Private Passenger Trains

There is no proposal under consideration for the operation of passenger trains by private players, the railways informed Parliament Friday, years after the national transporter unveiled plans to hand over certain routes to private parties.

In an effort to augment public transport in view of severe air pollution, the Delhi government is hiring around 1,000 private buses and has sought the DDMA's permission for standing passengers in Metro trains and buses in the city.

The government will allow private companies to set passenger fares once they start operating train services in the country, a move aimed at luring investors, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led administration opens up the railway network.

After deciding to privatise 151 passenger trains, the Centre is planning to auction railway stations to private players after modernising the facilities, Union Minister Piyush Goyal said on Monday.

Railway Board Chairperson VK Yadav on Wednesday said the decision of the Railways to bring in private entities to run 151 passenger trains will not result in any job losses but will increase employment opportunities, bring in new technology and also enable the national transporter to provide trains on demand.

Just like in airlines, passengers of private trains, once launched, could have to pay for preferred seats, baggage and onboard services, the earnings from which will be part of the gross revenue to be shared with the Railways, according to an official document.

Indian Railways, the world's fourth-largest network, is seeking investments from private firms to operate passenger trains for the first time, an initiative that could potentially revamp a notoriously inefficient system.

The Ministry of Railways invited proposals from private companies to run passenger trains, to overhaul the creaking infrastructure and facilitate growth in the sector.

The Railways on Wednesday formally kickstarted its plans to allow private entities to operate passenger trains on its network by inviting request for qualifications (RFQ) for participation on 109 pairs of routes through 151 modern trains, the national transporter said.

At present, the plan is to run 150 private passenger trains on select 100 routes and Ministry of Railways is working on a roadmap to implement it.

Passengers onboard the Lucknow-Delhi Tejas Express, the country's first private semi-high speed train, were being given biodegradable packaged drinking water bottles.

Hyderabad Metro Rail began its services on the 16-km stretch between Ameerpet to LB Nagar today. With this, the entire 29 km of Corridor-I from Miyapur to LB Nagar has become operational. The Governor of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana ESL Narasimhan flagged off the Hyderabad metro train at Ameerpet station at 12 noon. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had...

Two days after six commuters fell sick after consuming poor-quality food served on the New Delhi-Sealdah Rajdhani Express, the Railways has served termination notice to the caterer, RK Associates, a Kanpur-based private agency engaged in train catering. Some passengers protested at the Asansol station in West Bengal over the quality of food served ...

Aiming to attract more fliers and achieve higher seat occupancy in its flights on trunk routes, Air India has decided to lower its last minute ticket fares to the level of 2-tier AC of Rajdhani trains.

The Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has launched a pilot project of a 'station-based e-catering' service allowing passengers to order meals as per their choice, which will be delivered at stations from popular private caterers.

There is no proposal under consideration for the operation of passenger trains by private players, the railways informed Parliament Friday, years after the national transporter unveiled plans to hand over certain routes to private parties.

In an effort to augment public transport in view of severe air pollution, the Delhi government is hiring around 1,000 private buses and has sought the DDMA's permission for standing passengers in Metro trains and buses in the city.

The government will allow private companies to set passenger fares once they start operating train services in the country, a move aimed at luring investors, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led administration opens up the railway network.

After deciding to privatise 151 passenger trains, the Centre is planning to auction railway stations to private players after modernising the facilities, Union Minister Piyush Goyal said on Monday.

Railway Board Chairperson VK Yadav on Wednesday said the decision of the Railways to bring in private entities to run 151 passenger trains will not result in any job losses but will increase employment opportunities, bring in new technology and also enable the national transporter to provide trains on demand.

Just like in airlines, passengers of private trains, once launched, could have to pay for preferred seats, baggage and onboard services, the earnings from which will be part of the gross revenue to be shared with the Railways, according to an official document.

Indian Railways, the world's fourth-largest network, is seeking investments from private firms to operate passenger trains for the first time, an initiative that could potentially revamp a notoriously inefficient system.

The Ministry of Railways invited proposals from private companies to run passenger trains, to overhaul the creaking infrastructure and facilitate growth in the sector.

The Railways on Wednesday formally kickstarted its plans to allow private entities to operate passenger trains on its network by inviting request for qualifications (RFQ) for participation on 109 pairs of routes through 151 modern trains, the national transporter said.

At present, the plan is to run 150 private passenger trains on select 100 routes and Ministry of Railways is working on a roadmap to implement it.

Passengers onboard the Lucknow-Delhi Tejas Express, the country's first private semi-high speed train, were being given biodegradable packaged drinking water bottles.

Hyderabad Metro Rail began its services on the 16-km stretch between Ameerpet to LB Nagar today. With this, the entire 29 km of Corridor-I from Miyapur to LB Nagar has become operational. The Governor of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana ESL Narasimhan flagged off the Hyderabad metro train at Ameerpet station at 12 noon. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had...

Two days after six commuters fell sick after consuming poor-quality food served on the New Delhi-Sealdah Rajdhani Express, the Railways has served termination notice to the caterer, RK Associates, a Kanpur-based private agency engaged in train catering. Some passengers protested at the Asansol station in West Bengal over the quality of food served ...

Aiming to attract more fliers and achieve higher seat occupancy in its flights on trunk routes, Air India has decided to lower its last minute ticket fares to the level of 2-tier AC of Rajdhani trains.

The Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has launched a pilot project of a 'station-based e-catering' service allowing passengers to order meals as per their choice, which will be delivered at stations from popular private caterers.