New Delhi, July 2 (UNI) Private trains are expected to start operating in the country from April 2023.
Stating this, Railway Board Chairman Vinod Kumar Yadav told a press conference here on Thursday that financial bids are expected to be invited by November this year to operate private trains. The clusters will be allocated on the basis of financial bids by February-March 2021 and it is expected that by April 2023, private trains will start running in the country.
He, however, clarified that private trains will not be started on any route after closing existing trains. These trains will be in addition to the existing trains. The same routes have been selected for private trains where there is a lot of demand and tickets are cancelled due to a large waiting list.
The authority to decide the fare of private trains will be vested with the company running it.
Regarding the possibility of increasing train fares due to this, Mr Yadav said five crore passengers remain on the waiting list every year. With the arrival of private trains, those who can afford expensive tickets will travel in them, so that poor passengers will get confirmed tickets in trains run by Indian Railways.
The Railways started the tendering process for private trains on Wednesday. In this, 'Request for Qualification' has been invited to operate 151 trains in 12 clusters. Separate bids have to be done for each cluster. It is proposed to allow private train operators to operate on a total of 109 routes.
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