Ministry of Railways Undertakes an Exercise of Rationalisation of Computerised Passenger Reservation System (PRS)

Ministry of Railways Undertakes an Exercise of Rationalisation of Computerised Passenger Reservation System (PRS)

The Exercise to Benefit Railway Passengers with Additional Booking Facilities

The Booking of Reserved Tickets on PRS Counters as well as on Internet (E-Ticket) Becomes Available Even After the Preparation of Reservation Chart

The Provisions of Rationalization Exercise Hasto Come into Effect from 12^th November, 2015(Thursday)

In a significant move to provide additional booking facilities, Ministry of Railways has undertaken an exercise of rationalization of Computerized Passenger Reservation System (PRS) with a view to enable passengers to buy tickets even after the preparation of reservation charts. These new provisions will come into effect from 12^th November, 2015. The rationalization exercise will also facilitate implementation of revised refund rules (notified recently) which will also become effective from 12^th November, 2015. Under this exercise, sufficient time gap will be provided to passengers between preparation of charts and departure of train so that they can plan journeys properly.

The following are the advantages of rationalization of computerized Passenger Reservation System : -

a) Reservation charts will invariably be made at least 4 hours before the scheduled departure of the train and in case if the same are not made by the charting section, the system will automatically finalise them 4 hours before the scheduled departure of train(w.e.f. 18^thNovember 2015). This will facilitate passengers to know the status of the ticket to plan their journey well in time. (this may be referred as the first reservation chart)

b) Immediately after preparation of first reservation charts, the reservation will again become open at the PRS counters as well as on internet (e-ticket) and the passengers can:-

· Book the available accommodation in the train for full/partial leg of the journey, in case there is no RAC/waitlist for that leg.

· In case of passengers holding RAC/waiting list ticket, the passengers will be given facility to cancel the ticket up to 30 minutes before the scheduled departure of train. This will facilitate the passengers, particularly partially confirmed passengers, to decide either to undertake the journey or to cancel their ticket.

c) A second (and final) chart of reservations will be made available before departure of train and handed over to onboard ticket checking staff.

This exercise will ensure optimum utilization of train accommodation as well as enhanced earnings.

d) For the present, the condition for printing of first reservation charts at least four hours before departure of train shall be applicable in case of train originating station.

Under the abovementioned rationalization, the passengers can book / cancel / modify the tickets even after the preparation of first reservation chart but only upto 30 minutes before the departure of train across any PRS Counters as well as on internet (E-ticket) as per extant provision of Refund Rules. In case of e-tickets where after preparation of first reservation charts, passengers had the option to only file online Ticket Deposit Receipt and to request for refund, now will have the facility to modify/cancel the partially confirmed ticket and get refund electronically. Passengers holding PRS counter ticket / I-ticket will now be saved from the botheration of going only to current reservation counter at the journey originating station to book / cancel / modify ticket after the preparation of first reservation chart as per refund rules. They can now go to any PRS counter. Additionally, the facility will continue to be available at current reservation counters, wherever required. Later, this facility is also proposed be made available at some designated UTS counters at stations for which the work is under progress.

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Indian Railways Issues Letter of Award (L.O.A) for Setting up Electric Locomotive Factory at Madhepura, Bihar to M/S Alstom Manufacturing India Limited.

The Mantra of Decentralization, Deregulation and Delegation of Powers to the Cutting Edge Functionaries Initiated by Minister of Railways Shri Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu in a Big way Helped Expedite the Awarding of LOA.

The Project Would Ensure Indigenization Making it a True Make in India Proposition

A Joint Venture Company Between Ministry of Railways and M/S Alstom Manufacturing India Limited will be Created to Construct and Operate the Factory

The Factory Would Manufacture and Supply Modern Electric Locomotives of High Horse Power Namely 12000 Hp

Total Number of 800 Electric Locos to be Procured in a Period of 11 Years

The Basic Cost of 800 Locos will be About 19000 Crore

These Modern Powerful Locos will be Useful for Heavy Haul Freight Operations and Mega Freight Operations in the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor and Pan India Operation

The Factory Would Lead to Substantial Development of Ancillary Manufacturing Units, Generation of Direct and Indirect Employment and Substantial Development in the Region

The Fair, Transparent and Competitive Bidding Process Adopted in Selecting the JV Partner Receives Wide-Spread Appreciation by All Stakeholders

Indian Railways has issued the Letter of Award (L.O.A.) for setting up of Electric Locomotive Factory (ELF) at Madhepura in Bihar to a France-based company M/s Alstom Manufacturing India Limited. This new factory will supply 800 high horse power (12000 hp) electric locomotive over a period of 11 years.

The project would bring in an investment of Rs 1300 crore for setting of the factory and also the maintenance facilities. It would also entail procurement of 800 High horse Power (12000 HP) locomotives costing about Rs. 19,000 crore (exclusive of Taxes and Duties).

Although the tenders do not come to the Railway Minister, the mantra of decentralization, deregulation and delegation of powers to the cutting edge functionaries initiated by Minister of Railways Shri Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu in a big way helped expedite the awarding of LOA.

A joint venture company between Ministry of Railways and M/s Alstom Manufacturing India Limited will now be incorporated and agreement between the two will be signed within the next 30 days. This JV shall construct and run ELF Madhepura. Ministry of Railway will hold 26 per cent equity in JV Company subject to a maximum of Rs.100 crore. The proto-type locomotives are to be delivered in the coming two years and the factory is to be set up within a period of three years from signing of the Agreement.

The project requires only five electric locomotives to be imported. The balance 795 locomotives are to be manufactured in India. The contract provides suitable economic drivers which would ensure complete indigenization of the manufacturing which in turn will lead to substantial development of ancillary manufacturing units and indigenization of the locomotives making it a true ‘Make in India’ proposition. The project would also lead to development of the region where the factory would be set up and also those where the maintenance facilities would be set up. In sum, the project would bring in substantial development in these areas and also lead to generation of direct and indirect employment.

The project would also enable Indian Railways to have a fleet of locomotives equipped with state of the art propulsion technology. These High Horse Power (12000 HP) locomotives would be a quantum leap over the existing 6000 HP locomotives used for freight operations. These locomotives are planned for use in the Eastern DFC and also for Pan India operations for hauling freight trains of 6000 Tonnes at 100 kmph and improve the average speed of such trains to around 50-60 kmph over the existing 25-30 kmph. The quantum jump in the operating parameters would lead to substantial increase in the throughput and also enhance line capacity. These locomotives, equipped with state of art IGBT, based propulsion technology, would lead to considerable savings in energy consumption due to use of regenerative braking.

Earlier Indian Railways had issued L.O.A. for setting up of Diesel Locomotive Factor (DLF) to M/s GE Global Sourcing India Pvt. Ltd. for manufacturing and supply of 1000 Diesel locos at about Rs.14,656 crores in a period of ten years with establishment of factory costing about Rs.1000 crores.

These two big ticket projects at Marhowra and Madhepura will usher in inflow of substantial FDI in Indian rail sector.

The entire bid process has been conducted in a fair, transparent and competitive manner which has drawn international attention. The simplified bidding process adopted for a complex project of this magnitude has also been appreciated by all stakeholders. The efforts made by Ministry of Railways in this direction has received wide appreciation.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION : -

The Cabinet had approved setting up of Electric Locomotive Factory in Madhepura (Bihar) in Feb.’ 2007. The factory is to be set up through Joint Venture (JV) Route with a 26% equity of the Ministry of Railways in the JV.

The Joint Venture Partner was to be selected through an international competitive bidding process. Following which the selected partner was to set up a manufacturing facility at Madhepura (Bihar) for manufacturing electric locomotives. Ministry of Railways would procure 800 High horse Power (12000 HP) electric locomotives over a period of eleven years from the aforesaid facility. The Joint Venture Company would also be required to undertake maintenance of 500 electric locomotives at two locations for a specified period.

For fulfillment of the above objective, Ministry of Railways decided to conduct a two stage bidding process comprising of Request For Qualification (RFQ) for short-listing of bidders and Request For Proposal (RFP) for obtaining financial bid for selection of a suitable JV partner through International Competitive Bidding. The standard RFQ and the RFP documents of the Ministry of Finance were used in the process. The Cabinet had approved the bidding documents comprising of Request For Proposal and the Procurement-cum-Maintenance Agreement (PCMA) in Jan.’ 2014.

The Request For Qualification for the present bid was initiated in May, 2013 and the process concluded by way of short-listing of bidders in May, 2014. Following bidders were shortlisted for the project:-

ELF, Madhepura Poject.

(a) Alstom Manufacturing India Ltd.

(b) Bombardier Transportation India Ltd.

(d) Siemens Locomotives, Germany.

The RFP documents were issued to the short-listed bidders inviting financial bids on Feb 27, 2015. Two pre-bid meetings were held during the process and subsequently, the financial bids were received on 31^st Aug., 2015.

After detailed evaluation of the bids, Ministry of Railways had declared Alstom Manufacturing India Limited as the selected bidder