Lok Sabha Question No. 2877 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2020-03-11
Subject: Private Train from Dehradun to Delhi
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Malook Nagar

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2877 TO BE ANSWERED ON 11.03.2020

## PRIVATE TRAIN FROM DEHRADUN TO DELHI

†2877. SHRI MALOOK NAGAR:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

(a) whether the Government  proposes  to introduce a private train from Dehradun to Delhi;

(b) whether  the  demand  to  introduce  a  train  from  Delhi  to  Uttarakhand  via Hastinapur, Bijnor is pending for decades;

(c) whether the Government proposes to include the said places in the route of the said private train;

(d) whether the private train, Tejas, has made a profit of Rs. 70 lakh in a month (October 2019); and

(e) if so, the reasons for other trains not being able to make profit like this that are being operated by the Railways?

## ANSWER MINISTER OF RAILWAYS AND COMMERCE & INDUSTRY (SHRI PIYUSH GOYAL)

- (a)  An  indicative  list  of  over  100  origin-destination  pairs  for  operation  of passenger train services by the private entities, under Public-Private Partnership (PPP) mode, has been uploaded on the websites of NITI Aayog and Indian  Railways,  along  with  the  draft  Request  for  Qualification  and  draft Concession  Agreement,  for  seeking  comments  from  stake  holders.    No  train service between Dehradun and Delhi is included in the said tentative list.
- (b) Demands  for new trains is received at various levels of Railway administration  and  during  various  periods,  a  compendium  of  which  is  not maintained. At present, there is no proposal to introduce additional train from Delhi  area  connecting  stations  located  in  Uttarakhand  via  Hastinapur  and Bijnor.

(c)  No, sir. At present, there is no such proposal. (d)  Indian  Railways  Catering  and  Tourism  Corporation  (IRCTC)  is  operating Tejas Express train on the New Delhi-Lucknow sector w.e.f. 04.10.2019. During the period 04.10.2019 to 31.10.2019, IRCTC has earned an approximate amount of ₹ 7.73 lakh, as operational earning, by operation of the said Tejas Express. (e)  Indian Railways offers various kinds of train services to cater to the need of a  diverse  set  of  passengers.  Trains  like  Gatimaan  Express,  Vande  Bharat Express, etc. are provided with augmented facilities and are popular among the premium  segment.  Trains  like  Rajdhani  Express,  Duronto  Express,  Shatabdi Express  etc.  offer  fully  reserved  accommodation  and  facilitate  the  long distance  and  inter-city  passengers.  Further,  other  Mail  Express  trains  and Antyodaya train are operated for the benefit of  general passengers including those travelling on unreserved tickets.  The fare of Sleeper and Second Class is highly subsidised and as a part of its Social Service Obligation, fare concessions  are  offered  to  various  categories  like  Senior  citizens,  freedom fighters, Students, Divyangjans etc. even in the reserved classes. Consequently,  on  an  average,  Indian  Railways  recovers  only  57%  of  cost  of travel.  The  scope  and  scale  of  trains  operated  over  Indian  Railways,  which carries  about  23  million  passengers  on  a  daily  basis  cannot  currently  be compared with the New Delhi-Lucknow Tejas Express being operated by IRCTC, in  which  fare  is  generally  higher  as  compared  to  similar  services  on  Indian Railways and no concession is admissible.  However, systemic improvements over Indian Railways is a continuous and an ongoing process.

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