RailEnquiry

Bangalore: Virtually 65% out of 7,000 people representing all sections interviewed in 20 cities by an Assocham team are in favour the Railway Budget to focus on safety and modernisation, rather than on introducing new trains. The study also found them in favour of improving existing track and rolling stock and separation of passenger and freight train lines. The passengers want trains to run at much higher speeds—180-200 km per hour—and heavy investment in safety-related areas like more efficient signaling, GPS-based train control, and making a serious attempt to implement the corporate culture in running the largest transportation system. “We have 63,974 route km, 1,31,206 bridges 9,000 locomotives, 51,000 passenger coaches, 2,19,931 freight cars operating 19,000 trains each day transporting over two million tons of freight and 23 million passengers every day touching 7,083 railway stations across the length and breadth of this vast country and yet sadly lack the corporate culture,” said Rajkumar Dhoot, while releasing the findings of the interviews here on Friday. The majority of the respondents feel that the large private sector participation in railways will be possible if investors are convinced that government is committed to run it as profitable entity., the study found. There has been widespread public acceptance of recent modernisation Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Hyderabad airports despite the huge costs involved and the private sector participation in their construction and running. Focus on villages Assocham felt that the country as a whole cannot ignore the huge demand that rapid urbanisation and immigration of people from villages and small towns to metros and mini-metros would create for more transportation. Though roads would also share this burden long distance travel could only be comfortable and possible on mass scale with railways. Mumbai that in 2011 had a population of 18.14 million would in just 2015 grow to 25 million, Delhi and Kolkata from 14.11 million to 16 million, and Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai, and other mini-metros cross 10 million.

“By 2030, some 40. 76 per cent of our people, that is 500 million, would be living in urban areas against 31.16 per cent in 2011,” the report said. The study It suggests an annual grant of Rs 15,000 crore for now to the railways from the general budge. This would be in addition to the one time grant of Rs 20,000 crore the chamber has earlier suggested for safety related investments and preparing the railways for transformation to the new responsibilities. Assocham has suggested a three-way split of the undertaking with the passenger and freight sections becoming separate entities and the operations alone under the direct control of the Railway Board.