The Hindu Business Line : Troubled train to the North-East

Passenger services have their unique problems in the North-East. Militancy is rampant in this region, and our employees are often at great risk. Construction of new projects takes unduly long.

MR ASHUTOSH SWAMI, GENERAL MANAGER, NORTHEAST FRONTIER RAILWAY

Santanu Sanyal

Mr Ashutosh Swami joined Indian Railways in 1972 as a mechanical engineer on completion of training at the Indian Railway Institute of Mechanical & Electrical Engineers, Jamalpur. After serving various zonal railways, Railway Board, Rail Museum, and other railway organisations, he took over as General Manager of Northeast Frontier Railway in June 2007. In an interview to Business Line at his office at Maligaon, Guwahati, recently, Mr Swami discussed various issues facing NF Railway which he had served earlier also, first as Divisional Railway Manager, Lumding, and then as Chief Personnel Officer.

Excerpts from the interview:

Northeast Frontier Railway does not seem to have much originating freight traffic …..

You’re right. We do not have enough originating traffic to load. As a result, our inward traffic throughput exceeds our outward throughput. The North-Eastern region is short of almost everything — foodgrains, other essential items and industrial products — and therefore the States in the region depend heavily on supplies from other parts of the country. Since the loading of inward traffic takes place outside our zone, what we get is apportionment.

What was your originating traffic in 2008-09?

In 2008-09, we handled about 11 million tonnes (mt), lower than the targeted 12 mt and the previous year’s 11.5 mt

Why this was so?

If you look at the composition of our traffic, you will find that there are three broad categories — coal, petroleum products and other cargoes — each having almost equal share. In 2008-09, we loaded about four mt of coal, against 4.8 mt in 2007-08. The loading of Meghalaya coal, mostly produced in the unorganised sector, had been less than satisfactory because of upward revision of prices. This coal is in demand in the Punjab area for brick kilns and other small units. The petroleum traffic, at 3.5 mt, was down by 0.3 mt from last year’s 3.8 mt.

This, again, was largely due to the poor demand caused by the general slowdown of the economy. Among other items were foodgrains (0.876 mt), bamboo (0.503 mt), dolomites (0.306 mt), cement (0.176 mt) and fertilisers (0.133 mt).

The operating ratio?

Our operating ratio is high but earlier it was even higher. In 1998-99, the ratio was 203 per cent, i.e., to earn Rs 100 we spent Rs 203. It dropped to a much better 108.36 per cent in 2007-08 but jumped again to 140 per cent in 2008-09, largely due to payments made on account of the Pay Commission awards. Salary and wages account for more than 50 per cent of our expenses.

Those working for NF Railways are entitled to a 12.5 per cent special allowance. Yet it is so difficult to attract good people to this zone. I hear that officers in other all India services get 25 per cent extra pay for postings in the North-East. If this is true then something similar should be worked out for the Railways also. We earn about 2.5 per cent of Indian Railways but spend about five per cent. We account for 5.5 per cent of the total employees of Indian Railways.

What, then, are your chief sources of earnings?

We concentrate on inward freight traffic and passenger traffic. In 2008-09, our total earning, at Rs 2,324.19 crore, was lower than the previous year’s Rs 2,357.51 crore. This was largely due to the drop in freight earning at Rs 1,097.12 crore (Rs 1,202.2 crore).

Our earning from passenger traffic was up at Rs 496.57 crore (Rs 438.69 crore), from other coaching Rs 91.39 crore (Rs 88.35 crore) and sundries Rs 639.11 crore (Rs 628.27 crore). We earned more than Rs 170 crore from the sale of scrap in 2008-09 against the Railway Board target of Rs 124 crore and a much higher internal target of Rs 240 crore set for the period. In 2007-08, we earned about Rs 152 crore.

There is often the complaint that passenger train services in the North East leave much to be desired. Do you agree with it?

I would not be telling the truth if I said I did not agree. But passenger services have their own unique problems in the North East. We have about 1,500 km of metre gauge sections, though the Indian Railways has stopped producing metre gauge coaches, locomotives and lines. Next, militancy is a way of life in this region.

While on duty, our staff take great risks, some have even sacrificed their lives while on duty. Night running of passenger trains is often restricted. We do not always get enough security to protect our people. Most metre gauge locomotives are being made bullet-proof. We have 46 metre gauge locomotives, 16 of them have been made bullet-proof. Precisely for the same reason, the construction of new projects takes an unduly long time. We are also required to run short-distance un-remunerative services. The problems are many.

What about conversion of the Lumding-Badarpur metre gauge section into broad-gauge?

The work on conversion of the 180-km long Lumding-Badarpur metre gauge section, comprising 140 km of hilly terrain infested with insurgents, started in 1996 and the targeted year of completion is 2012.

The original cost was fixed at Rs 1,600 crore, now revised to Rs 4,100 crore. We’ve so far spent about Rs 1,200 crore. Reputed contractors are reluctant to come to work here. Some of the tenders, I understand, will be floated again.

Why, then, did you construct a new metre gauge line to Agartala?

We had no choice. The line to Agartala is an extension of the Lumding-Badarpur metre gauge section. Unless the entire section is fully converted into broad gauge, the extension to Agartala cannot be made broad gauge.

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