Improving Indian Railways

Improving Indian Railways

(1)       Terminate  all  short  distance  passengers  trains,  particularly,  trains  running  with  less  than  15  coaches.  If  there  is  heavy  passenger  traffic  in  any  train,  it  should  run  only  with  24  or  more  coaches.

(2)       Terminate all short distance under load DEMU trains, particularly on main lines.

(3)       Make necessary arrangement to run passenger trains   at    high speed.

(4)       Produce  more  higher  capacity with  higher  speed  AC  and  Sleeper  coaches  along with  higher  speed  capable  locomotives.

(5)       In  freight  traffic,  establish  system  of  dynamic  booking  on  the  basis  of  availability  of  wagons  at  each  Zonal  Railways  with  full  liberty  to  fulfill  demand  as  per  auctioned  rate  for  the  registered  customers,  one  day  in  advance  for  the  next  day.

(6)       Do  away  with  the  fixed  rating  and  differential  rating  of  different  commodities.

(7)       Produce more number of wagons having higher demand in auction.

(8)       Roll-on / Roll-off - more wagons should be made available.

(9)       More  VPU  should  be  available  to  cater  short  distance  traffic  purely  on  dynamic  rate  with  no  minimum  price.

(10)     Do capacity addition for track, coaches and wagon based on Commercial demand.

(11)     Do away with the Manual Maintenance System of track.  Introduce  hundred  percent  mechanized  maintenance  system  and  redeploy  all  surplus  staff  from  Civil  Engineering  to other  department,  where  required.

(12)     Presently  all  over  Indian  Railways,  one  rates  for  advertisement  is  given  by  Railway Board.  This practice needs to be done away with.  Advertisement  should  be  charged  on  the  basis  of  prevailing  market  condition,  local  rates  and  acceptability  by  traders.

(13)     Presently  there  is  no  power  at  Divisional  level  for  giving  land  on  lease  even  for  installing  sewerage  treatment  plant,  solar  panels,  etc.  All  powers  for  short  term  land  lease  up to  10 years  should  be  delegated  to  Branch  Officers  at  Divisional level.

                                                         

(14)     Size  and  activity  of  Railway Board  should  be  reduced  similar  to  Planning  Commission  as  it  could  be  made  responsible  for  broader  policy  issue  only.  Rest nitty gritty should be left to the Zonal Railways.

(15)     Presently, there is lot of fear of Vigilance activities.  If  decisions  taken  are  always  in  favor  of  customers,  this  led  to  Vigilance  case(s)  affecting  the  promotional  prospect  of  staff  and  Officers.  The  attitude  of  New  Public  Administration  (NPA)  should  be  permitted  and  no  Vigilance  case  should  be  initiated  in  such  situation.

(16)     Divisional  level  authority  should  be  given  full  authority  to  establish  shopping  mall  at  local  surplus  land  on  PPP  model  for  a  period  of  10  years.

(17)     Do  away  with  all  peripheral  activities  of  Railways  including  health  services  and  RPF.  Accounts  and  Stores  should  be   made  part  of  concerned  executive  department  only.

(18)     Workshops and Production units should be outsourced.

(19)     Punctual running of trains to be ensured.

How to Make Rail Journey Pleasurable

1)        In any journey, confirmation of seat is most important.  There should be sufficient surplus berth availability.  In  all  month  and  days  of a   year,  people  should  get  reservation  on  demand. 

(2)       Upon  arrival  at  station,  people  look  for  the  ambience  depending  upon  the  nature  and  classification  of  station.  A better ambience is required to be created.  This  include  clean  station,  clean  platform,  clean  track,  clean  pathways, etc.  Availability of  various  amenities  like  better  Waiting  Room,  Catering  Stalls,  Drinking  Water  booth,  Public  toilets,  etc.  is integral  part of  this.

(3)       At  the  time  of  approach  of  station,  when one  enters  the  station,  the  circulating  area  should  be  neat  and  clean.  All  toilet  blocks  (paid  or  unpaid)  should  also  be  in  clean  condition.  Free  flow of  traffic  and  easy locational  identification  of  Booking  office,  Reservation  office,  Tatkal  counter,  Catering  Stalls, etc. should  give  better  perception.

(4)       Inside  the  trains,  the  condition  of  coach  including  condition  of  seat,  windows,  light,  fan,  switch-board,  mobile  charging-points  should  be  perfect.  If it is AC coach, the cooling should be perfect.  It should be neither less nor more.  Entire coach and toilets should be in clean condition.  Looking  to  the  Indian  situation,  frequent  cleanliness  of  toilets  is  important.  Also the dustbins should be emptied regularly.  The  coach  should  have  adequate  quantity  of  water  for  the  entire  journey  and  should  not  run  out  of  water.

(5)       While  on  run,  security  of  passengers  is  next  vital  issue  as  incidences  of  lifting,  chain  snatching,  theft  of  luggage,  act of dacoit,  fight  with  passengers  and  forceful  occupation  of  seat(s)  is  quite  common.  Such incidences need to be prevented.

(6)       Overcharging  for  food,  supply  of  poor  quality  of  food  and  non-availability  of    Indian  and  local  Menu  are  quite  common  problems.  Attempts should be made to resolve all these issues.

(7)       While  disembarking,  one  faces  the  problem  of  overcharging  by  Porters / Coolie,  non-availability  of  escalator  facility  and  pathways  is  another  issue.  These issues need to be resolved.

(8)       Sign ages  of  station  is  big  issue  particularly  for  passengers  coming  from  other  States  or  country.  Its  display,  both  descriptive  and  figurative  forms  at  conspicuous  places  is   much  important  and  should  be  done  prominently

(9)       While  leaving  station,  particularly  bigger  stations,  the  facility  of  prepaid  auto  and  taxi  booth  or  OLA  services,  etc.  should be  available. 

(10)     At  the  platform,  a  large  number  of  unauthorised  hawkers,  vendors,  beggars,  bag  lifters,  etc. remain present  all  the  time.  The station should be made free of all these activities.

(11)     Station  should  not  become  a  place  of  selling  contaminated  sub-standard  food,  counterfeit  items  by  authorised  and  unauthorised  vendors.  These have to be thoroughly prevented. 

(12)     There  should  be  proper  functioning  Coach  Indicator  Board  displaying  arrival / departure  of  trains  and  timely  announcement  on  Public  Announcement  System  in  Hindi  and  English.

(13)     The  person  carrying  Reserved  ticket  may  be  informed  about  the  expected  arrival  time  of  the  train,  particularly  if  it  is  delayed.  Proper  expected  arrival  time  should  be  communicated  so  that  Reserved  ticket  holding  passenger  may  not  have  to  wait  at  platform  longer. 

(14)     Railway  passenger may be provided Value Added services for assistance  in  vehicle parking, boarding  of train, transportation of luggage from parking to train, wheel chair, if any, food and weighbridge requirement, de-boarding at destination or lodging various kind of complaint including FIR  and theft of luggage by “accredited service provider”.