other socially, economically backward regions and also upgrade its existing infrastructure for running more trains and at higher speed,” an official said.
“The private entity shall pay to Indian Railways fixed haulage charges, energy charges as per actual consumption and a share in gross revenue determined through a transparent bidding process. Railways is expected to receive total haulage charges of around ~3,000 crore per annum from operation of these 151 trains,” the official cited above added.