Question : Privatisation of Trains on some Routes

(a) whether the railways has offered/proposes to offer private players the opportunity to run 150 modern trains based on a revenue sharing model;
(b) if so, the details thereof and its aims and objectives and investment expected by Government after introduction of these trains particularly in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana;
(c) the details of the routes which are identified for the purpose;
(d) whether the Government has formed a panel to define the bidding process and if so, the details thereof;
(e) the details of the technology and services likely to be provided to the passengers by the private operators;
(f) whether the empowered committee constituting of officials from the railways has finalized the modalities of the bidding process and if so, the details thereof; and
(g) whether maintenance, security, fares and stoppages of these trains will be decided by private operators and if so, the details thereof?

MINISTER OF RAILWAYS AND COMMERCE & INDUSTRY
(SHRI PIYUSH GOYAL)
(a) to (g) Yes, Sir. Ministry of Railways have constituted a Group of Secretaries (GoS) in 2019, with a term of one year, inter-alia, to advise on the terms and conditions for private passenger train operators to operate trains with world class technology covering the Indian Railways network. The GoS have held five meetings upto end of January, 2020. The draft Request for Qualification and the draft Concession Agreement have been uploaded on the websites of Niti Aayog and Indian Railways for seeking feedback from the stakeholders. The details and other modalities in this regard have not been finalized.
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