The Ministry Of Railways on August 12, 2026, issued the Indian Railways (permission for operators to move container trains on Indian Railways) Amendment Rules, 2026 to further amend the Indian Railways (permission for operators to move container trains on Indian Railways) Rules, 2006.
The following amendments have been stated:
• In the said rules, for rule 7,the following rule shall be substituted, namely: –
“7. Regulation of Rail Container Operations. –The Container Train Operator shall be granted a single unified all India Container Train Operator (CTO) license to run container trains on all routes of Indian Railways network.”.
• In the said rules, in rule 8, for sub-rule (3), the following sub-rule shall be substituted, namely: –
“(3) Any company which has been declared insolvent or bankrupt, as the case may be, under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code 2016 (31 of 2016) shall not be eligible to apply to operate container trains either individually or in association with other companies.”.
• In the said rules, in rule 10, for sub-rule (1), the following sub-rule shall be substituted, namely: –
“(1) At the time of submission of application to operate container train every applicant shall be required to deposit a non-refundable registration fee of rupees twenty-five crores for all routes on the Indian Railways network.”.
In the said rules, for rule 11 the following rule shall be substituted, namely: –
“11. Modalities of granting permission.–
(1) The operator(s) registered under Category - I, shall continue to operate in the same category till completion of the concession period: Provided that they shall not be charged any extension or renewal fee for renewal of their concession period in the new single unified all India Container Train Operator (CTO) license for all routes of Indian Railways network.
(2) The operator(s) registered in Category-II, III and IV, shall continue to operate in the same category till the completion of their concession period.
(3) For the renewal or extension of concession period in the new single unified all India Container Train Operator (CTO) license for all routes of Indian Railways network, the operator(s) registered under Category-II, III and IV shall be required to deposit an amount of rupees fifteen crores which shall be non-refundable
(4) The operatorsunder Category-II, III and IV may migrate to the new single unified all India Container Train Operator (CTO) license for all routes of Indian Railways network before completion of twenty years concession period, by depositing rupees fifteen crores which shall be non-refundable.”.
7. In the said rules, in rule 13, for sub-rule (1), the following sub-rule shall be substituted, namely: –
“(1) The validity of permission shall be for a period of twenty years from the commercial operation date of container trains by the operator and the permission can be extended by twenty years after expiry of the validity of the permission, by the Competent Authority to the same party or operator, as the case may be, on his application, subject to satisfactory performance without any extension fee to be charged: Provided that subsequent extensions to the same operator shall be without any extension or renewal fee.”.
They shall come into force on August 12, 2026.
[Notification No. G.S.R. 727(E)]
