Indian Railways Carry
Passengers Equivalent to Almost the Population of Entire World
Indian
Railway is today the topmost railway in the world as far as passenger numbers
is concerned by transporting passengers equivalent to almost the population of
the entire world every year, and with a loading close to 1010 million tonnes in
2012-13, has become the fourth member of the select billion tonne club after USA , China
and Russia
While the network size (Route
Kilometer) of Indian Railways since 1950’s has grown by about 20%, the total
track kilometrage has grown by almost 50% from 70,000 kms to 1,15,000 kms. This
is because of the thrust on gauge conversions under the Unigauge Policy of Indian railway and
doubling of the existing lines for capacity augmentation. In the 12th
Plan,Indian Railways have envisaged addition of 4000 km of new line, 5500 km of
gauge conversion ,7653 km of doubling and 6500 km of electrification to augment
capacity for achieving higher throughput..
In
addition to this, a giant leap will also be undertaken in the area of capacity
building by commissioning the Eastern & Western Dedicated Freight Corridors
(DFC) which would add 3338 Km of 32.5 axle load freight network. The tenders
for civil construction of both corridors have been floated and award of
contracts is in process. Land acquisition of almost 76% of the corridor has
been completed and it is expected that the Dedicated Freight Corridors on these
two important routes will be in place by 2017. Indian Railways is also planning
four more dedicated freight corridors for which preliminary traffic survey
works are being undertaken.
Initiatives
on the passenger operations include proliferation of 24 coach trains to cater
to large volumes, improved turn round of passenger trains through
rationalization of maintenance schedules and coaching operations, progressive
introduction of crashworthy LHB coaches with anti climb features to enhance
comfort and safety, induction of indigenously designed air-conditioned double
decker coach trains for intercity travel and revamping and development of
additional coaching terminals.
Other
passenger friendly initiatives include:
Identification of 115 Coach Maintenance
Depots for intensive mechanized cleaning of coaches. This has already being
implemented in 91 depots.
Introduction of On Board House Keeping
Services (OBHS) on 538 trains including all Rajdhanis, Shatabdi and Durantos,
against which the scheme has been implemented on 336 trains.
Nomination
of Clean Train Stations for mechanized cleaning attention with disinfecting of
toilets, doorways, aisles on selected identified trains. Of the 30 stations
selected on Indian Railways, 29 are now functional.
Establishment
of Mechanized Laundries at 55 locations (19 already functional) for ensuring
supply of clean and hygienic bedrolls to passengers.
Introduction
of Bio toilets as a pilot project in 504 units of nine rakes.
Other
passenger facilitation measures include:
Progressive
switchover of e-ticketing for reserved accommodation for which a “Next
Generation e-ticketing system” is under implementation with a capacity to support 7200 tickets per minute and
1.2 lakh simultaneous users as against the present capacity of 2000 tickets per
minute and 40,000 simultaneous users.
Coverage
of a large number of trains under Real Time Information System (RTIS) which
will give pinpointed status of passenger train movements through enquiry/mobile
phones.
Provision
of free Wi-Fi facilities in several trains.
Provision
of 179 escalators and 400 lifts at category A-1 and other important stations.
Proactive
steps to curb malpractices in reserved ticketing including Tatkal Schemes by
rationalizing of booking timings and production of identity proof in all
reserved
classes.
Initiatives
for capacity expansion and modernization have to be guided by the concerns of
safety. In pursuance of this objective Indian Railways had formulated a
Corporate Safety Plan for period 2003-13. Under the plan, Indian Railways had
targeted large scale track renewals, rehabilitation/rebuilding of bridges,
mechanization of track maintenance, induction of improved technology in
wagons/coaches and upgradation of signaling systems . Over 9166 kms of Track
Renewals and rehabilitation of 6218 bridges has been completed, and 55% of the
total track has been brought under mechanized maintenance ,as against 35% in 2003-04 .
Progressive upgradation of signalling systems have contributed significantly to
the safety environment, of which four major thrust areas are noteworthy. These
initiatives have resulted in substantial reduction in the number of accidents
over the years.
Notwithstanding
the fact that Indian Railway proposes to move towards a zero accident regime,
it is a matter of satisfaction that even while the freight and passenger
traffic has increased manifold, the safety record of Indian Railways as per the universally recognized
accident assessment parameter of the number of accidents number of train accidents per million train
kilometres show a significant decreasing trend from 0.44 in 2003-04 to 0.13 at
the end of 2012-13, thereby surpassing the target of 0.17 stipulated under the
Corporate Safety Plan, 2003-04 one
year in advance.
Encouraging
State Governments/Central PSUs to share the responsibility of building rail
infrastructure in the states has also found good response. So far 10 states are
sharing the cost of 35 new line , doubling and gauge conversion projects
covering a length of 4761 kms with a total cost of almost Rs 33000 crore of
which over Rs 5000 crore have been already spent. Likewise PSUs such as NMDC
have come forward for investment in the cost of doubling of the 150 km long
Jagdalpur-Kirandul rail link at a cost of Rs 827 crores, SECL and IRCON are
sharing the cost of 2 projects aimed at substantial coal evacuation in the State of Chattisgarh along with
the state costing Rs 4000 crores, and Coal India is also funding certain other
rail connectivity projects worth Rs. 2000 crores for improving rail
connectivity to its mines in Orissa and Jharkhand.
The
financial health of the Railways has been under strain for almost one and half
decades. Since 1997-98 upto 2011-12, barring the three year period between
2005-06 to 2007-08, the Operating Ratio of Indian Railway has been above 90%.
The situation in fact became alarming over the previous three years since
2009-10 with a sharp deterioration of Fund Balances to the progressive
pressures of a steep rise in input costs, particularly those related to
manpower and Pensionary commitments following implementation of the
recommendations of the 6th Pay
Commission. The resultant increase in working expenses without being backed by
commensurate revenues necessitated cathartic measures. These included
rationalization of freight and fare tariffs, introduction of a Fuel Adjustment
Component to neutralize fuel/energy price increases, creation of a New Debt
Service Fund, prioritization of essentially required projects, a thrust on
alternative funding mechanisms for infrastructure creation and a strong fiscal
discipline. These measures are expected to restore fund balances to Rs.12000
crore by 31.03.2014 and pave the way of achieving the ambitious target of
Rs.30000 crore by the end of the 12th Five Year Plan.
While
Indian Railways is a complex organization there is no doubt that it has
successfully delivered in last more than 160 years and will continue to do so.
Courtesy: PIB
No comments:
Post a Comment