The railways recently invited private entities to operate passenger trains. (Representative)
New Delhi:
As in airlines, passengers on private trains, once launched, may have to pay for preferential seats, baggage and on-board services, the revenues of which will be part of the gross revenues to be shared with the railways, according to an official document.
The railways recently launched a request for qualification (RFQ) inviting private entities to operate passenger trains on its network.
Whether or not to charge passengers for these services will be up to the private parties, officials said.
In the document, he indicated that bidders, depending on their financial capacity, will be required to offer the share of gross revenue at the request for proposals (RFP) stage to undertake the project.
Although the railways have given private actors the freedom to set the tariff to be billed to passengers, they will also have the freedom to explore new routes to generate revenue, according to the RFQ.
“The definition of gross revenue, which is under consideration, is as follows. Any amount accruing to the passenger concessionaire (private entity) or to any third party arising from the provision of the following services to passengers due to the circulation of trains in the framework of the concession contract: amount printed on the ticket price; amount of preferred seat options, luggage / luggage, freight / parcel (if they are not included in the ticket price) “, indicated the RFQ.
“The amount of on-board services such as catering, bed roll, on-demand content, wi-fi (if not included in the price of the ticket). Any amount due to the dealer under advertising, trademark and naming rights in accordance with the concession contract “, the document specifies.
The President of the Railway Commission at a press conference had allayed fears that the prices of private train tickets would be too expensive and said that they would be market driven and based on competitive prices.
In a first such initiative, Indian railways invited private companies to offer 151 modern passenger trains on 109 pairs of routes across the country in a project that would involve private sector investment of around 30,000 crores of rupees.
