The Indian Railways have decided to outsource operation and maintenance of five railway stations to companies outside state control for 15 years to improve customer experience. The pilot project, called “Integrated Station Management”, concerns the rail stations: Pune, Bengaluru, Secunderabad, Anand Vihar (in New Delhi) and Chandigarh.
The stations will be handed over to state-run Indian Railways Station Development Corp. (IRSDC) for a makeover. IRSDC will subsequently invite bids from private companies for operation and maintenance of the stations.
The winning bidders will handle operations such as selling platform tickets, running station stalls, railway display network, advertising on stations and their premises and parking. However, all core operations such as signalling and movement of trains will remain with the Indian Railways. The revenue sharing model for the five stations is yet to be finalized, and will most probably be based on the gross operating profit model.
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