New Delhi: The first batch of 12 private trains in the country will start operations in 2023, after which 45 such trains will start in the next financial year. According to a railway official, all 151 such private trains will start by 2027 as per their predetermined schedule. The railway invited proposals to run 151 modern passenger trains on 109 pairs of routes across the country earlier this month to formally pursue its plan to allow private companies to operate passenger trains on its network. Huh.
Regarding private trains, the Railways plan to run 12 such trains in 2022-23. After this, there are plans to start 45 trains in the year 2023-24, 50 in the year 2025-26 and 44 in the next financial year. In this way, a total of 151 trains will be started by the financial year 2026-27. The Request for Qualification (RFQ) issued on July 8 in this regard is expected to be finalized by November and financial bids will be opened by March 2021. After this, bidders are expected to be selected by 31 April 2021. The official said that the project will be awarded to bidders offering maximum share in the total revenue.
A senior official said, we have prepared a plan, under which we are expected to start private train operations. Tenders will be finalized by March 2021 and trains will start operating from March 2023. Railways has said that 70 percent of private trains will be manufactured in India, which will be designed for a maximum speed of 160 kilometers per hour.
He informed that 10-15 percent of the travel time will be saved if trains run at 130 km per hour and up to 30 percent will be saved for running at a speed of 160 km per hour. He said that the railway is expected to get around 3,000 crore rupees per year from the operation of these 151 trains. Only the drivers and guards of Indian Railways will be kept on these trains.
