As per the reports, Indian Railways’ third privately operated train is all set to roll out this month after the launch of two Tejas trains which are being operated by the Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation(IRCTC).
India’s 3rd Private Train Details Out
As per the reports, the third train will also be operated by the Indian Railways subsidiary IRCTC and will run between Indore and Varanasi.
The train will be named as Kashi Mahakal Express and will run three days a week. Also, the whole rake of the train will consist of AC coaches.
Moreover, it will be the first private train that will do an overnight journey and also operate from the holy town of Varanasi.
So far, both the Tejas Express trains operated by the IRCTC return to their point of origin on the same day.
What About The Operations?
As informed, the inaugural run of the train is scheduled for 16 February Varanasi and it will start its commercial run from 20 February.
It is expected that the coaches on the train will come with comfortable seats LED lights, CCTV cameras for the safety and security of the passengers and will also come with multiple mobile charging points.
On 12 January, the decision to run a private train on the Indore-Varanasi route was first announced by Railway Minister Piyush Goyal.
He informed that a special train will soon operate from Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh to Uttar Pradesh’s Varanasi, which is famous for the Kashi Vishwanath temple.
He informed that this train will also run by the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation.
The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has started operating private trains on two routes — Delhi-Lucknow and Ahmedabad-Mumbai in the last few months.
How Would It Work?
Although the infrastructure, maintenance, operations and safety will be handled by the Indian Railways, private train operators can take rakes on lease and provide better onboard experience and services to passengers, in terms of food, comfort, entertainment, among others.
Railway board chairman Vinod Kumar Yadav earlier said that while 150 trains to be run by private players are in the pipeline, till the modalities are worked out, the IRCTC will continue to operate them.
In reality, the railways’ decision to let private companies run passenger trains has attracted more than two dozen firms, including global majors Alstom Transport, Bombardier, Siemens AG and Macquarie.