The Narendra Modi-led NDA government is expected to table its maiden
Railway Budget in Parliament next month. Just as the General Budget, the
Rail Bugdet too will be keenly watched by experts and the country as a
whole.
Here are the challenges that the government will have to address -
Track expansion and modernisation -
The
policy paralysis of the previous UPA government is said to have
hampered electrification, expansion and modernisation of Railway tracks.
The tracks which run through vast swathes of desert land in Rajasthan
(pl check but i think karnataka and HP are even behind rajasthan in
terms of electrification though desert ares of rajasthan and gujarat are
also far behind) and through the hilly terrains of North East are yet
to be electrified. Also, a few-metre gauge Railway tracks in North East
still remains to be changed into broad-gauge 67 years after
independence. One such example is the Lumding-Silchar Railway metre
gauge track which is undergoing expansion at a snail's pace. The track
is being upgraded to a broad gauge track. The track must be converted
into a double line taking into consideration the future prospects of
traffic on the route.
It can be said to be a matter of shame
that the Indian Railways have failed to electrify the Delhi-Guwahati
route though the plan to do so was sanctioned under the ministership of
Lalu Prasad Yadav. The track is electrified only till Barauni junction.
Another Railway track from Kolkata to Guwahati via New Jalpaiguri is
electrified till Khana jucntion while the 2020 vision document of the
Railways mentions that electrified seamless Railway connectivity will be
operationalised between Kolkata and Guwahati by the year 2020.
In
the state of Rajasthan, out of a total of 5854 kilometres only 642
kilometres is electrified, whereas in Uttar Pradesh out of a total route
of 8702 kilometres only 2137 kilometres was electrified till 17
February, 2011. The existing Railway tracks must be modernised with
concrete foundations for increasing the speeds of superfast trains
running on LHB (Linke Hofmann Busch) coaches. The tracks need to
withstand the load of heavy traction motors located in the underbelly of
WAP-7 locomotives and vibrations while the trains run on them at speeds
of more that 180 kilometres per hour. India can also follow the
European model of track construction where concrete sleepers are being
replaced with plastic and fibre glass sleepers which can absorb more
vibrations.
Overhauling of locomotives –
Indian
Railways have already started experimenting with new generation of
diesel and electric locomotives. Electric WAP-7 locomotives are already
under limited use in Rajdhani and Shatabdi trains. The WAP-7D (7000
horsepower) with dual brakes is also undergoing experimentation. On the
other hand the Railways are yet to commercialise the WDG-5 (Bheem)
diesel locomotive technology even after two years of its inception. The
implementation of WAP-7D technology must be speeded up.
Dedicated Freight corridors -
The
country lacks contemporary Railway infrastructure for speedier
transportation of goods in important routes. A Dedicated Freight
Corridor (DFC) was conceptualised during the UPA-1 regime. Work is under
progress on the western freight corridor between Delhi and Mumbai. But
work on the Ludhiana-Kolkata eastern freight corridor is moving at
snail's pace. The other five freight corridors - East-West Corridor
(Kolkata- Mumbai), North-South Corridor (Delhi-Chennai), East Coast
Corridor (Kharagpur-Vijayawada), Chennai-Bangalore Freight Corridor and
Southern Corridor (Goa- Chennai) – which were proposed during the
previous UPA regime still remains on papers.
Rationalisation of fares -
At
a time when Railway fares seems to have been frozen in a time warp,
more emphasis should be given to rationalisation of fares as per the
present market conditions. It would be nothing less than irrational to
maintain low fares to cater to the populace. The Railways should explore
the option of running the system at a no profit, no loss basis which
would be beneficial for marginalised sections of the society as well as
save the exchequer from huge financial losses.
FDI, corporatisation and privatisation -
While
speculation is ripe that the government is ready to welcome 100% FDI in
a few areas of Railway infrastructure (including high speed tracks,
dedicated freight corridors and station development), the government
must take a cautious approach towards allowing FDI in railway
infrastructure in strategically sensitive border areas. Full
privatisation of Railways may not work in India as a huge chunk of
passengers travelling by Indian Railways are from the marginalised
sections of society. The objective of any private entity is to make
profits which may badly impact the vulnerable below poverty line (BPL)
populace travelling on trains. But limited corporatisation (on PPP model
where the government has a controlling stake) with an effective
regulatory mechanism can be executed. The government must also allow the
Rail Tarrif Authority (RTA) to function independently.
Fleet modernisation-
The
Railways must lay more emphasis on fleet modernisation by introducing
high speed LHB coaches in all trains and using WAP-7 electric
locomotives in all superfast trains. Fire proof coaches should also be
introduced on all existing trains. The curtains between seats and berths
(in AC 2 tier coaches) should be done away with as these materials are
prone to catching fire.
Safety and security -
The
Railways must install CCTV cameras and fire alarms on all trains for the
safety and security of passengers. Daily passengers must be stopped
from travelling illegally in reserved coaches at any cost. The number of
women RPF personnel on trains should be increased for the safety and
security of women passengers in local and long distance trains.
High speed corridors -
The
Railways should initialise work on several high speed corridors on
suburban routes to start with. High speed bullet trains should also be
introduced on trunk routes later. The government can also explore the
option of bringing in sophisticated Maglev (Magnetic Levitation)
technology for running very high speed wheel-less Maglev trains on
electromagnetic tracks in urban conglomerations and suburban passenger
corridors.
