New Delhi: The Ministry of Railways on Sunday said the private passenger trains will run from March 2023.

“Tenders will be finalised by March 2021 and trains will operate from March 2023,” the Railways said in a statement. The Ministry’s clarification came in the background of some reports saying that private trains operations delayed and it would start from March 2024 only.

Earlier, the Railways formally kickstarted its plans to allow private entities to operate passenger trains on its network by inviting request for qualifications for participation on 109 pairs of routes through 151 modern trains.

Introduction of private trains in addition to existing trains aims to cater to the increasing demand with quality service. In 2019, total 8.4 billion passengers travelled in trains while the number will be 30 billion by 2030. Keeping with demand, the Railways will continue to introduce new trains, said the Railways.