Indian Railways gets good response on private player train project; 16 firms participate in first pre-bid meeting

File pic: Zee News

New Delhi: As many as 16 private players have taken interest in the first pre-bid meeting of Ministry of Railways here on Tuesday (July 21). The ministry has invited request for qualification (RFQ) from private players to run passenger trains on 109 important routes.

The Private Player Train project will run on the public-private partnership and the ministry is of the view that the mega project would bring new technologies, boost revenues, and increase job opportunities.

The issues and concerns raised by prospective applicants were discussed and clarifications were provided by the officials of the Ministry of Railways and NITI Aayog for improved clarity on the provisions of RFQ and bidding framework, according to sources.

Railway Ministry received a good response from private players for the new and innovative project.

The ministry had invited 12 requests for qualifications for private participation in the operation of passenger train services over 109 origin-destination pair of routes through the introduction of 151 modern trains (Rakes) which shall be in addition to the existing trains operated on the network.

This is the first initiative of private investment for running passenger trains over Indian Railway Network. The ministry hopes that the project would entail a private sector investment of about Rs 30,000 crore.

Private entities for undertaking the projected will be selected through a two-stage competitive bidding process comprising of Request for Qualification (RFQ) and Request for Proposal (RFP).

In today's pre-bid meeting, the queries were mainly related to eligibility criteria, bid process, procurement of rakes, operations of trains, and composition of clusters.

According to sources, the key points discussed in the meeting were: 

1. There were queries on haulage charges for which Railway Ministry replied that haulage charges will be specified upfront and will be suitably indexed for the entire concession period thereby bringing certainty in the haulage charges.

2. Railway ministry will also be providing the details of passenger traffic being handled on the routes under biding. This will enable bidders to undertake their due diligence in the project.

3. Railways clarified that trains operated under the project can be either purchased or taken on lease by the private entities. The ministry clarified that risks with regard to the operation of trains shall be allocated to the parties in an equitable manner.

The ministry will be providing written replies to the queries received from the prospective applicants by July 31, 2020. The second pre-application conference is scheduled for Aug 12, 2020.

Multiple operators in train operations will create competition and improve service delivery. This initiative is also intended at reducing demand-supply deficit in the passenger transportation sector.