India’s first-ever commercial train ran from Bori Bunder to Thane, in April 1853. The historic event marked the beginning of the largest railway network in Asia, which now covers 7,000 stations and over 1,51,000 kilometres of track. Today, the Indian Railways runs more than 13,000 passenger trains daily and transports approximately billion-plus people across the country. These numbers accurately reflect the rich, illustrious journey that the “transport lifeline of India” has made in its 166 years of existence. But, it’s a well-known fact that the Indian Railways has been struggling with low revenue margins for a while now. Archaic infrastructures, lack of sanitation, outmoded technology are some of the few factors that have contributed to the decline in profits and brand value as well.
However, the railway ministry is determined to solve these pressing issues as it looks to double the national transportation network’s revenues to Rs 4 lakh crore by 2025. The Union Budget 2019 has given us a fair idea of how the government plans to transform the current state of the Indian Railways.
Infrastructure improvement
Poor infrastructure may have been one of the pain points of the Indian Railways but the scenario is about to change. In the Budget, the government has allocated a whopping Rs 65,837 core towards the development of railway infrastructure. This includes the construction of new tracks (Rs 7,255 crore), gauge conversion (Rs 2,200 crore), doubling of rail lines (Rs 700 crore), rolling stock (Rs 6,114.82 crore), and signalling and telecom (Rs 1,750 crore). The capital expenditure has been pegged at Rs 1.60 lakh crore, up from Rs 1.48 lakh crore allocated in the previous budget. Customer satisfaction is again found to be one of the major areas where the railways score low. In a bid to change this, the budgetary allocation for passenger comfort has been increased to Rs 3,422.57. The increase in the budget allotment is expected to give the Indian Railways a major face-lift.
PPP (Public-Private Partnership) model
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the railway infrastructure will require an additional Rs 50 lakh crore between 2018 and 2030. The fund will be utilized to modernize the railway stations and build passenger amenities including waiting rooms, toilets and better-connected stations. To realize this, Sitharaman announced that the Indian Railways will welcome public-private partnerships to unleash faster development of railway tracks, production of rolling stocks and delivery of passenger freight services. Hence, it’s safe to say that by the end of the upcoming decade, the stations located even in the remotest corners of the country will have a state-of-the-art infrastructure that will provide better amenities and easier access to passengers.
Safety enhancements
Passenger safety has always remained a top priority for the railway ministry. In the 2018-19 Budget, Rs. 7,267 crore was allocated for safety-related works, including track inspection, repair, and maintenance. This year, the government has proposed to introduce an Automatic Train Protection (ATP) system, which will combine the European Train Control System and an indigenously developed system. Further, the Indian Railways is aiming to install CCVT cameras at all stations and inside coaches. The national transporter is looking forward to eliminating all 2,568 manned level crossings and replacing them by Road Over Bridges (ROBs) and Road Under Bridges (RUBs).
Skill development programmes
The railway industry of India has been facing skills gaps and skills shortages. The railway ministry has now decided to address this by announcing the launch of an Integrated Skill Development scheme. The programme will offer basic training to all railway employees, focusing primarily on 3Cs -Customer, Cost, and Work Culture. An Advanced Program will then be offered to a few employees with high learning agility and greater skill mastery.
Despite being plagued with several problems, the future of Indian Railways looks bright. With the government investing heavily towards infrastructural development, we are expecting the introduction of new technology, advanced safety features and superior amenities will continue to take forward the legacy of Indian Railways.
The article has been written by Dinesh Kumar Kotha, Co founder & CEO, Confirmtkt – train booking and discovery platform
