Railways in India: A Pocket-friendly Transportation

India has the 4th largest Railway network in the world. Globally spanning around 70000 km. Which has come a long way since the 1950s. It operates 21000 trains daily, catering to 23 million passengers and transporting 3 million tonnes of freight. However, it may end up Indian Railways as a burden on the Indian economy due to the following issues:-

• Challenges faced by Indian Railways:-

1. The decline in the share of freight traffic

2. Organizational structure

3. Under investment

4. Internal generation of resources

5. Safety and poor quality of service delivery

6. High operating cost

• Why the need for Railways Reform?

1. Economic development- has the potential to fulfill the goal of $5 trillion by giving its significant contribution

2. Administrative reforms

3. Modernization

4. Safety- Installing the KAVACH system in railways

5. Lack of an Independent Regulator

6. Privatization

7. Financing challenges

8. To recover railway thefts taking place with stricter laws.

• How can we address these?! :-

1. Rationalize fare structures & subsidies

2. Independent regulator

3. Accounting reforms

4. Focus on core activities

5. Financing of projects

The Bibek debroy committee and the Ashok Gehlot Committee on Railway Improvement and Indian Railways Security respectively. As the railways are not attracting as much attention as ports, roadways are from the private sector.

• Need for a PPP Model:-

1. A public-private partnership model demands exceed the capacity

2. Availability of track capacity

3. Higher Investment needs

4. Benefits to the passenger

5. Higher multiplier ratio

• Reasons for poor response of the private sector:-

1. Higher entry barriers

2. Higher charges

3. Unfair competition

4. Lack of level playing field.