The real challenge before the world’s fourth-largest railway network is to maintain punctuality at any cost.
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The thrust on modernising the Indian Railways is definitely a welcome step, as it will lead the nation towards prosperity by reducing travel time considerably among various regions of the country. For this purpose, a record allocation of INR 2.77 lakh crore has been made in this year’s budget, which will provide much-needed impetus to projects such as high-speed railway corridors (bullet train), dedicated freight corridors, and development of stations and other facilities.
It may be mentioned that the Indian Railways has achieved a couple of new feats in recent times, including the introduction of semi-high-speed Vande Bharat trains, which have reduced travel time considerably between various destinations. After successfully running Vande Bharat trains with chair car facilities, the Railways have now introduced Vande Bharat trains with sleeper coaches on the Kolkata–Guwahati route, cutting travel time between the two cities by more than two hours. As the experiment proves successful, the Railways are planning to introduce similar services on other routes.
At the same time, the ambitious bullet train project between Ahmedabad and Mumbai is nearing completion. Buoyed by this progress, six such bullet train projects have already been announced.
Not limiting itself to passenger services, the Railways has also attached equal importance to freight services, the main source of its revenue. With the aim of garnering sufficient revenue by competing with road transport, the Railways has decided to construct seven dedicated freight corridors in the country for timely and hassle-free delivery of goods, which currently takes an unusually long time due to congestion on existing lines.
As per the railway budget announcement, six major railway divisions of the country will get one such corridor each, while the Eastern region will get two. Among these dedicated freight corridors, the decision to construct the Siliguri–Varanasi freight corridor deserves special mention, as it will not only bring North Bengal closer to Northern India but will also provide a major boost to transportation of goods from the Northeastern region to mainland India, with Varanasi already connected to Delhi through another corridor.
However, along with modernisation, the Railways should also focus on punctuality, as late running of trains has damaged its reputation. It is an open secret that, fearing delays, people are increasingly preferring air travel over rail journeys, despite paying more. If the Indian Railways genuinely wants to serve the people, it must place greater emphasis on punctuality.
In a recent report, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament severely criticised the railway authorities for neglecting this vital aspect, noting that punctuality has slipped to 73.62 per cent from 90 per cent in 1991–92. Furthermore, the committee found that among 33 major delay factors, 27 are controllable, clearly indicating administrative failures.
Thus, the real challenge before the world’s fourth-largest railway network is to maintain punctuality at any cost.