Many companies in the country and abroad have shown interest in running private trains in the country. In this regard, 16 companies participated in the first pre-bid meeting on Tuesday. These include Bombardier, GMR, Bharat Forge, BHEL, IRCTC, Medha, CAF and Gateway Rail.
However, giants such as Tata Group and Adani Group stayed away from the meeting. But not attending the meeting does not mean that these companies cannot participate in the bidding process. In infrastructure projects, the purpose of pre-bid meetings is to discuss potential issues with the bidding companies and address their concerns. The second such meeting will be held on 8 August.
According to sources, the companies participating in the meeting raised the issue that the railway is offering a predetermined route and scheduled departure time. It said it should be made flexible for successful bidders as they risk ridership and would have to share revenue with the railways.
companies participating in the meeting also asked why the railway was asking to run trains at 160 mph while the rail tracks were not ready for it. The tender document of the railway states that scheduled departure times will be offered to private companies at all originating stations on the 109 route. It also mentions the total journey time.
Recently VK Yadav, chairman of the Railway Board, had said that allowing private companies to run trains as part of a broader scheme. This includes upgrading 7 High-Density Corridors of 11295 km so that trains can be run at a speed of 160 km from March 2025 on them. These include Delhi-Howrah, Howrah-Mumbai, Mumbai-Delhi, Delhi-Guwahati, Delhi-Chennai, Chennai-Howrah and Chennai-Mumbai routes. Indian Railways intends to phase out private trains from April 2023.
