Indian Railways can be nursed to health in the following manner:
1. Break the behemoth into six separate entities and turn them into corporations/ Authority:
i. Passenger Traffic
ii. Freight Career
iii. Track Maintenance & Safety
iv. Property Management Authority
v. Railway Development Authority
vi. Catering
2. Improve track capacity thro' auto signalling, on the lines of Mumbai locals.
3. Run additional trains in PPP mode, where trains are owned and maintained by corporate houses, using existing railway infrastructure.
4. Reclaim railway land by evicting encroachers. Redevelop the land for laying new tracks and for commercial use.
5. Control ticket-less travelling like metros,
6. Prevent pilferage and claims.
7. Introduce dynamic ticket pricing system. Booking should open 90 days in advance. Earlier you book lesser you pay. Also auction the tickets remaining surplus 3 hours before departure.
8. Privatise station maintenance. Vendor will generate revenue for both parties thro' advertisements and catering.
9. Curb union activities to improve efficiency.
10. Check leakage of revenue due to sale of vacant births by TTE's for personal consideration.
11. Develop new tracks thro' Private Sector on short stretches.
Dr. Santosh Kumar more
1. Break the behemoth into six separate entities and turn them into corporations/ Authority:
i. Passenger Traffic
ii. Freight Career
iii. Track Maintenance & Safety
iv. Property Management Authority
v. Railway Development Authority
vi. Catering
2. Improve track capacity thro' auto signalling, on the lines of Mumbai locals.
3. Run additional trains in PPP mode, where trains are owned and maintained by corporate houses, using existing railway infrastructure.
4. Reclaim railway land by evicting encroachers. Redevelop the land for laying new tracks and for commercial use.
5. Control ticket-less travelling like metros,
6. Prevent pilferage and claims.
7. Introduce dynamic ticket pricing system. Booking should open 90 days in advance. Earlier you book lesser you pay. Also auction the tickets remaining surplus 3 hours before departure.
8. Privatise station maintenance. Vendor will generate revenue for both parties thro' advertisements and catering.
9. Curb union activities to improve efficiency.
10. Check leakage of revenue due to sale of vacant births by TTE's for personal consideration.
11. Develop new tracks thro' Private Sector on short stretches.
Dr. Santosh Kumar more
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Political bigwigs cannot transform the Railways. Bureaucracy is a wild elephant in every department. Transforming RAILWAY Bureaucracy filled with corruption is difficult task .Examples are many. Corruption at all levels and in all fields is the reason for deterioration of services, technical skills and all these factors are resulting in increase of fares. With the corrupt bureaucracy the department will fail in all fronts. In future there is every probability of increase of fares, many times. more
Jun 22
Rail price hike should be reversed. Following measures are necessary ( 1 ) Raid corrupt railway officials. It will generate money. ( 2 ) Show railway efficiency in terms of profitability, safety with worlds best railways. ( 3 ) Reservation system should be transparent with anyone can view with name of passenger in particular train, date, coach etc . At present with PNR number, one can view only our own details. Those passengers who wish to keep name secret should be charged extra INR 1,000 . ( 4 ) Male booking clerks should be removed by female booking clerks. Booking clerk efficiency should be measured in terms of number of confirmed booking done to number of tickets booked. ( 5 ) Complete pending projects. ( 6 ) Rate of return of all projects should be collected and disclosed to everybodyl. ( 7 ) We do NOT need CONFORT railways but need cheap, safe and good railway. India is poor country. ( 8 ) Remove PANTRY Car of railway and replace it with second class reservation coach. It will generate money. ( 9 ) Increase the tax on Bottled mineral water and packed food items. Allow woman to sell Indian food items e.g. Chivada, Sev, Kachori, Farsan, Ladoo so that they will get meaningfull job and earning. ( 8 ) Railways should made open to public price of rail, wheel, coach, engine, their life etc. ( 9 ) Public should be contacted after railway travel is over. more
Jun 22
Respected Santosh Kumar ji, many of the pills that you have suggested, have destroyed the aviation industry of this country, and you want to go the railways the same way!!! Dynamic ticket pricing system will only mean that those who can afford to pay more, shall grab the tickets, while the needy poor men will have to go to the touts! What is the problem with the present pricing system? Please explain and give deficiencies in the old system, only then suggest the new system. Otherwise, instead of solving, you will be creating new problems only. I feel the most important thing to do is fast implementation of the dedicated freight corridor - the speed of the passenger as well as the freight trains will increase a lot with this one step - I believe that the railways should not start any new projects for the next two years at least, and complete the dedicated freight corridor at the fastest possible pace. more
Jun 22
Hike was also necessary to make huge investment to upgrade its signalling system and strengthening tracks to prevent accident. more
Jun 22
Railways need around Rs 4.5 lakh crore to complete 586 pending and ongoing Projects. Hike in fares and fright tariff was immenent to complete on going Projects which are stuck because of a shortfall in revenue resources ,failure to attract private investors and the Centres fiscal constraints. It had to cut down its total plan outlay for the 12th five year plan period from Rs 5.48 Lakhs crore to 5.19 Lakhs crore ,the gross budgetary support from Rs 3.16 lakhs crore to Rs 1.94 lakhs crore, including 1.10 lakhs crore earmarked for the Dedicated Fright Corridor and other Projects of National importance. The plan support for railways in the interim budget was just Rs 30000/- crore for 2014 - 15. At a time Railways was spending around 70% of its Revenue on salaries , which has touched Rs 26000/ crore , has bled transporter white. Hike was necessary for modernization and expansion after paying its staff ,fuel, and pension bills. Maintain safety standard. Apart from hike, the proposal to allow 100% Foreign Direct Investment through the Automatic route in various segments like rolling stocks and tracks for High speed trains ,station development and warehouses. more
Jun 22
