[am1m]

So will a private train mean just a better coach and service? If so, then doesn't make sense to me unless I'm on holiday and want a luxury train experience.

If the private train I'm in is still going to be delayed because we're waiting for another higher priority train to pass due to the signalling system and yet-to-be-completed track doubling/electrification work, what's the point?

IR has improved vastly in my lifetime so far, I remember the filthy stations, pathetic toilets, always late trains, dirty bedding, surly TTs and how hard it was to just book a ticket. On the routes I travel frequently, at least in the South, the trains, stations and toilets are actually clean these days. Booking a ticket is a breeze, I've booked using the app even on very poor phone connectivity in the North East. But yeah, I realize not all sectors/trains have seen the same development. The North East is still a fair bit behind. As recently as 2016, I waited a day (yeah 24hrs!) for the Brahmaputra Mail to show up!

I'm not opposed to privatization, but just am not sure how privatization will improve railway infra outside of the coaches, engines and staff. Hope that is being considered.

And these points are amazing, so true:

Originally Posted by digitalnirvana

Privatization should be done with well thought and sensible regulation...

We also need to avoid the following pitfalls which the UK system suffers from:...

2. allow operators to get away without having to reinvest in the track and station infrastructure. All operators charge huge ticket prices and they spend zilch for track upkeep. Network Rail (state owned) is burdened with infrastructure & maintenance

[rm_arjuna]

IMO the services part in the operation has to be privatized

Amenities at Metro, Tier 1 / 2 station - Transit facility ,hygenic toilet / wash facility , waiting & lounge area , Food court etc .

Ticket checking - This is majority revenue leak area and major cause of displeasure among passengers in reserved compartments.

Housekeeping maintenance on running trains .

Good Quality food outlets at stations and onboard cafeteria .

Also read in Newspaper , that the ministry is planning to levy fine for delay beyond 15-30 mins . Does this mean pvt trains will get priority over other in right of way . If these services can get priorty what's stopping Govt from implementing the Same to select services like Rajdhani or Duronto

[dragracer567]

There are different ways of privatization:

1) Entire network - trains + tracks are privatized (like in the US).

2) Trains are privatized but tracks are state-owned (like in the UK).

3) Trains and tracks are state-owned but some trains are also run by private operators (eg. FlixTrain in Germany, WestBahn in Austria)

3) Everything is state-owned but the operations of a specific service is done by a private party.

If I am correct, its the third model that is being implemented in India. And honestly, it doesn't seem too problematic since the major services are still state-run while those willing to pay more for a better service get exactly that.

Now, for those advocating for privatizing the railways completely, unfortunately there isn't a good precedent for that. Most countries with a successful railway service are state-owned or predominantly state-owned - in France, Germany, China, Japan etc. The best thing about being behind the rest of the world is that you get to learn from their mistakes

[wheelguy]

The Ministry of Railways has given its approval to Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) to operate Ahmedabad-Mumbai Central Tejas Express. This train will have its inaugural run on 17 January 2020 and will start its commercial run from 19 January 2020, IRCTC said in a statement.

More Details:

• The train to be operated by IRCTC will be equipped with all modern facilities on board for ensuring a high level of comfort to the passengers.
• To start with, this fully air-conditioned train will have two Executive Class Chair Cars having 56 seats each and Eight Chair Cars having capacity of 78 seats each.
• The total carrying capacity of the train will be 736 passengers.
• This Tejas Train will have scheduled commercial halts at Nadiad, Vadodara, Bharuch, Surat, Vapi, and Borivali.
• The train will run on all days of the week except Thursday.

Salient features of the train are:

• Complimentary On board infotainment services will be available in IRCTC trains to the passengers.
• All passengers travelling on the IRCTC train will be provided with Rail Travel Insurance of up to Rs. 25 Lakhs, free of cost by IRCTC.
• This complimentary travel insurance also includes an exclusive coverage of Rs. 1 lakh against household theft / robbery during the travel period of the passengers.
• The booking for this train has commenced and passengers can book their tickets exclusively on the IRCTC website www.irctc.co.in and its mobile app “IRCTC Rail Connect”.
• There will be no booking at railway reservation counters.
• The train will also be available for booking through IRCTC’s online travel portal partners.
• The fully air-conditioned Tejas has several modern features like sliding doors, personalized reading lights, mobile charging points, attendant call buttons, bio-toilets, automatic entry and exit doors, CCTV cameras, reclining facility and comfortable seats.

IRCTC gets nod for Ahmedabad-Mumbai Tejas Express, stock rallies 5%

The share price of the Indian Railway Catering & Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) gained 4.8 percent intraday on January 14 after the company received approval to operate Ahmedabad-Mumbai Central Tejas Express.

The stock has rallied 207.5 percent since October to hit a fresh record high of Rs 984 on the BSE. It was quoting at Rs 978, up Rs 39.10, or 4.16 percent, on the BSE at 1222 hours.

Link1, Link2

[Dieseltuned]

This was a much needed train on this route, a demand for a "reverse shatabdi" was a demand of people since long. Shatabdi does BCT-ADI-BCT and this train will do ADI-BCT-ADI. The train is already in waiting list for day 1

[guru_max]

Originally Posted by sandeepmohan

I have not understood this private train concept of IR. Clearly; the existing ones are not owned or even operated by a private operator or contractor. The rolling stock and schedule are still owned/decided by Indian Railways. The only difference I see are the hostess on board and automatic doors. Is that all there is to it?

Does a private train get priority over Karnataka Express? What does it bring to the table? Do I get a ticket refund if the train is late? It feels like IR want to open up to the concept but not fully open up. I am not sure how that is a win for the system other than charging air fare rates. Sure; it brings profits but it is not changing or improving the experience for me as a passenger. I still have to deal with smelly bio toilets (Agreed; it has made a big difference) and rub shoulders with another passenger for 5 hours, after paying Rs. 3000 for a train ride.

Does the Bullet Train come under the Private Train banner? That is the one I am waiting for though the ticket cost for that is going to be north of Rs. 8 - 10k, for sure.

A lot of rules have been notified. The operators can use their own set of rakes. The routes have also been notified. As per the news i read, the operators will pay the railways fixed fee based on various parameters for using it's infra and other services. I assume this also includes a nice schedule for these trains. The operator of course would charge higher fares.



Personally I don't see this as a bad move as long as private operators are allowed on certain high demand routes and if there are more than one private operator operating in any given "privatized" routes. Nobody in their right mind will anyway come forward to operate the slow passenger trains to the villages and far-off places, so i don't see nothing to worry there.

[ruzbehxyz]

Ahmedabad-Mumbai fully AC Tejas Express inaugurated today on 17th January, 2020 by CMO Gujarat Shri Vijaybhai Rupani & Shri Piyush Goyal from Ahmedabad.
Commercial operations with begin from 19th January 2020.

The train will have two executive class chair coaches having 56 seats each and eight chair coaches having a capacity of 78 seats each.
This train 82902/82901 will run on the route six days a week with no operations on Thursday due to maintenance.
The train will start its journey ex Ahmedabad in the morning at 06:40 hours and will reach Mumbai Central at 13.10 hours having scheduled commercial halts at Nadiad, Vadodara, Bharuch, Surat, Vapi and Borivali.
For the return journey, the train will leave Mumbai Central at 15:40 hours and will reach Ahmedabad at 21:55 hours having scheduled enroute halts at Borivali, Vapi, Surat, Bharuch, Vadodara and Nadiad.

Source:
1. Western Railway update.

2.https://www.cnbctv18.com/infrastruct...19-5071341.htm

[Abby92]

I don't really think that the Railways will ever be completely privatized. They're already growing at a healthy rate. IR is also one of the country's biggest employers, creating millions of jobs and not to mention they being largest consumer of many PSU's like SAIL, ICF, BEML. Now this doesn't mean private participation is counter productive instead they could bring in a lot more efficiency and profitability that IR is certainly lacking. In current scenario i believe private players will still prefer to limit their scope to soft services like in Tejas. Besides owning and operating a behemoth rolling stock is surely going to be a uphill task.

[ruzbehxyz]

Originally Posted by Abby92

I don't really think that the Railways will ever be completely privatized.

This is only the beginning. We can see where it's going.

[mazda4life]

Although I don’t have a strong opinion on this topic, we tend to use trains for our travel to Mysore frequently. I cannot complain much on the quality as the service is good , reliable , safe and economical even though it’s not yet privatised . But, this case of selective privatisation of some routes can be a good case study to educate my son who has questions on government policy and how it affects the common man.

[ruzbehxyz]

After the Delhi - Lucknow and Ahmedabad - Mumbai, IRCTC is set to start the 3rd Private train between Indore and Varanasi. It will run thrice a week - two days via Lucknow and one day through Prayag (Allahabad).

This is accelerating the project of introducing 150 private trains all over India.

Source: https://www.google.com/amp/s/m.times...w/73861540.cms

[PetrolRider]

Sorry for this noob question.
As far as my understanding, Tejas expresses are being run by IRCTC. In that case, how come they become privatized?

Last I checked, IRCTC is still a central govt owned company with IR holding near to 90% of shares.

Am I missing here something?

[RahuKetu]

18-hr shifts, ‘harassment’, late pay, pink slips — Tejas Express staff’s long list of woes

Delayed salaries, 18-hour shifts, random sackings — the Delhi-Lucknow Tejas Express finds itself caught in a swirl of allegations barely two months after its big-ticket launch.

The Tejas Express hit the tracks 4 October as India’s first private train.

While the infrastructure of the train, coaches etc, are owned by the Indian Railways, services like catering and cleaning are handled by firms through the railways’ subsidiary company IRCTC under the public-private partnership (PPP) model.

With its uniformed staff, promise of shorter travel time than the Shatabdi, and compensation for delays, the train spurred much excitement among passengers.

But the promise has allegedly not aged well for the crew members, some of whom told ThePrint that they were made to work even while sick. Blisters on the feet after a gruelling shift, said one, didn’t get him sick leave and he was fired instead.

Another claimed that passengers were being served substandard food and unfiltered water.

From staff to food and water, all services aboard the Tejas Express are handled by Brandavan Food Products, a controversial Delhi-based company that stoked a row this month with a job advertisement that included caste as a selection criterion.

The company has denied all allegations outright.

Asked about the sackings, both Brandavan and IRCTC claimed they were an operational requirement. The former claimed it was temporary and the staff would be hired back when a new Tejas Express train is launched.

Meanwhile, the sacked staffers find themselves at sea, even as the ones still working describe a hostile work environment, which is made worse for women employees by misbehaving passengers. Tweets to the railway minister and the IRCTC have elicited no response.

Attendants for the Tejas Express were hired on contract as ‘coach crew’ by Brandavan Food Products.

Around 30 continue to serve on the Tejas Express, while as many as 20 have been fired, according to current and former train staff. The firings, they said, were abrupt and without any notice. Salary dues, the staff alleged, were released weeks later.

Avantika Singh, who joined the Tejas Express as a manager with its maiden run, said most members of her team of 12 were dismissed after Diwali. When she enquired about their dismissal, she added, the management cited poor performance as the reason.

“Granted, most of these crew members were still in the probation period… but the offer letter issued by Brandavan Food Products clearly mentioned a notice period of one month,” she added.

Several staff members talked about being forced to work 17-18-hour shifts without breaks.

Prachi Patel, another of the fired crew members, said she was not informed about the long working hours when she joined. Once on duty, however, her shift would start at 5 am and she would only return home after 10 pm, she added.

When she complained, the management said work pressure was only high because the train was just starting out. Once it was established, she was allegedly told, the pressure would recede.

One day, Prachi said, exhaustion caused her to faint while on duty. “I was admitted to a private medical facility at Kanpur. When I regained consciousness, instead of being offered a period of rest, I was immediately called back for duty,” she added. “I felt shocked and betrayed.”

Another former attendant Vishal Kumar described a similar ordeal. When he developed blisters on his feet while on shift one day, Kumar said, he approached the senior management to inform them. “I was told not to come to work from the next day,” he added.

Staff members who still have their jobs said the sackings had driven up the work pressure. According to them, the management had threatened to fire the staff who raised the issue with them, and forced them into silence.

Several staff members alleged that they were fined by managers, also hired by Brandavan Food Products, for petty issues like improper makeup.

And the net of harassment extended beyond the management, the crew said. Modeled on airline cabin crew, the female staff serving on the Tejas Express have also been facing harassment and lewd comments from passengers, as reported in the media.

Source: The Print

[wheelguy]

Alstom, Siemens, Hyundai Rotem, Macquarie, Tata, Hitachi, Essel, Adani, and IRCTC have shown interest and are competing to run private trains - Link

Ministry of Railways(MoR) has taken various initiatives to attract private investments and their participation.

MoR formulated and proposed five models of Public Private Partnership (PPP) namely:

1. Non-Government Railway (NGR)
2. Joint Venture (JV)
3. Customer Funded Model (CFM)
4. Built-Operate-Transfer (BOT)
5. BOT Annuity

Link

[wheelguy]

SCR Identify 11 Routes for private Trains.

South Central Railway (SCR) has identified 11 routes for running trains by private operators, most probably from this year. Private entities were likely to oversee on-board activities in the trains and facilities to passengers while the Railways would look after operation costs, maintenance, crew and safety measures.

SCR general manager Gajanan Mallya said, we are working on various modalities for operation of private trains and the tenders will be invited soon.

South Central Railway has got a substantial budgetary allocation for the year 2020-2021. For provision of TCAS between Manmad – Nanded – Secunderabad – Dhone – Guntakal and Bidar – Parli – Parbhani section the budgetary grant is Rs 100 Crore.

The 11 routes identified for private trains include:

• Lingampally-Tirupati

• Cherlapally-Panvel

• Vijayawada-Vishakhapatnam

• Tirupati-Vishakhapatnam

• Cherlapally-Shalimar

• Aurangabad-Panvel

• Secunderabad-Guwahati

• Cherlapally-Chennai

• Guntur-Lingampally

• Cherlapally-Varanasi

• Cherlapally-Srikakulam

Source