14 potential routes identified in Karnataka for private trains

With Indian Railways starting the process of allowing private players to operate passenger trains in its network as it invited Request for Qualification (RFP), the national transporter identified 14 potential routes in Karnataka to run such trains.

Bengaluru - Patna ( 5 days a week), Bengaluru-Gorakhpur (Bi-Weekly), Bengaluru-Prayagraj (Bi-Weekly), Bengaluru-Visakhapatnam (Tri-Weekly), Bengaluru-Jaipur(Weekly), Chennai-Mangaluru (Weekly), Guwahati-Bengaluru (Tri-Weekly), Mysuru-Guwahati (Tri-Weekly), Mysuru-Bubaneshwar (Daily), Bengaluru-Delhi (Daily), Bengaluru-Howrah (Daily), Ranchi-Bengaluru (Bi-Weekly), Kalaburagi-Mumbai (6 days a week), Mangaluru-Mysuru (6 days a week) are the routes identified by railways.

As per proposal, private players can bid for operation on trains on 109 pairs of routes across the country, through the introduction of 151 modern trains.

Out of 106 pairs of routes, the railways identfied 14 routes connecting major cities in Karnataka to other places where demand for passenger trains are high. These trains will be in addition to existing trains on these routes. The existing trains plying on these routes will continue to operate, said an official in the railways.

Earlier Railway Board Chairman V K Yadav said, the private operators are allowed to bring their own train sets, maintained by them. Private train operations are likely to begin by April 2023, all coaches will be procured under Make in India policy.

The concession period for the project will be 35 years and private entities will be responsible for financing, procuring, operation and maintenance of the trains.

The trains are to be designed for a maximum speed of 160 kmph.

The private companies, which bag the tender to operate the train, have to pay lease charges and haulage charges (or freight charges for using infrastructure) to Indian Railways. Apart from fixing fare, the private companies also have provided inside facilities like catering, cleaning and supply of blankets to passengers.

Fares in private trains will be competitive and prices on other modes of transport like airlines, buses will have to be kept in mind.

With several companies including Indigo, Vistara, Spice Jet, R K Catering and Make My Trip and others showing interest to partipate in operating private trains, the ministry is keen on starting the project at the earliest.

During pre-lockdown period, IRCTC, a catering and ticketing arm of railways, operated three trains- New Delhi-Lucknow, Mumbai -Ahmedabad and Ujjain-Varanasi. Since all the three trains operated successfully with occupancy more than 70 per cent, the railways wanted to hand over more routes to private companies, said the official.