Lok Sabha Question No. 239 (STARRED), answered on 2019-12-04
Subject: Performance Analysis of Tejas
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: T. R. Paarivendhar, Chandra Sekhar Sahu

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 239

## TO BE ANSWERED ON 04.12.2019

## PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS OF TEJAS

## *239. DR. T.R. PAARIVENDHAR: SHRI CHANDRA SEKHAR SAHU:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Indian Railways has made any analysis  to find out the  performance  of  Tejas  Express  so  far  and  if  so,  the  details thereof  along  with  the  details  of  operational  expenditure  and earning of Tejas Express so far;
- (b)  whether  the  privatized  Delhi-Lucknow  Tejas  Express  has earned around Rs. 90 lakhs in the first month of privatization and if so, the details thereof;
- (c)  whether  the  Government  has  also  examined  the  factors  and analysed the reasons and methods of operation by a private firm that  are  responsible  for  such  profit  vis-a-vis  the  other  passenger trains of Indian Railways which are not earning to that extent and if so, the details and the outcome thereof;
- (d)  whether  the  average  occupancy  of  private  trains  is  much higher than the other trains run by the Indian Railways and if so, the facts thereof;
- (e)  the  average  amount  for  private  trains  fixed  for  utilization  of Indian  Railways  infrastructure  along  with  the  share  of  profit  and fees  to  be  paid  by  the  private  players  for  using  Indian  Railways capital and infrastructure; and
- (f) whether such operational system is proposed to be implemented  in  other trains across the country for  smooth functioning without loss to the Government and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

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

(a) to (f): A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

*****

STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  TO  (f)  OF STARRED QUESTION NO. 239 BY DR. T.R. PAARIVENDHAR AND SHRI CHANDRA  SEKHAR  SAHU  TO  BE  ANSWERED  IN  LOK  SABHA  ON 04.12.2019 REGARDING PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS OF TEJAS

(a)  & (b): Two pairs of Tejas Express trains i.e. 22119/22120 Mumbai CSMT-Karmali  and  22671/22672  Chennai  Egmore-Madurai  have  been running  on  Indian  Railways.  The  third  Tejas  Express  train  which  is being operated by Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) on the New Delhi-Lucknow sector, has commenced its service 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 by operation of the said  Tejas  Express.  The  provisional  figures,  as  per  the  unaudited statement of revenue and expenditure for the said period of operation, are as under:

| Head                      |   Unaudited figures ( ₹ in lakh) |
|---------------------------|----------------------------------|
| Revenue(R)                |                           447.04 |
| Expenditure(E)            |                           439.31 |
| Operational Earning( R-E) |                             7.73 |

As  per  the  terms  and  conditions,  the  mid-term  review  of  the  IRCTC operated Tejas train mentioned above, is due after the expiry of one year.

(c): Indian Railways offers various kinds of train services to cater 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 trains

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.

(d):  The  average  occupancy  of  New  Delhi-Lucknow  Tejas  Express being  operated  by  IRCTC  from  04.10.2019  to  31.10.2019  was  around 62% while the average occupancy of 12003/12004 New Delhi-Lucknow Shatabdi  Express,  running  on the  same  sector,  is  about  100%. However, the two categories of trains differ in terms of fare structure, journey time, composition, value added services etc.

As far as occupancy of trains over Indian Railways is concerned, the  occupancy of  trains  is  not  uniform  and  it  varies  across  different sectors  and  seasons.  During  the  financial  year  2018-19,  the  average occupancy of trains (on an end to end basis) being operated by Indian Railways ranged between 70% to 100%.

(e):   As per extant terms and condition, in case of New Delhi-Lucknow Tejas Express, IRCTC pays applicable haulage charge and charges for custody of the rolling stock.

(f):    Indian  Railways  have  authorized  Indian  Railway  Catering  and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) to operate 2(two) Tejas Train services on New Delhi-Lucknow and Ahmedabad-Mumbai sectors, on a pilot basis. At present, there is no proposal to hand over additional Tejas services to  IRCTC.  Government  has  constituted  a  Group  of  Secretaries  (GoS) inter-alia  to  permit  private  train  operators  to  operate  150  trains  with world  class  technology  over  Indian  Railways.  The  GoS  has  held  four meetings  so  far.  However,  the  details  and  modalities  in  this  regard, have not been finalised.

*****