Almost two years ago, railway ministry floated tenders inviting private entities to operate passenger trains, but it looks like the plan is put on the back burner.
Decision Taken Looking The Global Experience
This decision has been taken after taking into light the global experience that post the passenger train operations eventually are loss making and hence for the sake of operational control, many governments of countries ended up taking it back.
In order to operate the passenger trains, only two players had bid for tender, out of which one was the railway PSU. However, after the marathon evaluation, the railway ministry scrapped the bidding process in August last year.
The Earlier Mega Proposal Stalled
With an estimated investment of Rs 30,000 crore, in the year 2020, national transporter had come out with a mega proposal to allow private players to operate 151 trains along 109 major routes.
Sources acknowledged it as railways’ biggest monetisation programme. Until private players get the level playing field like railways, there is hardly any chance for them to enter. Also, currently nothing is moving with regard to this plan
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