The Indian Railways has decided to launch the private passenger trains in phases. The first set of these private passenger trains which will comprise of 12 trains, is reported to be launched by the year 2023.
As stated by the railway authorities, the entire batch of 151 trains will be rolled out for public usage by the year 2027. Railways plans to finalize the companies that will be operating private passenger trains by the end of April 2021 & the launch is planned as the first set of 12 trains by 2023-24, followed by the second set of 45 trains in FY 2024-25, the next set with 50 trains in FY 2025-26 and the last set comprising of 44 trains by 2026-27.
“It may be noted that private trains are slated to run from March 2023 only. Tenders will be finalized by March 2021 and Trains will operate from March 2023,” the railway ministry said in a statement on Sunday.
The initiative is being taken as a part of offering enhanced services to the passengers as well as generating profitable revenue for the national transporter.
“The investment by the 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 are expected to receive total haulage charges of around Rs. 3,000 crores per annum from the operation of these 151 trains,” the official cited above added.
The fares for the private trains will be based out on the fares of other competitive transports including air-transportation as well as air-conditioned buses.