Private trains to be introduced in 10 routes from Chennai
Posted on: 07/Jan/2020 9:59:02 AM
There is a proposal to introduce private trains in as many as 103 routes across India. The main objective behind this is to provide a world-class experience to the passengers and to introduce modern technology.
The latest news is Indian railways has proposed to introduce private trains in 10 routes from Chennai. These routes are identified as a part of the proposal mentioned above. This has been brought to light by an official document prepared by Niti Ayog and railways.
It is important to mention that the routes identified for the private trains are Tambaram - Madurai, Tambaram - Trichy, Tambaram - Tirunelveli, Chennai - Bhagat Ki Kothi (Jodhpur), Chennai - Charlapalli (Hyderabad), Tambaram - Bengaluru, Chennai - Coimbatore, Tambaram - Kanniyakumari, Chennai - Okhla (Delhi) and Chennai - Howrah.
The trains would be operated by both Indian as well as by international companies. As many as 150 rakes would be needed to operate private trains across 103 routes across India. This was according to the railway`s officials.
Single rake would be used to operate day time trains but the long-distance trains (Chennai - Howrah and Chennai - Okhla) requires 3 rakes each to operate the trains. Trains that are already in operation now would not be handed over to the private players. This has been confirmed by a senior railways official.
The routes would be finalized based on the operational and commercial feasibility and as of now, the routes are tentatively identified. The rakes would be transferred to IRCTC and there is no deadline for completing the proposal. In October 2019, the first IRCTC private train, Tejas express was introduced on the Lucknow-Delhi route and it made the news.
It is worthy to note that on 17th of January the second private train approved for introduction between Mumbai and Ahmedabad would be flagged off. It is well known that IRCTC handles catering, tourism and online ticketing operations of Indian railways.
