Top firms in race to operate private trains in India

Several top firms including L&T Infrastructure Development Projects Limited, IRB Infrastructure and GMR group are in the race to operate private passenger trains in the country.

Indian Railways has received a massive response from private companies for its plan to allow private players to operate passenger trains.

The Railways on Wednesday opened bidding for private players for Request for Qualifications (RFQ) to operate passengers trains

A total of 15 companies submitted 120 applications for 12 clusters to operate trains, the Railways said in a statement.

The companies that sent in their applications were -- Megha Engineering and Infrastructures Limited, Sainath Sales and Services Pvt Ltd, IRB Infrastructure Developers Limited, Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), GMR Highways Limited, Welspun Enterprises Limited, Gateway Rail Freight Limited, Cube Highways and Infrastructure III Pte Ltd, Malempati Power Private Limited, L&T Infrastructure Development Projects Limited, RK Associates and Hoteliers Pvt Ltd, Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles, S.A, PNC Infratech Ltd, Arvind Aviation and Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL).

The Railways had earlier invited Request for Qualifications (RFQ) for private participation in the operation of passenger train services over 12 clusters comprising 140 Origin Destination pairs of routes through the introduction of 151 modern trains.

The private entities would be selected through a transparent two-stage competitive bidding process comprising the Request for Qualification (RFQ) and the Request for Proposal (RFP).

The RFP documents will be made available to the qualified applicants by November 2020. The Railways aimed at awarding all the clusters by February 2021.

This is the first major initiative of attracting private investment for running passenger trains in the Indian railway network. The project is expected to entail private sector investment of about Rs 30,000 crore.

As per the plan, the Railways will roll out out private trains by March 2023. These new trains will be over and above the existing ones operated by the Railways.