New Delhi, July 22 (TIWN) Even as the Indian Railways plans to introduce the first set of 12 private trains in 2023, followed by 45 more in the next fiscal, according to an initial timeline drawn by the Railways, the national transporter held a pre-bid conference and several international companies showed interest in the project.

According to railway ministry sources, Spanish coach and component maker CAF, Bombardier India, GMR group which owns and operates two airports in the country were among the prominent players which participated in the pre-bid meeting.

Sources also said that public sector units (PSUs) like RITES, Railways’ tourism and catering arm IRCTC and Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) also participated in the meeting along with the Hyderabad-based Medha Group, which had bid for the Train 18 project, RK Associates, Sterlite Power, Bharat Forge and JKB Infrastructure. The sources said that Gateway Rail, Jason Infra, Hind Rectifier also participated in the meeting.