Recently, it was in the news that China
opened a stretch of 2,298 kilometers long, high speed railway corridor from the country's
capital, Beijing in the north to Guangzhou. China tops the world in having an expansive High Speed Railway network
which operates at an average speed of 200 km/h or higher. And as
compared to this- is our railways which still runs at average speed of 60 km/hr,
operates the same old archaic coaches which are of minimum comfort. And if you
have got berth near the stinking toilets then rest assured that your whole journey
is going to be miserable and bound to leave an indelible mark in your mind for
ever. Well, travelling is supposed to be pleasure but no longer is this true if
you are travelling by the Indian railways. And the next time around you do a booking you
will definitely be prompted to at least check out the air fares, even if you cannot
afford to book. This is the current situation of the Indian Railways which is
the largest employer in India today. The same railways in which, we take proud because
it is the lifeline of our nation, connecting its lengths and breaths. Moreover,
railways have been a boon to the common man who can travel at relatively
economical fares, at subsidized rates.
Remember that the Indian Railways
is a legacy of the British raj. Post independence there is not much that has
changed for the Indian Railways. There may be some milestones which the
railways have traversed. As far as I can recollect these are- the change from
steam to diesel/electric locomotives, switch from narrow/meter gauge to broad
gauge and construction of the Konkan stretch. But In terms of speed and safety
it has not recorded much progress, as compared to that of the British
times.
Unfortunately the picture is not
all that rosy today. The railways are cash strapped and are having losses at
almost whopping 25,000 crores. The speeds of trains are below than any benchmark
as per the 21st century standards and the amenities are abysmal, if
not worse. Added to all these are other problems like the requirement to make well
in advance bookings, overcrowded unreserved compartments, unhygienic food,
littered platforms, and security issues especially for ladies and the like. With
cross subsidization the freight fares are increasing thereby making the
railways less cost competitive as compared to the transport companies operating
trucks. Thus, the railways seem to be heading to slow doom, which is almost the
writing on the wall, unless we take some drastic measures to salvage this poster
boy of Indian transport landscape. However with the recent decision of the government there is some hope that the losses suffered by the railways would somewhat get reversed by the marginal price hike. The political parties are making a hue and cry of the price rise, saying that it will put undue burden on the common man. But this argument is false in my opinion. The price rise is marginal. If the fare from New Delhi-Mumbai was earlier Rs. 388/- then now it is Rs. 465/-. Which is an increase of Rs. 73/- which I believe is affordable when such long distance journeys are made once or twice a year. And in any case the rise in fare in the sub urban segment is only 2 paisa.
And above all, we cannot be left behind as
far as modernization of the railways is concerned. Railways is a key lever to
the economic growth of any region. Connecting the under developed regions of
the country with that of the developed regions can bring more economic parity. Railways has the potential to accelerate the movement of
goods and people across the trade centers. Now the question arises how do we
achieve this? The answer is to augment the speed of the trains by building High
Speed Rail networks. HSR has a lot many advantages. Firstly, moving passengers through
high speed lines frees up older railways to carry more freight, which is more
profitable for railways than passengers, whose fares are subsidized. Secondly,
this would also mean less clogged national highways and also reduced
consumption of diesel whose import is a great drag on the national exchequer. Thirdly,
dedicated
High-speed railway networks allow more trains to share the tracks and this can
be achieved at higher speeds. Fourthly, HSR construction would create jobs and drive-up demand for
construction, steel and cement industries during the economic downturn. For
example, Work on the Beijing-Shanghai
HSR mobilized
110,000 workers. Fifthly, HSR locomotives being electric are more environment
friendly. Lastly, developing an indigenous high-speed rail equipment industry
make you being able to sell high-speed rail building technology to other
nations are thereby early revenue as in the case of Antrix cooperation of the ISRO which helps launching of satellites for
other nations. However, one must remember that the Chinese went for the policy decision of
the modernization of its railways as early as in 1994. And subsequently it made
what is visible, as a steady progress in stages. From 1997 to 2007, the speed
of China's railways increased six times. Therefore the point here is that any
plan of transformation and more so for the Indian Railways which is a mammoth
machinery by itself, would take substantial amount of time to bring results.
Therefore the key is to begin early so that the Railways stays in business else
there is all danger of being kicked out of the scene by the low cost airlines
and transport companies.
If you have been to New
Delhi, and the New Delhi metro station, you would feel how advanced and
commuter friendly it is. But as you walk out of this underground station and
move towards the New Delhi railway station of the Indian Railways you would
witness something which is contrary to what you observed a few minutes back. You
would see diesel locomotives pulling the age old model of coaches overcrowded
with passengers and of course with the iconic stinking toilets. The theory of
‘Two India’s’ comes alive in front of you. As Indians we have the opportunity
to bridge this gap. We can support the proposed hike in the railway fare.
Thereby do a favour for posterity so that at least they don’t come to realize
this gap. And that our next generation inherits a much safer, faster and
efficient Indian Railways. This will be the best service we can do for our
coming generations. Else history would adjudge us with inaction, when we were
cognizant of the dwindling condition of the Indian Railways, leading to a
downward spiral. Undoubtedly the railways may have chosen to burden the common
man with the recent price hike, but the real test for railways is to convert
the additional resources garnered, to tangible changes on the ground, in terms
of better safety, amenities and modernization, so that the trust of the common
man continues in the Indian Railways.
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