NEW DELHI: Aiming to maximize profits from non-fare avenues and provide high-end services to passengers, railways is now planning to auction multipurpose stalls offering high-end services and products at 400 stations across India. Railways estimate it would result in revenue of around Rs 200 crore for them.
The railway is proposing to open quick-service restaurant (QSR) and modular multipurpose stalls (MPS) at all A1 and A stations. The idea is to facilitate the passengers to buy items required during the travel under one roof and simultaneously ensuring decongestion of platforms by optimum utilization of the available space on stations and platforms.
“Introducing a new policy of multipurpose as against existing single purpose stalls at stations where each stall can provide multiple services required by passengers including milk products and medicines,” said a senior railway official.
Presently, as per information available, railways receive approximately a total of Rs 100 crore annually as license fee from small catering vending units.
While existing facilities such as Jan Ahaar, catering stalls, refreshment rooms, would cater to the catering and other traveling needs of the railways passengers at an affordable cost, the QSR and MPS would ensure availability of higher end services to passengers who wish to purchase catering and other items of their choice at market driver prices.
In Rail Budget, Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu has emphasized developing models monetize the non-fare revenue potentials of Indian Railways and focus on various ways to enhance revenues by 10 percent to 20 percent from the current less than 5 percent from the non-tariff sources.
“This is an area which can contribute in increasing non-fare revenue by providing high-end services for the traveling needs of the passengers who are willing to pay for quality services. We are expecting MPS and ASR could generate additional revenue of Rs 200 crore annually,” said the official.
Railway has already decided to allow companies to advertise through railway display network at railway stations across the country. It is planned to make operational Railway Display Network in the railway stations across the country which envisages around 100,000 digital display screens across 2000 railway stations.
According to railways, there is a huge potential of up to Rs 10,000 crore for earning through advertising at coaches, wagons, and stations among others. With its massive network consisting of 13000 trains per day, 63,000 kilometers of track and carrying 23 million passengers – equivalent to the population of Australia, railways can use it for revenue generation.
