UNDERSTANDING
INDIAN RAILWAYS
Transportation is a basic need in any developed
society. Among various modes of
transportation like roadways, railways, airways and waterways Indian Railways
play a significant role in India. From a
modest beginning of 34km from Mumbai to Thane in 1853, the Indian Railways (IR)
have grown into a vast network of 7,133 stations spread over a route, length of
64,600 kms with a fleet of 9,213 locomotives, 59,713 passenger coaches and
2,29,381 wagons as on March, 2011. It is the largest employer of the world with
13.6 lakh employees and more than one crore people getting indirect employment.
Over the year, the IR has proved to be life line of the nation influencing
social, economic, political and cultural life of the people. Before independence IR played an important
role in unifying India by providing transportation facility in different parts
of the country when other modes were not properly developed. This unifying role ultimately helped in
Indian national movement also. Even in
post independent India it also helped in increasing mobility of the common man,
bringing together people from all castes, communities, region and
religion. Due to railway there was
growth of trade, industry and commerce.
It helped in equalizing price line and reduced the impact of famine and
drought. It led to fast rural
development, increased urbanization and employment generation leading to
substantial contribution to national exchequers. Its influence can be noticed in the spread of
education and growth of literature, poetry, music, film and overall life style
of the country. (India 2013, pp. 926, Bahri Brothers, 2011 & 2012)
IR has always played a leading role in the economic and
industrial development by transporting passengers and goods over its vast
network. During 2011-12 it carried 8,224
million passengers which was 7.49 per cent higher than previous year (Year Book: 2011-12; pp.48). In 2012-13 this was 8,421 million marking
growth of 5.32% whereas in 1950-51 it carried 1,284 million passengers
only. Thus there was seven time growth
during last 60 years. The average lead
of passenger, which indicates the average distance travelled by them, in
non-suburban section in 2011-12, was 234.6 km which was higher by 0.1 percent
than previous year. This reached to 241.48 km in 2012-13. In 1950-51 it was only 68.8 km. Total passenger kilometer covered by all
passengers in 2011-12 was 1,046,522 million km. which was 7 per cent higher
than previous year. This reached to 10,
98,103 in 2012-13 registering a growth of 4.93%. In 1950-51 it was only 66,517 million
km. Overall average speed of Mail
Express train was 50.1 km/hr. and passenger train was 36.2 km/hr. in 2011-12.
Table I.
Number of Passengers Originating
Year
|
No. of Passenger
(in Million)
|
Avg. Lead of Passenger
(Non-Suburban-KM)
|
Total Passenger KM
(in Million)
|
1950-51
|
1,284
|
68.8
|
66,517
|
2010-11
|
8,224
|
234.6
|
1,046,522
|
2011-12
|
8,421
|
241.48
|
1,098,103
|
Year Book 2012 pp. 48, 49
IR has run 8,224 passengers trains daily during 2011-12
out of which suburban electrical multiple (EMU) trains were 4,337, ordinary
passenger trains were 2,547 whereas there were 3,847 mail express trains.
Table II.
Types of Passengers Trains
Year
|
Number of of Passengers Trains
|
Suburban
|
Ordinary Passenger
|
Mail Express
|
Total
|
1950-51
|
412
|
795
|
77
|
1,284
|
2000-01
|
2,861
|
1,460
|
512
|
4,833
|
2010-11
|
4,061
|
2,444
|
1,146
|
7,651
|
2011-12
|
4,377
|
2,457
|
1,300
|
8,224
|
Year Book 2012 pp. 48,
As far as earning
per passenger km. is concerned, it is on an average 26.99 paisa only. It is lowest in suburban section at 13.37 paisa
whereas in second class ordinary it was 13.87 paisa. In second class it was 26.53 paisa whereas in
upper class 108.83 paisa. Due to this
contribution of several classes in total revenue is disproportionately
low. The contribution of suburban
service is merely 6.82 percentages whereas the second class ordinary contribute
for 13.84 percent. Maximum contribution
of 51.54 per cent is made by second class mail/express whereas the upper class
contributes for 27.80 percent. These days’ most important long distance trains
are running with 24 coaches and if it is running among the developed states
then almost 40% coaches are Air Conditioned (AC) coaches. Other less important
trains are having 18 to 19 coaches where one or two second coaches are second
AC coach (where there are four berths in a cabin – two lower and two upper) and
two to three coaches are third Ac coach - (where there are six berths in a
cabin – two lower, two middle and two upper), 10 to12 sleeper class coach
(these are non AC coach with six berths in a cabin) and two to four general
class coach (these are non AC coach with sitting facility where no reservation
is required and people can travel by purchasing simple unreserved ticket at the
last moment. Only very prestigious trains are having one or two First AC coach
where there are cabins of four berths or coupe of two berths with the facility
of internal locking for privacy and safety
Table III.
Passengers Earning Analysis
Year
|
Average Earning Per Passenger Per KM (In Paisa)
|
Suburban
|
Second Ordinary
|
Second Sleeper
|
Upper class
|
Total
|
2010-11
|
12.78
|
15.94
|
25.75
|
106.51
|
26.27
|
2011-12
|
13.37
|
13.89
|
26.53
|
108.53
|
26.27
|
Year Book 2012 pp. 52,
During 2011-12 IR’s revenue contribution of freight
traffic was 969.05 million tones which were 7.67 per cent higher than previous
year. This reached to 1008 million tonnes
in 2012-13. During 1950-51 this was only
73.2 million tonnes only. In terms of net
tones km during 2011-12 this was 667,607 million whereas as in 1950-51 it was
only 37,565 million only. In 2012-13
this reached to 691,658 million. During
this period average lead of traffic was 689 km (in 2011-12) and 513 km (in 2010-11)
respectively.
Table IV.
Freight Performance
Year
|
Freight
Loading
|
Net Tonnes KM
|
Average lead of Freight
|
1950-51
|
73.20
|
37,565
|
513
|
2000-01
|
473.50
|
312,371
|
660
|
2010-11
|
969.05
|
667,607
|
689
|
2011-12
|
1008.01
|
691,658
|
|
Year Book 2012 pp. 61, 62
Out of 967.05 million tonnes of 2011-12, the major
commodity of loading was coal with 45,581 tonnes at 47.04 per cent. Cement with 107.66 million tonnes (11.11%)
was at second position and Iron ore (104.70 MT or 10.80%) at third
position. Fertilizers (52.69 MT with 5.44%),
food grains (46.40 MT with 4.79%) POL (39.77 MT with 4.10%) Iron & Steel
(35.15 MT with 3.63%) were other major commodities.
Table V:
Major Commodities Transported by Indian Railways: Quantities & Percentage
Year
|
Coal
|
Cement
|
Iron Ore
|
Fertilizers
|
Food grain
|
POL
|
Quantity
|
%
|
Quantity
|
%
|
Quantity
|
%
|
Quantity
|
%
|
Quantity
|
%
|
Quantity
|
%
|
2008-09
|
369.63
|
44.35
|
86.24
|
10.35
|
130.58
|
15.67
|
41.35
|
4.96
|
35.51
|
4.26
|
38.08
|
4.57
|
2010-11
|
420.37
|
45.61
|
99.08
|
10.75
|
118.46
|
12.85
|
48.22
|
5.23
|
43.45
|
4.71
|
39.29
|
4.26
|
2011-12
|
455.81
|
47.04
|
107.66
|
11.11
|
104.70
|
10.80
|
52.69
|
5.4
|
46.40
|
4.79
|
39.77
|
4.10
|
Year Book 2012 pp. 60, 61
The total earning out of freight traffic was Rs 67,743.62 crores
out of which coal contributed Rs 28,176.96 (41.60%), Cement contributed Rs 6,409.83
(9.46%) and Iron Ore contributed Rs 7,411.13 crores (10.94%), Fertilizers (5.52%), food
grain (7.25%), POL (5.35%), Iron & Steel (5.80%) were other
contributors. In developed countries the
contribution of container services is as high as fifty per cent whereas in
India the container transportation by rail was only 3.92 percent with 38.02 MT
traffic. One can also check the other
efficiency indices of freight operation of IR.
In 2011-12 its net tonnes kilometers per wagon per day in BG was 9,261 against
9,247 against previous year. Similarly wagon
kilometers per wagon per day were 265 against 262 in 2010-11.
For a common man the passenger service is the most
visible activity which is being used by rich and poor people alike. In most metropolitan cities every day
thousands of people are using the suburban service to commute to office and
back. In fact city like Mumbai, suburban
service acts as life line and if due to any reason suburban services get
disrupted the city life gets paralyzed.
The IR is most easily accessible public service of India. One can avail
whole spectrum of services being provided at the railway station by purchasing
a ticket of Rs
5 or more. Depending upon the number of
passengers and nature of traffic different facilities are provided at any
railway station. Even at the smallest
stations where only one or two passenger trains stop a number of facilities
like booking arrangement, drinking water, waiting hall, platform shelter with
shady trees, rail level passenger platform, lighting, time table display and
clock are provided. Whereas, bigger and
busy stations are provided with several additional facilities like seating
arrangements, platform cover, urinals, latrines, high level platform, fans,
foot over bridges, water cooler, public address system with computerized
announcement, electronic train indicator board with signage, parking cum
circulating area with lights are provided for greater passenger
satisfaction. Some bigger stations are
also provided with general waiting room, sleeper class waiting room, AC waiting
room, ladies waiting room, retiring rooms (an independent room at the railway
station where a passenger can stay for a day or two on a given charge) and
dormitories (a shared retiring room may be four to six bed at much lower
charge), catering stalls, vegetarian refreshment room, non-vegetarian
refreshment room, food plaza etc. For long distance passengers computerized reservation
system through which they get their reserved ticket for various classes like 1st
AC, 2nd AC, 3rd AC and Sleeper Classes is the biggest and
most important facility. Providing this service through Indian Railways
Catering & Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) website which facilitates ticket
even at one’s home makes it more attractive.
For short distance services Unreserved Ticketing System (UTS) provides computerized
ticket.
In the rapid changing world where there is substantial
improvement of life style common expectation from different service providers
have also increased. Accordingly IR has
also included some of the latest items like Automatic Vending Machine, Coin
Operated Ticket Vending Machine, provision of cyber cafes, ATM, AC Lounge (for
additional comfort with less crowding), Food Plaza, Water Vending Machine,
Washable apron with jet cleaning, mobile charging points, Close circuit
Television (CCTV) monitoring for security purpose and announcement. Furthermore, few metropolitan and other
cities stations were selected as World Class Station like Delhi, Ahmedabad,
Mumbai Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus, etc. where additional facilities were
promised to be provided on international line.
On the other hand several other smaller popular destinations were
selected to be developed as Adarsh Station to reflect local ethnic art and
architecture with better availabilities of all passenger amenity items.
For getting an authorized entry in to railway station
premises one need to have a ticket or
pass. Anybody can pay a railway
ticket either on UTS counters where earlier printed card tickets were
sold. But now, most of counters have
started selling computerized unreserved ticket a very low price mostly for
general class. On the other hand
reservation ticket counters are selling reserved accommodation for various
classes viz. First Air Condition (AC), Second AC, Third AC, Chair Car,
Executive Class for various trains like Rajdhani Express, Shatabadi Express,
Duronto Express, Garib Rath, Sampark Kranti, other Super-Fast trains,
Mail/Express trains, General trains, Holiday Express trains etc. One can also book personalized train as per
their own programme as desired by the party.
Such trains are known as Full Tariff Rate Trains (FTR) popularly known
as Yatra Special or Tour Special Train.
These days even IRCTC (Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation)
are also running such customized tourist trains to various famous tourist
destinations.
Although IR is running more than 7,000 such trains, these
trains are not fully able to cater the excessive demand, particularly during
peak season as one always get wait listed ticket within two to three minutes of
opening of reservation 60 days in advance at 8 O’clock (the opening time of
reservation). The unmet demands vary
from four to ten times depending upon the section and season. Maximum demand exist for golden
quadrilaterals and diagonals i.e. four metropolitans (Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata
and Chennai) and few other industrial business cities like Ahemdabad, Chandigarh,
Dhanbad, Lucknow, Kalka, Mysore, Ajmer, Amritsar, Dehradun, Ranchi, Pune,
Secundrabad, Jaipur, Agra, Ludhiana, Puri etc.
In absence of required capacity of such section along with acute
shortage of AC and Non-AC coaches and locomotive additional trains are not
possible to run. Further the present
price structure of passenger train does not support for heavy additional
expenditure for the procurement of new coaches and locomotives along with
additional sectional capacity by way of tripling or quadrupling of the track.
As such running a passenger train is a massive loss making proposition,
particularly all short distance passenger trains including 5-6 coach trains or suburban multiple electrical moving units or
Diesel electrical moving units (MEMU/ DEMU) trains on an average total
collection comes out to be around 13 paisa out of 100 paisa expended. The main reason of this loss making is
absolutely low price being charged to the passenger. First of all the base rate of ticket in
general class is itself very low. Added
to this is the facility of monthly or quarterly season ticket facility where
the IR charge for six return journey for a month multiple or uncounted number
of travel. Further, in many parts of
country where the culture of compliance of law is poor the ticket sale in
isolated or branch line goes further low making the entire train operation a
big loss making enterprise. In long
distance segment also, all trains are not profit making. As per one estimates, all fully AC trains
like Rajdhani, Shatabadi, Sampark Kranti, Duronto etc. are profit making trains
whereas in Non-AC segment, if any train is running with 22 to 24 coaches then
it makes profit. If any train is running with 18 or less coaches then it is
definitely a loss making enterprise even if there are few AC coaches in the
trains.
Doubling of any
section is ideally to be done when there are more than thirty trains in one
direction i.e. 60 trains per day in both ways. It is because it is expected
that if there are different stations located at a distance of 10 kms each and
if the slowest train in the section runs at a speed of 60 or 90 kmph it would
take 20 minutes to clear a section (6 minutes for covering the distance, 7
minutes for starting and 7 minutes for slowing down and stopping the train).
Thus it is possible to run approximately three trains in one hour or 72 trains
in 24 hours. But one has to give three
hours maintenance time per day. This
makes sectional capacity around 60 to 63 trains. Before going for doubling of the section one
can improve sectional capacity by providing dead end in all loop lines of the
station, providing standard III interlocking with panel in station masters
chamber or Route Relay Interlocking to save timing, while entry and dispatch of
a train at a station. Thus one goes for
doubling only when there is full sectional capacity utilization up to
saturation level. Since in the doubling
work of BG line as in 2014 it costs Rs 7 to 8 crores per km depending upon topography,
particularly the presence of bridges, it is very costly decision to convert a
section. As per prevalent practice of IR
at a time a stretch of 60 to 70 km is approved for the doubling work and work
is completed in a period of five or many years.
Electrification of a railway line is another infrastructural expenditure
work with huge investment or sunk cost.
It is said that the breakeven point for electrification comes when there
are more than 18 trains in one direction.
These days cost of electrification runs around Rs
1.06 crores per km. Thus sustainability
of these investments comes only when there is dense passenger and freight
traffic. Similarly acquisition of
different passenger coaches are also very costly affair as it costs
heavily for AC coaches, 3rd
AC coach cost Rs 1.74 crores, 2nd AC coach cost Rs 1.81 crores, 1st coach cost Rs 1.57 crores, sleeper coach cost Rs
0.92 crores, General class coach cost Rs
0.86 crores. The cost of Passenger
Engines – ABB Loco Rs 14 crores is equally high whereas conventional or other
such loco costs around Rs 7.2 crores. On
the other three phases loco of freight traffic costs Rs
14 crores. One advantage of such loco is
that these are regenerative i.e. whenever it moves on down gradient or whenever
brake is applied the generation of electricity is done which is fed back to the
grid. On the other hand diesel driven
locomotive cost approximately Rs 14 crores.
However diesel locomotives are not as powerful as electrical locomotives
and these faces critical situation in gradient sections even though these are
4500 horse power.
All state capitals are now connected with national
capital by Rajdhani trains, barring a few where it has not feasible due to
short distance. This train is fully air
conditioned with three classes-First AC, Second AC and Third AC. Such destinations have also been provided
with Garib Rath service which is having 3rd AC accommodation with
slightly lower fare to attract passengers who were travelling in non-AC sleeper
class till now. Most of these long
distance trains have night component and have been time tabled in such a manner
that it starts either late afternoon or evening time and reaches before office
time. On the other hand important close
by cities have been connected by Shatabadi Express which is again fully air conditioned
with two classes- Executive Chair Car (EC) and Chair Car (CC) only. To cater the need of general class passenger
most of such routes have been provided with Jan Shatabadi trains in opposite
direction which like Shatabadi starts early in the morning and reaches by
office time or by noon. In return
direction such train starts afternoon or evening and reaches to the destination
late evening before mid-night. Most of
the Rajdhani routes have also been provided with the Sampark Kranti which is
having both AC and Non-AC class. In
Rajdhani and Shatabadi Express one gets catering services. The charge of
catering is included in fare itself. AC
sleeper coaches are provided with free bed-roll consisting two bed sheets, one
pillow with cover, one blanket and one towel.
However, Garib Rath does not have a mandatory catering and bedding
provision and it is available on advance request and separate payment. Since most of the bigger town or metropolitan
cities have huge traffic between themselves, to cater non-stop service Duronto
trains have been provided with no-commercial stop in between. For instance Mumbai-Delhi Duronto Express
does not have any commercial stop in between.
However, it stops at two locations for the change of Loco Pilot and
Guard. Initially all Durontos were
started with AC class only. However,
subsequently, less patronized Durontos were also provided with non-AC coaches
as well. In non-AC coaches although
mandatory catering facility is also provided whereas bedding facility is not given
which is otherwise given in all AC classes.
To cater the lower section of society in three metropolitan cities-Delhi,
Mumbai and Kolkata a lower price Yuva train has also been provided which is
having only Chair Car (CC). On the other
hand in a few Shatabadi routes in opposite direction Double Decker trains have
been provided which has only AC coaches.
Here catering service is not mandatory.
All these trains have facility of reservation 60 days in
advance. For last minute travelers
Tatkal booking is done two days in advance at a fixed premium price. Dynamic premium pricing is under trial
between Delhi and Mumbai and may be implemented in more train
subsequently. One can buy reservation
ticket in more than 4500 locations all over India from anywhere to anywhere
which remain open from 08.00 hours to 20 hours in most of places and up to
22.00 hours in selected places except Sunday when it remain open till 14
hours. One can also buy reserved ticket
through internet on IRCTC website or other travel portal where a service
charges of Rs
20 and Rs10 are levied on AC and sleeper class, respectively. One can book tickets on internet from 00.30
hours to 23.30 hours on all days. One
can book after having a registration in IRCTC.
When one book a ticket a message is delivered on the registered phone
number. On the basis of this message
with one of ten identity card like Pan
Card, Voter Identity Card, Aadhar Card, one even don’t need to print a ticket
and message is sufficient to act as ticket.
One person can book maximum 8 tickets in a month through IRCTC portal.
One can have break journey after travelling more than 500
kms for two days excluding the day of arrival and departure. If any person is planning for sighting trip
or pilgrimage to many destinations then one can book circular journey ticket
where maximum 8 breaks of journeys are admissible and the person gets the
benefit of telescopic rates which are considerably lower than regular point to
point fare. It after booking of the
ticket, due to any contingency if any person wants to cancel the ticket before
48 hours, one can cancel at a deduction of Rs
120 in AC first, Rs
90 in 2nd AC and 3rd AC and Rs 60 in sleeper class.
If the period falls between 48 hours and 6 hours than 25% deduction is
made and up to 2 hours after the departure of train deduction is 50% of the
fare paid. Refund after the departure of
train can only be made by current counter or up to 10 hours in morning in
Reservation Office, if the departure of train was between 21.00 to 6
hours. In all other cases when an
individual is not able to do above formality timely then one can obtain Ticket
Deposit Receipt (TDR) from the nearest station within 30 days from the schedule
travel date. Such claims are duly verified and then only refunded. If in case air conditioning fails in between
then on the basis of certificate issued by Travelling Ticket Examiner at the
destination at the end of journey up to 20 hours one can get refund of
differences of AC class fare. If the
train is running late more than three hours one can get a refund of full fare
without any deductions if one drops the idea of travelling. Similarly if the
train is cancelled due to accidents, breaches or floods one get full refund by
surrendering the ticket within three days.
One can carry one’s own luggage along with oneself as per
limit given for different classes. For 1st
AC it is 70 kg, 2nd AC 50 kg, 3rd AC 40 kg, sleeper class
40 kg and general class 35 kg. Over and above this limit one is supposed to
book the luggage in advance to be carried in the brake-van. Luggage is supposed to be carried by
passengers themselves and in case of any lost, theft, robbery one can lodge FIR
(First Information Report) with GRP
(Government Railway Police of concerned state) or RPF (Railway Protection
Force). However getting any claim in
such cases is very cumbersome.
Many long distance passenger trains are having Pantry Car
along with the train. Passenger can
avail catering facility by placing order well in advance. In such trains where there is no pantry car,
some of the trains have been granted the facility of ‘Road side Vending’ where
some catering contractors may supply the food at major stations. However, many a time people may not find the
quality of food very satisfactory. In many trains, particularly in Eastern
India one can see a large number of unauthorized vendors who serve food as per
local taste at a lower price. However,
there may be possibility of food poising or theft of luggage if proper care is
not taken while interacting with them.
IR has two fare structures for 6 categories of trains in
seven kinds of class. Two fare
structures are Peak Season (1st April to 31 July and 1st
September to 31st January) and Lean Season (1st Feb. to
31st March and 1st Aug. to 31st Aug.). 6 categories are – Rajdhani, Duronto, Shatabadi,
Jan Shatabadi, Garib Rath, Mail/Express trains.
Seven classes are 1st AC, 2nd AC 3rd
AC, Executive Chair Car (EC), CC, First class, Sleeper, General. Fare in each class varies for different
categories of trains as in case of 1,000 kms. one can see the fare in Rajdhani
1st AC is Rs
2830, 2nd AC Rs1650,
3rd AC Rs
1140, in Duronto 1st AC Rs2730, 2nd AC Rs1520, 3rd AC Rs 990, Economy fare Rs290, Duronto Mixed Train 1st AC Rs 2710, 2nd
AC Rs
1640, 3rd AC Rs1110,
Sleeper class Rs
420, in Shatabadi Executive class Rs 2050, CC Rs910, in Jan Shatabadi CC Rs 840, 2nd class Rs 252, in Garib Rath 3rd AC Rs 620, CC Rs 530, in
Mail/Express 1st AC Rs
2479, 2nd AC Rs
1441, FC Rs
1156, 3rd AC Rs
989, CC Rs
784, SL Rs
375 and 2nd class Rs
217. Thus there is lot of choice or
variation between different trains and classes and one can choose any
particular train as per priority choice or compulsion. Besides these every passenger has to pay
reservation fee Rs60
in first AC, Rs 50
in 2nd AC,Rs
40 in 3rd AC, CC and FC, Rs 20 in sleeper class, Rs 8 for second class. If any train is running at the speed
of 55 kmph or higher it is defined as super-fast train and for this Rs 75 in 1st
AC, Rs 45
in 2nd AC and 3rd AC, Rs 30 in SL class and Rs 15 in general classes are charged.
Every train has two coaches of brake van, one in front
and one in rear. One brake van has two
compartments of luggage or parcel. These
places can be used for carrying parcel booked by the common public along with
the luggage while traveling from one place to other. As these were very convenient and relatively
cheaper than the trucks this place used to be very favorable, among the
business man to book their parcels from one station to another. Initially when road transport was not
developed, parcel van used to be very popular among traders to send their
merchandise to different parts of country.
Gradually with the growth of road transportation in India people got an
opportunity to other option of transportation as getting any place in brake van
had become very difficult with the growth of trade and industry.
In freight traffic up to 1980s the IR also used to accept
the demand of one or a few wagons to different destinations to be sent by the
freight trains. This facilitated
transportation facility for small or medium industrialists or traders to avail
IR’s facility. However, during the
decades of 1980 with I.K. Gujral as Chairman Railway Board the rake traffic was
preferred over wagon load to improve the efficiency of the rolling stock of IR. This led to tremendous improvement in the
turn round of the IR and wagon productivity improved many folds. However, this
restricted the service of freight traffic to only very big industrial
production houses or very large industries or big trader. All medium or small
industries were marginalized as they never got allotment of wagon to load in
the IR, and in practice they were not encouraged to deal with IR. Only one option was left to them to go
through the route of taking lease of parcel van, which was gradually given in
larger number. But various rules related
to parcel leasing made the process very complicated which could have been
sustained only by the logistic companies to avail the service. In the whole process the small and medium
industry or trading house has been totally alienated from IR.
These days IR is acting as an active bulk carrier of the
country. In 2012-13, it transported 1008
million tonnes coal, cement, iron ore, fertilizers, food grains, POL and
containers. During 2011-12 it carried
455.81 million tonnes (MT) of coal, 107.66 MT of cement, 104.70 MT of iron ore,
52.70 MT of fertilizers. 46.40 MT of
food grains, 39.77 MT of POL and 38.02 MT of container and various other
commodities.
When one analyzes tones originating, Net Tones Kms and
Earning percentage in 2011-12 coal has 41.60%. Iron Ore makes contribution of
10.94 cement 9.46%, food grains 7.25%, Container 6.78%, fertilizers 5.57%, POL
5.35%, Limestone 1.76%, Sugar 1.10%, Salt 1.03%, fodder 0.15%, Cake 0.89%,
Gypsum 0.57%, fruits and fresh 0.47%, Jute manufactured 0.31% and edible oils
0.25% among others. In term of Net Tones Kms. in 2011-12 IR earned 667,607
million, which was 6.7% higher than previous year. In 1950-51 it uses to be 37,565 million. Average lead of freight traffic in 2011-12
was 689 kms which was 1.5 per cent higher than previous year. In 1950-51 it uses to be 513 kms only. In terms of freight train kms in 2011-12 it
was 391 million which 6 per cent higher than previous year was. In terms of Net tonnes kilometers per wagon
per day in BG in 2011-12 were 9,261 which was 0.15% higher than previous
year. The wagon kilometer wagon per day
was 265 in 2011-12 which was about 1.15% higher than previous year. Despite all
these relative improvements over the year IR has either stagnated or reduced
substantially in absolute tern.
As explained above the freight traffic has got
restricted, by and large, for the bulk traffic.
Due to this reason the share of IR has reduced from 80% of freight
traffic in 1951 to less than 20% in 2014.
Now almost entire small traffic has been shifted to the road sector as
IR has not been able to cater to the demand of small traffic. An attempt was made to capture this to serve
through Parcel Van (VPU). However, this
remains very miniscule as availability of VPU has been very limited and the
rule pertaining to parcel traffic apparently felt to be very restrictive. As per preferential traffic schedule, there
are four priorities-Priority A for military traffic, Priority B for emergency
relief material, Priority C for coal, edible salt, fertilizer, POL and raw
material for steel plants and Priority D for all traffic not included in
Priority “A to C”. The IR practices
differential pricing for different commodities.
For this there are 12 different classes.
The lowest one is LR1 to LR4, and then there are 100 to 200 different
classes. Milk Product, Paint and Organic
manures is at the lowest one in LR1, then firework at LR2, Charcoal and Paper
base as LR3 and Fruits and vegetables, coffee, tea, motor vehicle etc. at
LR4. Leather, rubber and plastic
products are in 100 class, salt is in 110 class, oil cakes and seeds in 120
class, food grain and chemical manure are in 130 class, edible oil and caustic
soda are in 140 class, cement clay, coal and coke, bricks and gypsum are in 150
class, Minerals and Ores are in 160 class, Iron and Steel, alloys and metal are
in 180 class and acid, alcohol and POL are in 200 class. Here it is pointed out that the base rate of
transporting any product is at class 100, so any product of LR 1 to LR 4 and
class 100 are being carried at a lower rate than the expenditure incurred to
carry them. In a way all these products
are transported at highly subsidized rates.
The commodities which are essentially required for consumption by the
entire society including poorer section such as food grain, edible oil, fodder,
firewood, charcoal, bamboos, fruits, vegetables, cotton bones, sugarcanes, etc.
are carried at concessional rates even below costs.
If one takes the rate of one tone of a product in a class
in busy season at a public goods shed to other public goods shed at a distance
of 1000 km then rate varies for different classes. The lowest rate is for LR4 and highest for
class 200 as can be seen here – LR4 is Rs575.73, LR3 is Rs 671.74, LR2 is Rs 767.76, LR1 is Rs853.60, Class 100 is Rs959.61, Class 110 is Rs1,005.33, Class 120 is Rs 1,151.71, Class 130 is Rs1,247.47, Class 140 is Rs 1,343.46, Class 150 is Rs1,439.47, Class 160 is Rs1,535.34, Class 180 is Rs 1,727.25 and Class 200
is Rs
1,929.20. These variations are done in
the name of social responsibility of IR, affordability of a price what a
commodity can bear and by and large priority fixed by the central government. Prices are not strictly market driven or as
per the load what a commercial product can bear. Thus this kind of price leads to a special
kind of tilt in the product market.
However, in 2014 the IR has decided to form an Independent Railway Rate
Tribunal which would attempt to determine independently rate of different
classes to bring parity in public and private players.
Rake allotment in IR is being done in first come first
serve basis for each priority item separately.
However, each zonal railways have been given liberty to decide one day
or two days in a week when can allot rakes strictly on the basis of oldest date
of registration where priority would be kept aside for the day. It means in a week five or six days, if there
is any indent for priority A or B or even C with fresh registration date then
it will get preference over on item registered under priority D even with older
registration date. However, only on
nominated date item with lower priority in item D will get rake allotted as per
oldest date of registration. Further in
rake load one gate rate as per description given above and in wagon load the
rate applicable would be for the next class.
Cement in rake would be changed in 150 classes but in wagon would be
charged in 160 classes.
Organizationally, Ministry of Railways is one of the
important wing of the government of India which is represented by one Minister
of Railway and two or three Ministers of State (Railways). Housed in Rail Bhavan at Raisina Road in New
Delhi it works with Railway Board from the bureaucratic administration side
which is headed by Chairman, Railway Board with Member Traffic, Member
Mechanical, Member Electrical, Member Staff, Member Engineering and Finance
Commissioner. Downward railway is
divided in to 16 zonal railways which are further sub-divided into 61
divisions. These are Western Railway
headquartered at Churchgate with six divisions i.e. Mumbai Central, Vadodara,
Ahmedabad, Ratlam, Rajkot and Bhavnagar. Central Railway headquartered at
Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus with five divisions i.e. Mumbai, Pune, Solapur,
Nagpur and Bhusaval. Northern Railway
headquartered at New Delhi with five divisions at Delhi, Ambala, Moradabad,
Firozpur and Lucknow. Eastern Railway
headquartered at Kolkatta with four divisions i.e. Howrah, Sealdah, Asansol and
Malda. South Eastern Railway headquartered at Fairley Palace in Kolkatta with
four divisions at Kharagpur, Adra, Chakradharpur and Ranchi. East Central Railway headquartered at Hajipur
with five divisions at Danapur, Dhanbad, Sonepur, Samastipur and
Mughalsaria. North- Central Railway
headquartered at Allahabad with three divisions at Allahabad, Jhansi and
Agra. West Central Railway headquartered
at Jabalpur with three divisions i.e. Jabalpur, Bhopal and Kota. North Western Railway headquartered at Jaipur
with four divisions at Jaipur, Ajmer, Jodhpur and Bikaner, South East Central
Railway headquartered at Bilaspur with three divisions i.e. Bilaspur, Raipur
and Nagpur,. South Central Railway
headquartered at Secundrabad with six divisions i.e. Secundrabad, Hyderabad,
Vijaywada, Guntakal, Guntur and Nanded.
North Eastern Railway headquartered at Gorakhpur with three divisions at
Lucknow, Varanasi and Izatnagar. North
East Frontier Railway headquartered at Maligaon with five divisions at
Lumbding, Tinsukia, Rangiya, Alipurduar and Kathihar, East coast Railway
headquartered at Bhubhaneshwar with three divisions at Khurda Road, Waltair and
Sambalpur. Sourth Western Railway
headquartered at Hubli with three divisions at Bangalore, Mysore and
Hubli. Southern Railway headquartered at
Chenai with six divisions at Chennai, Palghat, Madurai, Trichi, Trivendrum and
Salem. Besides these Metro Railway
Kolkatta has also been given the status of the 17th Zonal Railway.
Five Production Units are also considered to be more
important than others along with one training Center. National Academy of Indian Railway is at
Vadodara. Production units are Chitranjan Locomotive Works, Integral Coach
Factory, Perambur, Chennai Diesel Locomotive Works, Varanasi, Rail Wheel Plant
Bangalore and Railway Coach Factory, Patiala.
Thus, there is a whole administrative network in the IR to cater the transportation
activities. However, the basic
functional unit of IR remains the Divisional Organization.
Table VI: Commercial Performance of Rajkot Division
Year
|
No of Passenger
(Lakh)
|
Passenger Earning
(Crore)
|
Goods Earning
(Crore)
|
Other Coaching Earning
(Crore)
|
Total Earning
(Crore)
|
2010-11
|
149
|
124.96
|
1066.13
|
11.02
|
1210.16
|
2011-12
|
160
|
143.03
|
1394.94
|
11.51
|
1558.33
|
2012-13
|
164
|
153.86
|
1818.11
|
13.83
|
1985.80
|
2013-14
|
163
|
179.83
|
1911.49
|
15.89
|
2107.22
|
As stated above, Rajkot is one of the divisional units on
the broad gauge and one of most important city of Saurashtra. Rajkot station has 596 staff who work round
the clock for providing passenger, freight and parcel services. During 2011-12 approximate, 43, 82, 948
passengers daily have used Rajkot railway station giving an earnings of Rs 65.38
crores. In 2012-13 there were 44,75,596
passengers giving an earnings of Rs69.47 crores.
During this period entire Rajkot Division earned Rs 1,210.16 crores
in 2010-11, Rs1,558.33
crores in 2011-12 and Rs
1,985.80 crores in 2012-13. As far as
freight earning is concerned it was Rs1,066.13 crores in 2010-11, Rs 1,394.94 crores in 2011-12, and Rs1,818.11 crores in 2012-13. Passenger earning was almost 10% of the
freight earning at Rs
124.96 crores in 2010-11, Rs
143.03 crores in 2011-12 and Rs153.87
crores in 2012-13. Parcel earning during this period was miniscule 0.6 to 0.7
per cent at Rs
8.05crores in 2010-11, Rs
8.89 crores in 2011-12 and Rs
10.16 crores in 2012-13. Similarly Other
Coaching Earning (OCH) was less than 1% at 0.7 to 0.8 per cent which was Rs 11.02
crores in 2010-11, Rs 11.51 crores in 2011-12 and Rs
13.84 crores in 2012-13. During this
period number of passenger increased gradually from 1.49 crores in 2010-11,
1.60 crores in 2011-12 and 1.65 crores in 2012-13. To cater all these services the entire
division has 5,613 staff including 32 officers.
Rajkot station, alone made parcel earning of Rs 6.12 crores in 2011-12, Rs 6.35 crores in 2012-13.
Whereas, freight earning was comparatively low in 2012-13 it earned only Rs 0.83
crores whereas in 2011-12 it wasRs 16.3 crores.
In recent time a great effort has been made to uplift the
passenger amenities available at the Rajkot railway station. Its frontal façade has been renovated and
added with extra features. Entire
circulating area has been properly developed with paver blocks with one Car
Parking and one Motor Cycle parking.
There are one AC Waiting Room, AC Waiting Lounge, Sleeper Class Waiting
Room, 223 Steel benches and 54 Water tap for the convenience of passenger in
different parts of station along with 19 catering units and one Vegetarian
Refreshment Room and one Food Plaza. For
swift disbursement of booking ticket there are seven booking counters and five
reservation counters. The entire
platform and circulating area is properly lighted with 421 tube lights and fitted
with 78 fans to keep passengers cool and windy.
To protect the passenger from sunlight and rain most part of the
platform has been covered by a shed and
9 wash rooms have been provided at different locations.
Despite these all facilities, the question is why IR is
not in a position to run superfast train from Rajkot? Why there is only weekly or bi-weekly train
when all bigger and main line stations have trains seven days a week? Why trains between Ahmedabad and Rajkot run
relatively slow? Or why there is no
double line between Viramgam and Rajkot?
Or why there is no electrification of track between Ahmedabad and
Rajkot? Why there is no train like Shatabadi, Garib Rath or Samprak Kranti from
Rajkot? Probably one needs to have
proper deliberation to understand the things.
Rajkot station is connected from different parts of the
country as many long distance trains are either originating from the division
or passing through Rajkot station. As on
February 2014 trains are running to Mumbai, Madgaon, Ernakulam, Chochin,
Trivendrum, Rameshwaram, Trinelluvelli, Coimbatore, Pune, Secundrabad, Puri,
Kolkata, Jabalpur, Guwahati, Banaras, Delhi, Jammu Tawi, Jaipur, Dehradun,
Nathdwara, Surat, Ahmedabad, Bhavnagar, Somnath. However, except for Mumbai, Surat, Ahmedabad
and Jabalpur most of these trains are weekly, bi-weekly or tri-weekly. Even for a location like Delhi there is no
direct train daily and whatever trains are running, are relatively slower in
speed and very few of them are super-fast.
There is no train like Shatabadi, Garib Rath or Sampark Kranti. Since Viramgam to Rajkot or up to Okha there
is single line, it takes abnormally long hour to reach from one end to
another. For instance a distance of 246
kms by railway line it takes approximately five hours whereas by road the
distance is around 225 kms and if the vehicle is new it takes three & half
hours. Thus it faces a tough challenge
even in passenger traffic with road.
Added to this is limited availability of seats with inconvenient timing. It makes railway a less preferred mode of
transportation, particularly for the upper section of society who can afford to
have private vehicle or higher bus fares.
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