Question : Private Train from Dehradun to Delhi

(a) whether the Government proposes to introduce a private train from Dehradun to Delhi;

(b) whether the demand to introduce a train from Delhi to Uttarakhand via Hastinapur, Bijnor is pending for decades;

(c) whether the Government proposes to include the said places in the route of the said private train;

(d) whether the private train, Tejas, has made a profit of Rs. 70 lakh in a month (October 2019); and

(e) if so, the reasons for other trains not being able to make profit like this that are being operated by the Railways?

MINISTER OF RAILWAYS AND COMMERCE & INDUSTRY
(SHRI PIYUSH GOYAL)
(a) An indicative list of over 100 origin-destination pairs for operation of passenger train services by the private entities, under Public-Private Partnership (PPP) mode, has been uploaded on the websites of NITI Aayog and Indian Railways, along with the draft Request for Qualification and draft Concession Agreement, for seeking comments from stake holders. No train service between Dehradun and Delhi is included in the said tentative list.
(b) Demands for new trains is received at various levels of Railway administration and during various periods, a compendium of which is not maintained. At present, there is no proposal to introduce additional train from Delhi area connecting stations located in Uttarakhand via Hastinapur and Bijnor.
(c) No, sir. At present, there is no such proposal.
(d) Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) is operating Tejas Express train on the New Delhi-Lucknow sector w.e.f. 04.10.2019. During the period 04.10.2019 to 31.10.2019, IRCTC has earned an approximate amount of ? 7.73 lakh, as operational earning, by operation of the said Tejas Express.
(e) Indian Railways offers various kinds of train services to cater to the need of a diverse set of passengers. Trains like Gatimaan Express, Vande Bharat Express, etc. are provided with augmented facilities and are popular among the premium segment. Trains like Rajdhani Express, Duronto Express, Shatabdi Express etc. offer fully reserved accommodation and facilitate the long distance and inter-city passengers. Further, other Mail Express trains and Antyodaya train are operated for the benefit of general passengers including those travelling on unreserved tickets. The fare of Sleeper and Second Class is highly subsidised and as a part of its Social Service Obligation, fare concessions are offered to various categories like Senior citizens, freedom fighters, Students, Divyangjans etc. even in the reserved classes. Consequently, on an average, Indian Railways recovers only 57% of cost of travel. The scope and scale of trains operated over Indian Railways, which carries about 23 million passengers on a daily basis cannot currently be compared with the New Delhi-Lucknow Tejas Express being operated by IRCTC, in which fare is generally higher as compared to similar services on Indian Railways and no concession is admissible. However, systemic improvements over Indian Railways is a continuous and an ongoing process.
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