Private train operations are likely to begin by April 2023, all coaches will be procured under Make in India policy,” said Chairman of Railway Board on Thursday.
During an online media interaction on the subject of private participation in running passenger trains, Vinod Kumar Yadav today.
Yadav said that Private participation in passenger train operations will only be 5 per cent of the total operations of Railways. if any performance indicators are not met by private players in passenger train operations they will be penalised. Train sets have to be brought by private operators and maintained by them, he added.
“Fares in private trains will be competitive and prices on other modes of transport like airlines, buses have to be kept in mind while fixing the fares,” he further said.
The private trains will operate in 12 clusters, including Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Jaipur, Delhi, Mumbai, Patna, Prayagraj, Secunderabad, Howrah, Chennai.
Yadav expects financial bids for private trains by February or March and expects to finalise financial bids by April 2021. Request For Quotation bids will be finalised by September.
The Railways on Wednesday formally started its plans to allow private entities to operate passenger trains on its network by inviting request for qualifications (RFQ) for participation on 109 pairs of routes through 151 modern trains. The project would entail a private sector investment of about ₹30,000 crore, it said.
