Private Trains: Dilemmas of a prospective PTO
Early last year, Indian Railways (IR) announced an ambitious plan to privatize 109 O-D (Origin-Destination) pairs of trains, forming roughly 5% of existing Mail/Express trains, over 12 clusters. The avowed objectives declared by the Ministry of Railways (MoR), inter alia, are: Ø Induction of modern technology – Quantum Jump Ø Reduced maintenance intervention - 40,000 km/30 days Ø Reduced transit time Ø Enhanced safety Ø World class travel experience to passengers Ø Reduce demand supply deficit in the passenger transport sector Ø And, bringing in private investment to the tune of Rs 30,000 crore in rail sector The bidding process was started in July 2020. The model proposed a c oncession period of 35 years with the concessionaire (termed PTO or Passenger Train Operator). A PTO would be required to induct their own train, pay fixed haulage charges for path, stations, access to railway infrastructure and charges for electricity consumed and share revenue with IR to be de