Indian Railways Rules Out Plans To Run Regular Passenger Train Service By Private Operators

Putting the private train operation proposal in cold storage, Indian Railways has made it clear that it is not considering running regular passenger trains by private operators.

Incidentally, two and half years before the railways had made a grand proposal to run 150 trains in the private sector.

While the two Tejas trains being operated by Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) have made losses in the last two years, there were not many takers for private train operation proposals in the recent past.

According to a statement given by Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, the New Delhi-Lucknow Tejas has made profit of Rs 2.33 crore in 2019-20, in 2020-21 it made a loss of Rs 16.79 crore, and 2021-22, the losses were Rs 8.50 crore.

The Mumbai-Ahmedabad Tejas, however, made losses of Rs 2.91 crore in 2019-20, Rs 16.45 crore in 2020-21, Rs 15.97 crore in 2021-22.

In view of Covid-19 pandemic both these trains were not operational for a long period and even the frequency of the trains was reduced. Due to this, IRCTC earned less revenue in operation of these two Tejas train services, Vaishnaw said.

He said at present, no proposal for operation of regular passenger trains, by private operators, is under consideration.

However, the railways has allowed operation of two Bharat Gaurav trains as tourist services. While one is being managed by the IRCTC, a railways subsidiary, the other tourists train is being run by a private entity.

While IRCTC-run Bharat Gaurav is on the Ramayan circuit, the other one by a private operator is a full round trip from Coimbatore to Shirdi and back.