Speed and strategy

Indian Railways must get its priorities right

Even as the memory of one of India’s worst train accidents in decades begins to fade, the headlines have been taken over by news of new Vande Bharat trains being launched with considerable fanfare. Questions of how and what the financial priorities will be for the Indian Railways, however, must not be allowed to fade. The government had taken an important step towards depoliticising major decisions concerning the Railways by ending the practice of having a separate Railway Budget prior to the Union Budget. This effort must be followed up on by ensuring greater transparency about financial decisions and strategic priorities. Old accusations that the Indian Railways is being treated as a vote-getter and not as a crucial infrastructure sector must not be allowed to once again gain ground.

The Vande Bharat trains are, unquestionably, an important step forward in some respects. They have co-benefits in terms of energising some local manufacturing, for example. Their upgraded interiors also allow for a sense of what the user experience for the next generation of rail travellers in India will be like. These are important priorities — and if they have the added effect of winning a few votes, that is how democracy works. But at least two basic points must be dealt with as well. First, whatever their technological capability is on paper, the Vande Bharat trains in no way represent a quantum leap in speed for actual users of the system. Their financial viability also remains uncertain with lower occupancy. And, second, improving the broader experience across regular trains is of far greater importance than ensuring that there are some aspirational, showpiece express services.

Given the scale of the Indian Railways and the number of people it moves, improving the overall experience is a daunting task. Yet it is possible. A past railway minister, Madhu Dandavate, has been feted by historians for introducing “two inches of foam” to second-class berths, radically improving conditions for long-distance travellers. Such improvements, updated for the 21st century, need to be identified and introduced. The greatest improvement to traveller comfort, however, would simply come from greater capacity. Harrowing scenes of overcrowding are familiar, particularly on long-distance trains. The identification of routes most prone to overcrowding and directly addressing this demand through the addition of new general unreserved seats is overdue.

Investment in capacity must go hand-in-hand with investment in safety and in other track improvements. If the Vande Bharat trains cannot run at their rated speed it is because the associated infrastructure has not been updated. High-speed train transport does not need the occasional bullet train — it needs trains like the Vande Bharat to run at least 50 per cent faster than the Shatabdis and Rajdhanis. There is an understandable temptation to roll out the user experience on the Vande Bharat — the new carriages — on multiple different routes as quickly as possible. But those routes that can take speeds of 160 km an hour, as distinct from 110 or 120 km an hour, should be prioritised for multiple new trains. Otherwise, the investment in the new trains will not yield the desired results. The government may no longer have a Railway Budget in which it can make such announcements. But it must not shy away from transparent, strategic decision-making about the Indian Railways.