Private operators to run 12 pairs of trains from K’taka

Private operators to run 12 pairs of trains from K’taka

Christin.MathewPhilip@timesgroup.com

Bengaluru:  03.07.2020

You could soon be able to travel in private trains from Karnataka to Guwahati, Delhi, Howrah, Ranchi, Patna, Gorakhpur, Prayagraj, Visakhapatnam and Jaipur. Railways has decided to allow private players to run 12 pairs of trains from the state.

Most of these trains from Bengaluru are likely to be operated from Third Coaching Terminal Byappanahalli, which is expected to be operational by October. Private firms will operate trains on Mysuru-Bhubaneswar, Kalaburagi-Mumbai, Mangaluru-Chennai routes.

While private-run trains may improve punctuality, reliability and upkeep of coaches, many passengers are worried about the fare structure.KN Krishna Prasad, a member of Karnataka Railway Vedike, said: “Private trains may improve passenger experience and other facilities, but there is no clarity on the fare. If they charge more than double the railway fare, low-income people may not be able to afford it.”

He said the timing given for the Bengaluru-Delhi private train is almost similar to the existing timing of Bengaluru-Delhi Rajdhani. “We’ll have to wait and see how they run both trains parallelly and its impact on Rajdhani. There won’t be any concessions for senior citizens and the differently abled in private trains and food served on-board may also be expensive.”

A railway source told TOI: “We’re operating several passenger services on loss-making routes as well as suburban trains as a social obligation. But if private firms start running only on long-distance profitable routes, then we’ll be under severe loss. Private operators will not run trains for charity and their aim will be to make profit. Cleanliness of trains and stations has improved drastically over the years.” According to him, poor infrastructure is causing delay in train services. Work on doubling, quadrupling, electrification and automatic signalling is yet to be completed in most sections which results in delays, he said, adding that occupancy rate of trains will be affected if private firms are given preference. “We’ll not cancel any existing train. The proposal to invite private companies to operate trains is still in the initial stage. There’s a huge demand for trains so occupancy rate of those run by the railways won’t be affected,” SWR chief public relations officer E Vijaya said.

Union ministry of railways on Wednesday invited request for qualifications (RFQs) for private participation for operation of passenger train services on over 109 pairs of routes across the country.