The Hindu Business Line : Railways: Making it the beast of burden

The cumulative effect of years of apathy and neglect is beginning to really tell on the Railways. The biggest challenge facing the Railways Minister, Mr Lalu Prasad, will be to step up its share in the total transportation of traffic. But only now has it begun realising that the system capacity cannot be expanded at will. For keeping pace with the projected GDP growth of about six per cent, the freight transport capacity should grow at least at nine per cent, says Santanu Sanyal.

The Railways need to pay attention to proper and efficient terminal management for both loading and unloading by providing additional infrastructure.

THERailway Budget is not merely a statement of annual income and expenditure of the Railways; it is also a policy statement on future programmes covering various aspects of the country's foremost transport segment.

The biggest challenge facing the Railways Minister, Mr Lalu Prasad, while drawing the contours of the Budget for 2005-06, will be how to step up the share of the Railways in the total transportation of traffic. For the past few decades, the share of the Railways has been dwindling. Right now, it is less than 40 per cent, down from 65 per cent in 1978 and more than 80 per cent half a century ago.

In an economy that is on a growth path, asking the Railways to boost its performance is not a tall demand. The indication is that the Railways will end this fiscal with a traffic throughput of more than 590 million tonnes (against the target of 580 mt), up from 550 mt in 2003-04. But, then, the current rise in throughput was achieved not so much by additional investments in creating infrastructure as by tinkering with the existing system.

For example, the loadability of the wagons has been stepped up not by introducing high-capacity/productivity modern wagons (suited for mechanised loading/unloading facility) but by allowing loading of additional two tonnes in each of them (mostly Box N type). Earlier, it was `cc' (carrying capacity) plus two tonnes; now, it is `cc' plus four tonnes. Also, the detention of wagons was sought to be discouraged by steadily jacking up the penalties and demurrage. Less detention means quicker release entailing faster turnaround and, therefore, more revenue.

An improvement in freight earning has also been achieved through re-classification of several freight items, mostly minerals. Some prime customers, mostly public sector organisations in the core sector, are now being required to pay registration fees for wagons. Earlier, they were exempt from making such payments.

All these measures have certainly helped the Railways achieve higher traffic throughput and, therefore, more revenue earnings. But can the present growth rate be surpassed, or even sustained, without the expansion of the system capacity? For keeping pace with the projected GDP growth of about six per cent, the freight transport capacity should grow at least at nine per cent. And this kind of growth cannot be achieved by conventional methods of signalling improvement, patch doubling/third lining or splitting of block sections. Unfortunately, successive Railway Ministers have remained blissfully oblivious to this.

The Railways is in a critical position today, due to the cumulative effect of long years of apathy and neglect. Only now has the Railways started realising, much to its chagrin though, that the system capacity cannot be expanded at will for reasons, some of which, sadly, are its own making.

With no elections looming, the Minister can certainly take some calculated risks. For example, he can accord low priority to proposals for new trains. If at all, he can improve the frequency of some of the existing trains and increase the number of coaches in others. Introducing any number of new trains without caring for their viability and, thus, slapping an additional burden on the already delicate financial health of the Railways can be better avoided. What the Railways Minister will really do is, of course, another matter.

Next, investment planning. In this respect, the Railways should set its eyes on the future traffic projections and the need for providing supporting facilities to achieve the projected volume of traffic. This can be done in two ways. First, the Railways needs to undertake an integrated route-wise exercise in preference to piecemeal solutions. While the exercise can cover both passenger and freight traffic, the focus should always be on freight. Second, the Railways need to pay attention to proper and efficient terminal management for both loading and unloading. If needed, the additional infrastructural requirements of the terminals should be fully met.

There are reports that the Railways has already identified a number of freight terminals across the country for upgradation between 2005 and 2010. This should include providing facilities for full rake handling, engine-on loading/unloading, adequate shunting necks, illumination for round-the-clock operation and weighbridges. The proposed upgradation will, thus, facilitate quicker loading and unloading of rakes and improve turnaround of wagons ultimately benefiting the customers.

Will there be any hike in passenger fare? Any such proposal, if past experience is any guide, can be an anathema to the Minister on the ground of "socio-economic considerations" (read political expediency). Even if the Minister, on being convinced that there is ample scope for raising passenger fare (the ratio of passenger fares to freight traffic in India is 0.3 — considered very low by world standards), chooses to set things right, his target, as always, will be the passengers travelling in higher classes.

But one thing must be remembered: The passenger fare policy should not be guided by ideology. The socialistic rhetoric is better abandoned. There are discerning customers who want comfortable service and are prepared to pay for it. Fast transit time, high standards of catering, cleanliness and riding comfort should be provided to customers paying higher fares.

High cost of operation is the bane of Indian Railways. More than 100 uneconomic passenger services launched on social considerations account for an annual loss of more than Rs 400 crore. The cost recovery from ordinary passenger services is negligible though these services occupy tracks, thus preventing efficient utilisation of line capacity. Thus, not only freight trains subsidise passenger services, even within passenger services, express trains subsidise ordinary passenger trains. The subsidy is often extended to cover the transportation of commodities such as foodgrains, salt, kerosene, fertilizers edible oil and the like, such that the cross-subsidy for running certain passenger and freight services can be as high as Rs 6,000 crore, according to one estimate. Capping it all, there are the leakages caused by ticketless travelling and freight overloading.

No effort to reduce the cost burden can succeed without the Railways disengaging itself from commuter services. Independent suburban railway authorities for each metropolis, preferably with equity participation of the Railways, the respective State governments and the local bodies, should be set up with full responsibility for operation, maintenance, fixing tariff and raising resources.

Reports have it that the Minister might introduce Rajdhani Express-type freight trains on certain high-density routes for faster freight movement. There is also a proposal for bullet trains with an average speed of 250-300 km per hour. There can be fast running containers trains. While the idea is laudable, one wonders if the desired results of such schemes will at all be obtained in the absence of dedicated freight corridors. More important, they should link ports with their hinterland to provide fillip to import/export trade.

Finally, safety must receive top priority. This can be achieved in three ways — progressive separation of networks for freight and passenger services; putting in place a swift and efficient disaster management system in the unfortunate event of an accident; and introducing state-of-the-art technology in place of manual operation.

The Minister, it is learnt, is in a tearing hurry to fill more than 80,000 vacancies in Group C and D categories in the name of providing maximum safety and security to passengers. Sad!

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