The Hindu Business Line : All signals green for a Railways on the move

Reducing passenger fares across-the-board and maintaining freight tariffs at existing levels reflect the improved financial position and the confidence in garnering traffic in a booming economy.

SET ON the fast track. — S. Thanthoni

The Railway Minister, Mr Lalu Prasad's opening announcement about the organisation generating a cash surplus of Rs 20,000 crore is misleading. The figure refers to the difference between the Gross Traffic Receipts (GTR) and the Ordinary Working Expenses (OWE) before meeting obligations such as appropriations to the Depreciation Reserve Fund, the Pension Fund and dividend payment. So, the `surplus' after dividend payment is only Rs 3,579 crore.

But the Railways needs to be complimented for exceeding the Budget Estimates (BE) in passenger, freight and other coaching earnings, with the GTR exceeding the BE by 5.5 per cent. Equally laudable is the pegging of the OWE at almost the BE, at Rs 38,091 crore. The operating ratio of 78.7 per cent, while perhaps the lowest in recent years, is based on revised reckoning of lease payments to Indian Railways Finance Corporation (IRFC), started from 2005-06.

The incremental loading of 60 million tonnes is only second to about 65 million tonnes achieved in 2005-06. However comparisons with previous years are odious as the state of the economy has a major role in generating traffic.

Pioneering effort

The proposal to run triple-stack containers on diesel-hauled routes and double-stack containers on electrified sectors is a welcome move to increase throughput. Similarly, the proposals to improve the payload-to-tare ratio of wagons, reducing empty running, rationalising train examination points are steps in the right direction. The introduction of 25-tonne-axle load trains will be a pioneering venture. It is to be hoped that concurrently steps to reduce the consequent accelerated rail wear by techniques such as rail grinding, will also be adopted.

The elimination of wooden seats in unreserved second-class coaches, while a welcome passenger amenity, will add substantially to the maintenance workload. This needs to be catered for. Since the number of lower berths is limited, it is not clear how far the proposal to allot a quota of lower berths to senior citizens and women above 45 years travelling alone will benefit the target customers.

The proposal to extend 50 per cent concession to students appearing for UPSC and SSC examinations is in keeping with the populist tilt of the Budget. Administration of such concessions to prevent misuse will be the issue to be tackled.

Leveraging IT

The leveraging of Information Technology to improve the quality of service such as train enquiry call centres and provision of hand-held computer terminals for TTEs, issue of multipurpose smart cards, are welcome steps.

While the proposal to increase the capacity of sleeper coaches and chair cars are obviously dictated by unmet demand for passenger traffic, the requirement of rapid exit in times of emergencies such as accidents/fires need to be factored in.

While the intention to observe 2007-08 as the `Year of Cleanliness' is laudable, it is doubtful how far such `drives' will create a lasting impact. There has to be a detailed action plan, including steps to control the generation and disposal of enormous quantities of garbage and waste within the Railway premises. Instead of observing one year as the cleanliness year, the Railways would do well to chalk out an action plan to keep the environment customer friendly and clean always.

The Corridor Plans

The thrust being given to the construction of Dedicated Freight Corridors through public-private-partnership is a welcome step. Execution of the projects in a time-bound manner will be crucial, for which the decision-making process within the Railways needs to be streamlined.

The setting up of a high-speed passenger corridor has been talked about over the last several years. Purely as a means of proving technology and its beneficial spin-off effects, it is to be hoped that with improved financial position, the project will move forward.

The proposals to set up new production units to manufacture locomotives and coaches are presumably dictated by needs rather than extraneous considerations. While planning these units the possibility of making them centres of excellence for export market should be kept in view. The need to maximise productivity should not be lost sight of.

The concept of Public-Private Partnerships seems to be the policy for executing new projects. There is a need to sensitise Railway mangers at all levels to the latest trends in such special purpose vehicles (SPVs) so that decision-making does not get bogged down by red tape.

Railway Safety

The allocation of Rs 5,500 crore under the Depreciation Reserve Fund is, perhaps, the highest ever, reflecting the Railways' improved financial position. But to claim that this by itself had had an impact on the safety record is not quite right. Considerable credit for improvement in the Railways' safety performance must go to systematic implementation of the major recommendations of the Railway Safety Review Committee set up in late 1997.

Improvement in Railway security should be based on the use of the latest technology and not on increasing manpower. The proposals to install closed-circuit televisions and for using bomb detection equipment are, therefore, steps in the right direction.

Thirty-two new trains and extension of services of 23 others have been proposed. These are unavoidable in any Railway Budget. It is to be hoped that adequate maintenance facilities will be available to deal with the additional services.

Annual Plan

The highest ever Annual Plan of Rs 31,000 crore with the highest-ever support from the General Exchequer of Rs 7,611 crore indiacte the importance being now given to the development of rail transport. It is difficult to believe that 15 years back, the Railways was in effect told to fend for itself.

Passenger fares and Freight tariffs

The decision to reduce passenger fares across-the-board and maintain freight tariffs at existing levels reflect the improved financial position and the confidence in garnering traffic in a booming economy.

Organisational issues

In the absence of any proposals in the Budget in this regard, it is to be presumed that the existing organisational and financial structures would continue. How far these will meet the needs of the fast-changing external economic and industrial environment needs to be thought about by the authorities. The question is: Is there a will to change?

(The author is a former Member — Staff — of the Railway Board.)

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