Indian Railways- News and Analysis

Hyderabad Metro Rail shortlists 8 companies

The Andhra Pradesh government through Hyderabad Metro Rail Corp Ltd has shortlisted 8 consortiums to develop the metro rail project. Reliance Infrastructure-Reliance Infocomm, Essar-Leighton-Gayatri-VNR consortium, Transstroy-OJSC Transstroy-CR 18G-BEML, Lanco Infratech–OHL Concesiones SL, GMR Infrastructure Limited, GVK-Samsung C&T Corporation, Soma-Strabag AG (Austria) and Larsen Toubro Ltd have been shortlisted. The selected developer is expected to provide Rs.2400 million as security – roughly 2% of the project cost which is Rs 121,320 million. The 71 km rail project is to be awarded on DBFOT basis.

Delhi Mumbai rail freight corridor with Japan’s assistance

The 1483 km rail freight corridor linking several industrial clusters and states of Delhi, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra is making some progress. As an initial step, project development fund will be set up Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor Development Corporation (DMICDC) and Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) with an intial corpus of Rs.10,000 million. The rail freight corridor will be laid along the existing western corridor. It begins at Tughklakabad and ends at JNPT. Japan collaboration will help to bring latest technology and also help finances as it will provide funds as soft loan for a period of 30 years

Oberoi group to operate luxury train in Punjab

Punjab Heritage and Tourism Promotion Board (PHTPB) has invited bids for its proposed luxury train similar to ‘Palace on Wheels’ in Rajasthan. However, Oberoi group has submitted bids successfully among the other participants “Cox & Kings”, “Lepasage to India” and “Mappel Hotels “. The total project cost is estimated at Rs. 290 million. On this, Ministry of Tourism will invest 72.5 million and IRCTC and government of Punjab will invest Rs.108.7 million each. The likely route for the new luxury train will be a circuitous route of Delhi – Amritsar – Anandpur Sahib – Dharamshala – Patiala – Kurukshetra – Jaipur – Agra and back to Delhi. The train will be a luxury 5-star plus coach with kitchen, gym, bar-cum-lounge, spa etc.,

Orissa Govt plans luxury train to attract tourists

Orissa government plans luxury trains with private players participation for tourists with investment of Rs 37 crore. It seems, IRCTC may be entrusted on the task of designing the interiors of the train. The proposed luxury train modeled on the lines of the famed Palace on Wheels would cover all the tourist destinations of Orissa. The luxury train will provide the tourists with a flavour of the state's wildlife, beaches, Buddhist sites, exquisite temples, arts and crafts, dance forms, Chilika lake and the tribal culture. Unlike other luxury trains operating in the country like Palace on Wheels, Deccan Odyssey and The Golden Chariot which cater to high end tourists, the luxury train would also be affordable for the middle income groups.