It is estimated that Indian Railways would need capital investment of Rs. 50 lakh crore upto the year 2030 for network expansion, capacity augmentation, setting up of freight terminals, station redevelopment, rolling stock induction and other modernization/ upgradation works etc. to enable better delivery of passenger and freight services and to improve Railways’ modal share in transport. In order to bridge the gap in capital funding and bring in modern technology and improve the operational efficiencies, it is planned to use Public Private Partnership (PPP) model in several initiatives including network expansion and induction of modern rakes to run passenger trains on select routes with an objective to provide improved service delivery to passengers. However, the responsibility of train operations and safety will continue to be with Indian Railways. As of now, 150 trains in 12 clusters have been planned for induction of modern passenger rakes on PPP basis.

In case of PPP in train operations, mechanism has been planned to enable return on investment to private participation through collection of revenue and payment of haulage charges and revenue share to Indian Railways.

This information was given by the Minister of Railways, Commerce & Industry and Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, Shri Piyush Goyal in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.

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DJN/MKV