Essays

For a country so reliant on its trains, Indian Railways' Vision 2020 envisages introduction of bullet trains, massive addition to its route network, segregation of passenger and freight services into separate double-line corridors, raising the speeds of passenger trains from the current 130 kmph to 160-200 kmph on some routes, zero accidents and equipment failures and setting up of high-speed passenger corridors.

In rail budget 2011. the formation of National High Speed Railway Authority (NHSRA) has been approved, which will be responsible for implementing bullet train services in the country. The world's fourth largest rail network is planning to build six high speed rail corridors to provide faster rail connectivity across the country. The six corridors that have been selected for the project are-Delhi-Chandigarh-Amritsar (450 km). Pune-Mumbai-Ahmedabad (650 km), Hyderabad-Dornakal-Vijayawada-Chennai    (664    km),    Chennai-Bangalore- Coimbatore-   Ernakulam   (649   km),   Howrah-Haldia   (135   km)   and Delhi-Agra-Lucknow-Varanasi-Patna (991 km). Twelve state governments and one UT have given their approval to share the cost of consultancy on 50:50 basis. According to the proposal, one can reach Patna from Delhi in a little more than 3 hours and from Delhi to Amritsar in 1.5 hours.

Vision 2020 also intends to spread the railroad service to isolated areas of the country with 25,000 kilometers of new track by 2020. Moreover, the 'vision1 to revamp railways comes with an assurance that investment in India's conventional train network would continue, which is a social necessity in the wake of 18 million daily passengers.

Indian Railway Budget 2011 contained a slew of proposals, which included elimination of 2500 unmanned level crossings, anti-collusion devices in 8 railway zones for safety purposes and introduction of 56 new Express Trains, 3 new Shatabdis and 9 new Duronto Trains during 2011-12. The 2011 rail budget also put forward an allocation of $9,583 crore for new lines, $5,406 crore for doubling the lines and $ 2,470 crore for gauge conversion projects. To overcome shortages in wagons, coaches and locomotives, $13,820 crore has been earmarked for acquisition of rolling stock. The budget also plans to extend services of 33 trains and frequency of 17 trains. 107 new line surveys have been projected to be taken up during the year and 18,000 wagons are likely to be procured during 2011-12 for better freight management. Also, no increase in freight rates and passenger fares made it an aam-aadmi (a common man's) budget.

However, the Indian Railways' great "turnaround story" is not exactly hunky dory. Amidst such proposals, a sharp decline in earnings and a serious escalation in expenditures threatened the financial solution of the Railways. In 2010, the Railways had failed to provide even a single rupee to its Capital Fund, which is used for buying new assets and those managing the Railways' finances predict that even in 2011 the Railways may not be left with enough funds to appropriate money into two critical reserves that fund its purchase of new assets and improvements in passenger amenities - the Capital Fund and the Development Fund. According to top sources managing the Railways' finances, in early 2011 the Railways had a net deficit of around $2,500 crore, largely due to the two hikes in diesel prices and the sharp drop in freight business. While the expenditure went up by almost $1,330 crore, earnings decreased by $1,142 crore.

The grim picture took a rosy turn as the Indian Railways announced its earnings results for the Quarter ended June 2011 and registered an increase of 12.15%. The total approximate earnings of Indian Railways on originating basis during 1st April 30th June 2011 were ? 247,561.8 million compared to ? 220,749.2 million during the same period last year. While the total goods earnings went up to $168.1176 million, registering an increase of 12.61% over the same period last year, the to passenger revenue earnings of $68,411.6 million, registered an increase of 10.52% over the same period last year. With 18 million daily passengers, a staff of 1.4 million employees and 17,000 trains operating on 64,000 kilometers of track, India maintains one of the world's largest rail systems. Vision 2020 not only aims to accelerate the urban pace of the country, also plans to connect isolated parts of the country by reaching far and wide—it largely suggests that India is all set to write a new chapter in the history of Indian railways.