In a huge setback to the idea of running private trains in India, IRCTC has canceled India’s 1st private train: Tejas Express, indefinitely.
What is the reason? When will private trains run again?
IRCTC Cancels Tejas Express, India’s 1st Private Train
Tejas Express, which was hailed as India’s 1st private train, and ran between New Delhi to Lucknow and Mumbai to Ahmedabad and return, have been cancelled indefinitely.
The cancellation is effective today, that is November 23rd, 2020.
While Lucknow-New Delhi (82501/82502) Tejas Express stands cancelled from November 23rd, Ahmedabad-Mumbai (82901/82902) Tejas Express will be cancelled from November 24th.
Both of these private trains started from October 17th, as part of the initiatives by Indian Railways for handling the festive season crowd.
But now, both of these trains are cancelled.
Why Tejas Express Was Cancelled?
The management of IRCTC is claiming that both the Tejas Express trains were canceled due to low demand and less bookings.
And this is not a good sign.
In a statement, IRCTC justified this action by saying, “The management has decided to cancel all departures of IRCTC Tejas trains due to low occupancy levels resulting from coronavirus(Covid-19) pandemic. The company will review its decision after seeing the occupancy level of other trains of Indian Railways operating in both these routes,”
As we can see, there is no signal of any date from which Tejas Express will be re-started.
Infact, fares can also be an issue.
Since private train operators are free to determine their own fares, the fares for Tejas Express trains were a bit higher than the normal trains.
In case Tejas Express fails to reboot, it will be a huge dissapointment for Govt, since they are rigorously pushing for more and more private trains, and recently approved several private train operators.
We will keep you updated, as more details come in,
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