Uber in talks with Indian Railways to offer pick-up, drop-off to passengers

Uber is in talks with Indian Railways on a number of proposals, aimed at offering taxi services to get passengers to the station and drop them home, according to the Economic Times. 

Uber has proposed setting up kiosks outside railway stations, assisting passengers with booking rides to their home, the report adds. Uber has also spoken with the Indian Railway Catering & Tourism Corporation, a subsidiary of Indian Railways for adding the ability to schedule taxi ride directly from IRCTC website and app. IRCTC's website is among the most visited websites in India. 

Uber has reportedly also pitched the idea of offering UberPOOL facility to passengers who are going in the same direction, according to Business-Standard. "This will be through integrating UberPOOL into the IRCTC booking flow, thereby reducing the cost of rides for the passengers," the publication reports, citing a source. 

It’s not clear if the Indian Railways has given these proposals the green light yet, but the government organization could benefit by about Rs 1,200 million ($18 million) to Rs 1,500 million (22.5 million) in annual revenue if it does, both the publications report.  

About 23 million people in India travel in trains everyday. There are about 8,000 railway stations in India, and every day about 12,000 trains, governed by Indian Railways, run across the nation. If the deal goes through, Uber will have the ability to better serve these customers and increase its userbase. 

Taxis that are yet to be connected to Uber or its Indian rival Ola (or any other app-based service) still have dominant presence across railway stations. In the recent times, several app-based players such as BlaBlaCar, Meru, Taxi, and Shuttl have started to aggressively target railway stations.