As and when the railway budget approaches, we get to read of different
delegations of MLA's, MP's, representatives of the various chambers of commerce
meeting the railway ministers requesting them to accord special priority to
their respective regions in the budget. Everyone's demands are justified but it
must be borne in mind that the person who presents the budget is the minister
for the entire country and not for any particular region. He/She must have a
vision on the requirements of the country which must essentially translate into
a suitable allocation of funds in the budget.
I wish to write a note on what I think is truly required for the country as a whole and not just one particular region, in the following part :
1.) It is commendable to note that a majority of the state capitals in the country are linked by rail on a daily basis to the national capital. Likewise, every district headquarter in a state must be connected to its capital.
The regions in the North Eastern states of the country where this is not true, must be connected by rail on a priority basis so that the above clauses hold good.
2.) All the metropolii in the country must be linked to each other as also the port cities in the country. Special treatment needs to be given to the railway lines that connect port cities.
3.) Trunk lines must be identified for every state and depending on the traffic, these need to be doubled, tripled or even quadrupled.
4.) Every city which has a traffic of 50 lakh and above must be provided with a commuter rail system so that its central business districts are connected to all regions within a radius of 70 Kms.
6.) 'Nationalization of a route' needs to be redefined. At present (In the words of the transport minister for Karnataka, R. Ashok), it means that only government buses can operate along the route. The term ‘nationalization’ should mean that only trains can be operated along the route. The railways can enter into revenue sharing agreements with the Road Transport Corporations of the states to provide last mile connectivity to the regions across the country.
Eg, IR can enter into a pact with both KSRTC and MSRTC for land transport between Bangalore and Mumbai according to which only trains would be run between the 2 cities ; neither KSRTC nor MSRTC would be running any buses on the route. The revenue obtained by the railways would be shared appropriately by the IR, KSRTC and MSRTC as the RTC's have lent their share of passengers to the railways. The passengers would get to travel between the cities at a much lower cost while the fleet of buses in both the RTC's could be used to provide connectivity to the backward and rural areas of their respective states, where no railway lines have been laid. This would also bring down the fuel consumption of the RTC's which indeed would have a cascading effect of wonders on the country's economy.
I have often read of people favoring the electrification of tracks as it saves a large quantity of fossil fuel (diesel) used to run the trains. While this is true, it must be borne in mind that coal is being used abundantly by the railways to supply the high voltage required for the tracks. This essentially means that the conservation of fossil fuels is merely seeming as it is not really happening in actual practice. However, the availability of coal and petroleum as natural resources in India, makes considerable difference.
I wish to write a note on what I think is truly required for the country as a whole and not just one particular region, in the following part :
1.) It is commendable to note that a majority of the state capitals in the country are linked by rail on a daily basis to the national capital. Likewise, every district headquarter in a state must be connected to its capital.
The regions in the North Eastern states of the country where this is not true, must be connected by rail on a priority basis so that the above clauses hold good.
2.) All the metropolii in the country must be linked to each other as also the port cities in the country. Special treatment needs to be given to the railway lines that connect port cities.
3.) Trunk lines must be identified for every state and depending on the traffic, these need to be doubled, tripled or even quadrupled.
4.) Every city which has a traffic of 50 lakh and above must be provided with a commuter rail system so that its central business districts are connected to all regions within a radius of 70 Kms.
6.) 'Nationalization of a route' needs to be redefined. At present (In the words of the transport minister for Karnataka, R. Ashok), it means that only government buses can operate along the route. The term ‘nationalization’ should mean that only trains can be operated along the route. The railways can enter into revenue sharing agreements with the Road Transport Corporations of the states to provide last mile connectivity to the regions across the country.
Eg, IR can enter into a pact with both KSRTC and MSRTC for land transport between Bangalore and Mumbai according to which only trains would be run between the 2 cities ; neither KSRTC nor MSRTC would be running any buses on the route. The revenue obtained by the railways would be shared appropriately by the IR, KSRTC and MSRTC as the RTC's have lent their share of passengers to the railways. The passengers would get to travel between the cities at a much lower cost while the fleet of buses in both the RTC's could be used to provide connectivity to the backward and rural areas of their respective states, where no railway lines have been laid. This would also bring down the fuel consumption of the RTC's which indeed would have a cascading effect of wonders on the country's economy.
I have often read of people favoring the electrification of tracks as it saves a large quantity of fossil fuel (diesel) used to run the trains. While this is true, it must be borne in mind that coal is being used abundantly by the railways to supply the high voltage required for the tracks. This essentially means that the conservation of fossil fuels is merely seeming as it is not really happening in actual practice. However, the availability of coal and petroleum as natural resources in India, makes considerable difference.
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