Indian Railways: How private players lining up to run trains is real reform
4 years, 10 months ago

Indian Railways: How private players lining up to run trains is real reform

Op India  

Twenty years ago, air travel was a distant dream for most Indians. We had Indian Airlines and Air India, both creaky government monopolies, run from equally creaky government-run airports. Read: Congress lies about Budget 2020, claims Modi Govt has reduced funds for Indian Railways: Here are the facts Smaller airports are buzzing too. Tata, Adani and Hyundai queue up to run private trains and this is how Indian Railways is set to reform. The new chapter began with Delhi Lucknow Tejas Express last year, leased from Indian Railways and operated by IRCTC which is now a publicly-traded company.

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History of this topic

Trains Suffice Despite High Cancellations, Railways Rake in Millions in Revenue
2 months, 1 week ago

Trains Suffice Despite High Cancellations, Railways Rake in Millions in Revenue

The Quint  

Indian Railways' revenue from canceled tickets has surged in recent years, despite widespread cancellations and delays. The RTI inquiry revealed that 1,229.85 crore was earned from canceled tickets in 2022-23, with 430 crore coming in January 2024 alone. Despite special trains added during festivals, delays remain a persistent issue, with safety also a major concern with numerous accidents and fatalities …

Modi govt ruining railways to sell to ‘friends’, alleges Rahul Gandhi
8 months, 2 weeks ago

Modi govt ruining railways to sell to ‘friends’, alleges Rahul Gandhi

Hindustan Times  

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Centre on Sunday of aiming to portray the railways as "incompetent" to justify its privatisation to "friends". Passengers of every category are being harassed by the Modi government which is promoting only 'elite trains' by reducing general coaches from common persons' trains.” said Gandhi, posting a video on social media, showing …

The Indian Railways’ revenue problem
1 year, 2 months ago

The Indian Railways’ revenue problem

The Hindu  

This is the first of a three-part series of articles on the Indian railways, its capital expenditure and freight business. The IR’s spending on repayment of principal and interest is pegged at ₹22,229 crore and ₹23,782 crore respectively, which together make it 17% of revenue receipts, a sharp rise from less than 10% till 2015-16. The annual growth in freight …

What is ailing the Indian Indian Railways?
1 year, 7 months ago

What is ailing the Indian Indian Railways?

The Hindu  

Published : Jun 05, 2023 19:07 IST - 1 MIN READ The Indian Railways, one of the world’s largest employers and a crucial component of the Indian economy, is once again in the headlines for all the wrong reasons. One of the reasons cited by many experts as a possible cause behind the mishap was the poor investment India makes …

170 years of Indian Railways and The Hindu: 3 racist, elitist op-eds that denigrate Indians who use Railways simply to peddle anti-Modi agenda
1 year, 7 months ago

170 years of Indian Railways and The Hindu: 3 racist, elitist op-eds that denigrate Indians who use Railways simply to peddle anti-Modi agenda

Op India  

On April 16, 2023 Indian Railways completed 170 years. Coverage in The Hindu The article “ The Folly of 5-star Railway Stations ” was written by Gautam Bhatia who is “an architect and sculptor and the author of Blueprint”. Someone who claims to love Indian Railways actually posed the question of “Who does Indian Railways cater to?” just because he …

PIB Fact-Check rejects claims made in video on Railways' privatisation shared by Rahul Gandhi
2 years, 1 month ago

PIB Fact-Check rejects claims made in video on Railways' privatisation shared by Rahul Gandhi

India TV News  

Highlights Rahul shared a video on Twitter in which he asked about Railway's privatisation Rahul was speaking to South Central Railway Employees' Sangh AGS, Bharani Bhanu Prasad PIB Fact Check rejected all claims on Railways' privatisation made in the video The Press Information Bureau fact check has rejected claims made by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in a tweet that railways' …

No proposal under consideration for running passenger trains by private operators: Ashwini Vaishnaw
2 years, 5 months ago

No proposal under consideration for running passenger trains by private operators: Ashwini Vaishnaw

Firstpost  

The national transporter planned to introduce private trains on its network in phases, with the first dozen due to start running in the 2023-24 financial year and all 151 by 2027 New Delhi: There is no proposal under consideration for the operation of passenger trains by private players, the Railways informed Parliament on Friday, years after the national transporter unveiled …

Transmogrifying a behemoth — the Railways
2 years, 9 months ago

Transmogrifying a behemoth — the Railways

The Hindu  

The Indian Railways has never had it so good. Paradoxically, this feel-good image makeover is also accompanied by a deafening silence on crucial policy issues, especially those that concern the financial health and the future management architecture of the Indian Railways. ‘Silo-less’ utopia The absence of a clear policy is evident in another crucial area: changing the management architecture of …

No plans to privatise Indian Railways, says Centre
2 years, 9 months ago

No plans to privatise Indian Railways, says Centre

Firstpost  

The Railways will continue to fulfil social obligations, the Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said, adding that Rs 60,000 crore subsidy is provided on passenger fares New Delhi: Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Wednesday said the government has no plans to privatise the Indian Railways and opposition parties’ contention in this regard is hypothetical. Replying to a discussion on demands for …

Is Railways on track to draw private capital?
2 years, 11 months ago

Is Railways on track to draw private capital?

Live Mint  

NEW DELHI : Back in July 2020, for the first time in its 169-year history, the Indian Railways offered 109 routes to private players to operate trains on. The share of capital expenditure in Railways’ total expenditure has increased from 28% in 2014-15 to 53% in 2020-21. Meanwhile, what the Railways calls ‘extra budgetary resources’ have increased 10-fold, from about …

Indian Railways to lease passenger coaches to private payers
3 years, 3 months ago

Indian Railways to lease passenger coaches to private payers

Op India  

Indian Railways has decided to lease passenger train coaches to private parties who can run them as theme-based circuit trains. According to the Ministry of Railways, interested private parties will be able to lease coaching stock to run them as theme-based cultural, religious and other Tourist Circuit trains. The trains will be hauled by locomotives operated by Indian Railways, as …

Railways Re-evaluating Rs 30,000 Crore Private Trains' Tender After Negligible Interest from Private Companies
3 years, 4 months ago

Railways Re-evaluating Rs 30,000 Crore Private Trains' Tender After Negligible Interest from Private Companies

News 18  

The railways is reevaluating the ongoing bidding process for the Rs 30,000 crore private passenger trains after it failed to receive any interest from private players for its tender floated last year for the operation of such trains in 12 clusters, senior officials confirmed on Wednesday. It was in July last year that the Ministry of Railways rolled out bids …

Will Indian Railways be privatised? Here's what Piyush Goyal said in Lok Sabha
3 years, 9 months ago

Will Indian Railways be privatised? Here's what Piyush Goyal said in Lok Sabha

India TV News  

Railways Minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday asserted that Indian Railways will never be privatised but said private investment should be encouraged for more efficient functioning. Replying to a discussion on Demands for Grants for Railways in the Lok Sabha, Goyal said there has been no death of any passenger in rail accidents in past two years and the railways has …

Railways to run private trains: 13 players including GMR, L&T shortlisted | What we know
4 years, 1 month ago

Railways to run private trains: 13 players including GMR, L&T shortlisted | What we know

India TV News  

As railways plan to introduce new private trains in the coming years, companies including GMR, Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation, L&T Infrastructure Development Projects, Bharat Heavy Electricals and Welspun Enterprises are among 13 players who have been shortlisted by the Indian Railways to run private trains. Railways to run private trains | What we know In August this year, …

With Railways Set to Go Private, Govt Allows Incoming Players to Set Passenger Fares: Report
4 years, 3 months ago

With Railways Set to Go Private, Govt Allows Incoming Players to Set Passenger Fares: Report

News 18  

As India’s nearly two centuries-old Railways open up to private players, the government has decided to allow these companies to set the travel fare for passengers when the begin operations, in a bid to invite investors. Yadav further said that Alstom SA, Bombardier Inc, GMR Infrastructure Ltd and Adani Enterprises Ltd were among companies that are interested in undertaking projects …

Indian Railways modernisation will bring paradigm shift, win-win situation for everyone: Niti Aayog
4 years, 3 months ago

Indian Railways modernisation will bring paradigm shift, win-win situation for everyone: Niti Aayog

India TV News  

National Institution for Transforming India CEO Amitabh Kant on government objective to modernise and improve passengers expeirence on Indian Railways said the modernisation of Indian Railways is a win-win situation for everyone. "It brings first of its kind initiative in country where private entities will source and operate modern technology trains for undertaking passenger business, using Indian Railways' infrastructure. This …

Railways Rules Out Fare Regulator for Private Trains, to Allow Competition in Transport Sector
4 years, 4 months ago

Railways Rules Out Fare Regulator for Private Trains, to Allow Competition in Transport Sector

News 18  

The Railways has ruled out the possibility of a fare regulator for private trains and said that 'competitive tension' prevalent in the Indian transport scenario should address the risk of prohibitive pricing. A set of documents made public by the Railways said the project of bringing in 150 trains to be run by private operators does not have provisions for …

The Hindu Explains | Why has Indian Railways opened doors for private players?
4 years, 6 months ago

The Hindu Explains | Why has Indian Railways opened doors for private players?

The Hindu  

The story so far: Indian Railways has launched the process of opening up train operations to private entities on 109 origin destination pairs of routes using 151 modern trains. The present invitation for private operators to submit qualification bids for 151 trains would be, in the assessment of the Railway Board, only for a fraction of the total train operations …

Private trains will benefit travellers: Railways
4 years, 6 months ago

Private trains will benefit travellers: Railways

The Hindu  

With private trains expected to begin operations by April 2023, the Railways on Thursday said the move would only benefit travellers by way of confirmed tickets and faster trains. Mr. Yadav said the Railways was running 2,800 Mail Express Trains, and 151 modern trains — for which the RFQ was invited — accounted for only 5% of them. So it …

Railways: Withdraw decision to allow private players, say Left parties
4 years, 6 months ago

Railways: Withdraw decision to allow private players, say Left parties

The Hindu  

The Left parties strongly condemned the Union Railway Ministry’s decision to allow private players to operate passenger train services on over 100 routes. “Contrary to the claim that this will boost job generation, past experience has shown that it results in a huge job loss creating insecurity for crores of employees of the Railways,” the Polit Bureau statement said. The …

Indian Railways begins process for entry of ‘private trains’
4 years, 6 months ago

Indian Railways begins process for entry of ‘private trains’

The Hindu  

The Indian Railways on Wednesday kick-started the process to allow private players to operate certain trains on its network by inviting Request for Qualifications for operation of passenger train services on over 100 routes with 150 modern trains. The Ministry of Railways said this is the first initiative of private investment for running passenger trains over the Indian Railways network …

No plan to privatise Indian Railways as it belongs to people: Piyush Goyal in Rajya Sabha
4 years, 9 months ago

No plan to privatise Indian Railways as it belongs to people: Piyush Goyal in Rajya Sabha

Live Mint  

There is no plan to privatise Indian Railways as it belongs to the people of the country, Railways Minister Piyush Goyal asserted in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday after some members raised concerns over it. Indian Railways belongs to the people of this country, it will remain so," Goyal said. Goyal said the government was committed to making Indian Railways world …

A lowdown on India's controversial private train concept
4 years, 11 months ago

A lowdown on India's controversial private train concept

Business Standard  

Last October, railway employee unions staged protests against Tejas Express, the country's first private train that runs between Lucknow and Delhi. The All India Railwaymen's Federation held nationwide protests to oppose the railway board's decision to launch Tejas and give another 150 trains to be operated by the private sector. So, let’s start with October 2019, when the Indian Railways …

150 private trains on 100 routes: Niti Aayog proposes ₹ 22,500 crore plan
5 years ago

150 private trains on 100 routes: Niti Aayog proposes ₹ 22,500 crore plan

India TV News  

Niti Aayog and Indian Railways have come out with a discussion paper for running 150 trains on 100 routes by private operators, envisaging an investment of Rs 22,500 crore. The discussion paper titled 'Private Participation: Passenger Trains' has identified 100 routes, including Mumbai Central-New Delhi, New Delhi- Patna, Allahabad-Pune and Dadar-Vadodara. The paper, prepared for discussions with stakeholders, has split …

Railways to soon invite bids from firms to operate passenger trains
5 years ago

Railways to soon invite bids from firms to operate passenger trains

Live Mint  

Indian Railways, in a first, plans to offer private players the opportunity to run 150 modern trains based on a revenue-sharing model, the bids for which will be invited in the next two weeks, Railway Board chairman Vinod Kumar Yadav said on Monday. The trains to be run by the private operators will offer world class technology and services to …

Salary, social obligations take away big funds of Railways: Piyush Goyal
5 years, 1 month ago

Salary, social obligations take away big funds of Railways: Piyush Goyal

India Today  

Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal on Wednesday responded on Comptroller and Auditor General of India report which stated operational losses of Indian Railways increasing manifold. Railways have been spending an additional Rs 22,000 crore on salaries and pensions of its employees following implementation of the 7th Pay Commission recommendations, which has hit its financial health, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal said …

Proposal to outsource commercial, onboard services; but no large-scale privatisation plans: Railway Ministry
5 years, 1 month ago

Proposal to outsource commercial, onboard services; but no large-scale privatisation plans: Railway Ministry

India TV News  

There is a proposal to outsource commercial and onboard services of a few trains, but no large-scale privatisation plans are underway, the Railway Ministry informed Parliament on Friday. Railway subsidiary IRCTC, its tourism and catering arm, has already started running railways' first "private" train, Tejas Express from Lucknow to Delhi. There is a proposal to outsource the commercial and onboard …

Not privatising Railways; only outsourcing some services: Govt
5 years, 1 month ago

Not privatising Railways; only outsourcing some services: Govt

India TV News  

The government is not privatising the Indian Railways but only outsourcing commercial and onboard services to private players in order to provide better facilities to commuters, Railways Minister Piyush Goyal said in Rajya Sabha on Friday. Noting that thousands of new trains and more investment are required for providing new facilities/rakes and meet the passengers rush, Goyal said: "If there …

Not privatising Railways, but only outsourcing commercial and onboard services to private players, Piyush Goyal tells Rajya Sabha
5 years, 1 month ago

Not privatising Railways, but only outsourcing commercial and onboard services to private players, Piyush Goyal tells Rajya Sabha

Firstpost  

The government is not privatising the Indian Railways but only outsourcing commercial and on-board services to private players in order to provide better facilities to commuters, Railways Minister Piyush Goyal said in Rajya Sabha on Friday. New Delhi: The government is not privatising the Indian Railways but only outsourcing commercial and on-board services to private players in order to provide …

Railway employees union threaten strike against 'move' to privatise trains
5 years, 5 months ago

Railway employees union threaten strike against 'move' to privatise trains

India TV News  

Alleging a move was on to privatise the Chennai-Madurai Tejas Express, a railway employees union on Wednesday threatened a nation-wide strike if the Centre went ahead with the 'proposal' to handover operation of profitable trains. Southern Railway Mazdoor Union General Secretary Kannaiah also claimed there was a proposal to handover the Chennai-Coimbatore Cheran Express to private players. He referred to …

Railway officials meet stakeholders to finalise private operations of two trains
5 years, 5 months ago

Railway officials meet stakeholders to finalise private operations of two trains

India TV News  

Top officials of the Railway Board on Thursday met investors, developers and other stakeholders to finalise the modalities of its 100-day agenda of offering two trains to private operators, sources said. As part of its 100-day agenda and the proposals made in the Budget whereby the railways has been encouraged to seek public-private partnership models to unleash faster development and …

No proposal to privatise Railways: Union Miniter Piyush Goyal
5 years, 5 months ago

No proposal to privatise Railways: Union Miniter Piyush Goyal

India TV News  

There is no proposal to privatise Indian Railways, Lok Sabha was informed on Wednesday. In a written reply, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal said "no specific passenger train has been identified to be run by private payers so far." In his written response, Goyal said, ".there is no proposal to privatise Indian Railways". In a separate written reply, Goyal said that …

Delhi-Lucknow Tejas Express set to be first train to be run by private operators
5 years, 6 months ago

Delhi-Lucknow Tejas Express set to be first train to be run by private operators

India TV News  

The Delhi-Lucknow Tejas Express is set to be the first train to be operated by private players, sources said on Monday, indicating that the Railways is going ahead with its 100-day agenda of handing over operations of two of its trains to the private sector, despite protests from its unions. The train, one of the most-awaited trains on the route, …

Delhi-Lucknow Tejas Express set to be first train to be run by private operators
5 years, 6 months ago

Delhi-Lucknow Tejas Express set to be first train to be run by private operators

Live Mint  

The Delhi-Lucknow Tejas Express is set to be the first train to be operated by private players, sources said Monday, indicating that the Railways is going ahead with its 100-day agenda of handing over operations of two of its trains to the private sector, despite protests from its unions. The train, one of the most-awaited trains on the route, is …

Budget 2019: Safest year for Indian Railways, says Piyush Goyal
5 years, 11 months ago

Budget 2019: Safest year for Indian Railways, says Piyush Goyal

Live Mint  

New Delhi: The Union budget has allocated ₹64,587 crore outlay for Indian Railways for the upcoming financial year 2019-2020 to expand the railway infrastructure in the country. In his interim-budget speech on Friday, the finance minister Piyush Goyal said Indian Railways has witnessed its safest year in the history in 2018-19 and the national carrier has been able to remove …

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