Will Indian Railways Run Passenger Trains By Private Operators? Railway Minister Clarifies

IRCTC Latest News Today: Years after the national transporter unveiled plans to hand over certain routes to private operators, Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Friday said there is no proposal under consideration for the operation of passenger trains by private players.Also Read – IRCTC Update: Indian Railways Cancels Over 100 Trains Today. Check List Here

In a written reply in Rajya Sabha, the Railway Minister said the railways currently has no proposals in this regard. Also Read – Will Indian Railways Restore Concession in Ticket Fare For Senior Citizens? Ashwini Vaishnaw Replies

Earlier, the national transporter had planned 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. Also Read – Railways Suffered Recurring Loss: Govt Decides Against Restoring Concessions on Fares for Senior Citizens

However, only two bidders, IRCTC and Megha Engineering & Infrastructures, evinced interest at the financial bidding stage.

This has now led to the whole proposal being put on the back burner because of lack of interest among private players.

Vaishnaw had on Wednesday informed the Lok Sabha as well that “at present” there is no plan to run regular passenger trains by private operators.

“Train sets have to be brought by private operators and maintained by them. We are expecting that the private train operations will begin by April 2023. All the train sets and coaches will be procured under this project will be as par Make in India policy,” former railway board chairman VK Yadav had said in 2020.