Indian Railways from passengers’ perspective

Himadri Sarkar

Rail travel is the cheapest and most convenient mode of transport for the common man in India. It connects every nook and corner of the country through ordinary, deluxe, super deluxe and premium quality and classes of trains that no other mode of transport can provide as Highways in India are yet to ensure absolute connectivity by road. It is the 4th largest railway system in the world by size only after USA, Russia and China. The Indian Railways runs about 20,000 trains ferrying more than 2.5 crore passengers and 2.8 million tonnes of freight every day. In terms of passengers per kilometer, Indian Railways tops the list. It is also the single largest employer in the world. It has ten manufacturing units across the country producing various parts and components like loco engines, wheels, coaches and other components.  Instead of going into an elaborate account of Indian Railways, it would be conducive to focus on passenger amenities and expectations and how these parameters have improved over the years.

Evolution from general to superfast and luxury trains began with the introduction of Rajdhani Express in 1969 with the first being flagged off from Howrah for New Delhi. Since then, about 24 pairs of Rajdhani Express are linking all major state capitals to the National Capital. It runs at an average speed of 90KMPH. It is also the first air conditioned vestibule train with on board facilities like food, bed rolls and other amenities. After Rajdhani came Shatabdi series of short distance high speed trains followed by Duronto Superfast Express trains which are long distance high speed trains. These are all prime trains which took care of passenger amenities which no other train did in past. With introduction of latest technology and improvement in signaling system more high speed trains with airplane like facilities were introduced gradually. Vande Bharat Express perhaps is the best thing that has happened to Railway passengers in recent times.  Vande Bharat was first introduced on 15th February, 2019 with a maximum speed of 180 KMPH but later on reduced to an average of 130KMPH due to some recent accidents which took place and would run at higher speed once automatic protection system is put in place on its routes. Vande Bharat is a medium distance train ( 800 Km maximum) with facilities like swiveling seats,  display board showing distances covered and to cover to destination, absolutely jerk less and noise less runs. On board food provided is excellent. These trains are seldom late with very few stoppages. As of now some 50 pairs have been put into service connecting some major cities in the country. Encouraged by the good response, Indian Railways charted an ambitious plan to introduce some 4000+ such trains by 2047 phasing out old ones gradually.

Then there is the Amrit Bharat, also a high speed train but non AC and targeted for the common man with long distance journey. But most ambitious of them is Namo Bharat which is going to be India’s first bullet train with Japanese technology. Work is going on on this project which may see light of the day by this year end. This is a high speed train with average speed of 300KMPH which will connect Mumbai to Ahmedabad to start with. In short it can be summarized that Indian Railways has traversed a long journey since 1853 when Lord Dalhousie flagged of the first train from Bombay to Thana.

Passenger safety and security

With operations of such magnitude, accidents are bound to happen but they have come down substantially in the last 10 years. Incidentally USA tops the list in train accidents but they do happen in China and Japan too; however, accidents are not happening in bullet trains but do occur in other trains. One of the reasons could be because Bullet trains do not run on wheels but on magnetic system which gives enables in picking up momentum. There is no possibility of derailment. Some recent major accidents that happened in India were due to faulty signaling system and some others due to driver’s negligence. With the introduction of Automatic anti accident system put in place in signaling systems, accidents are likely to come down further.

Railway Stations

Indian Railways are going in a big way to modernize some major and important stations in the near future. Some 150 stations are being earmarked and special budgetary provisions have been made to give it  shape. The stations have been planned in a manner to provide airport like looks and facilities. Work is in full swing in some stations already. However, maintaining cleanliness is going to be a big challenge.  India is a huge country with 25% people living below the poverty line and they are the people whose only living places are the Railway platforms. But up-gradation of Stations is a welcome step.

Other Expectations

To make Indian Railways more passenger friendly, more facilities and provisions need to be introduced. All long distance trains should be provided with mini clinics manned by qualified doctors with adequate medicines and testing apparatus. Like in Rajdhani and Vande Bharat trains pure drinking water should be provided in all long distance trains.

Trolleys with certified porters should be provided along with rate charts at all major stations. In the absence of any certified porter and rate charts, coolies often resort to unqualified bargaining putting particularly the elderly passengers in a quandary. Last but not the least, senior citizen concessions on Railway tickets should be reintroduced. Railways should not always be thinking of profit at the cost of senior citizens’ economic comfort.