Indian Railways plans to invite private players to run trains on select routes

The Indian Railways is looking to explore options to join hands with private operators to run passenger trains on select tourist routes, generally the ones who receives less congestion. A Railway Board document revealed that the department will invite bids for the same in the next 100 days. To begin with, the Railways is thinking of giving two trains to its tourism and ticketing subsidiary, IRCTC to operate. The ticketing and on board services will be provided by IRCTC and the Railways will receive a lump sum amount in return. These trains will be run on routes which have “low congestion and connect important tourist spots”, which will be identified by Railways.

Subsequently, the railways will float the expression of interests to identify operators willing to participate in the bidding process for rights to run passenger day/ overnight train sets connecting important cities, according communication shared among Railway Board members.

The letter said that the railways will consult trade unions while finalising the contours of inviting private players to run passenger trains on select routes.