An open letter to Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu

An open letter to Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu

The Railways needs to fix its massive overbooking that causes severe discomfort to passengers

The recent announcement by Indian Railways to provide an opportunity to waitlisted passengers to complete their journey by air at discounted prices is a hugely welcome move. There is nothing more frustrating than finding your tickets as 'WL' (short form for the dreaded ‘Wait List’, in Indian Railways terminology) at repeated status checks.

Thus, any co-ordination between railways and private airlines that provide passengers an alternative is to be appreciated. 

But the Railways need to do much more. Over the years, traffic has grown exponentially with over 23 million passengers using the network daily, both suburban as well as long distance. Despite several price discounts by private airlines, upper-class passengers have not moved away from the Railways and have remained price-insensitive, according to the Economic survey 2014-15 released earlier this year. In fact, the Railways witnessed only a marginal drop of 1% in overall passenger traffic, attributed to improvements in both road connectivity between states and in bus and air services. 

This monopoly seems to be one reason why the Railways appears to be taking its passengers for granted, especially those traveling in the air-conditioned compartments. I was recently both victim and witness to the utter lack of planning and understanding of customer service that we now take for granted in the private service. 

Having booked my 2nd AC ticket 60 days in advance (as per the prevailing rules in March 2015) to travel to Kerala on 22nd May, 2015, the peak season rush meant that my booking status showed RAC 3 (Reservation Against Cancellation, another dreaded abbreviation). Over the next 60 days, I periodically checked the status, which finally moved to RAC 1; the final chart gave me a RAC seat on the day of the travel. It is not uncommon for those used to traveling by the railways to board a train on an RAC ticket and then finding a berth inside, duly adjusted by the Ticket Checker (TC) on board the train against berths that fall vacant due to cancellations (hence, the RAC). 

But I was in for a shock. The 2nd AC compartment was packed with 6 passengers accommodated on a RAC ticket. This meant that in a space meant for 4 passengers, there were 6 passengers squashed like sardines, while 3 passengers were forced to adjust on the aisle berths that are meant for only 2. What was worse that most of these passengers were senior citizens who now faced the prospect of traveling 24 hours without a chance to stretch their legs.

The TC, of course, was busy making his own ‘adjustments’. Even as he kept the valid 2nd AC passengers on hold without a berth, rudely asking us to share seats as we chose to travel by Indian Railways during peak season, we could see passengers being brought in from other compartments and given vacant berths in our coach.

This was clearly against the rules as the ticket checker has to first accommodate the RAC passengers within the same compartment. I can’t say with surety if money exchanged hands, but we all know that such corruption – minor though it may sound – is all too common in the Railways. 

As if this was not enough, some of the RAC passengers made the mistake of asking for pillows and blankets. The TC then went on a diatribe, admonishing the passengers on how it was not possible for the Railways to provide extra blankets and pillows to RAC passengers because they are supposed to travel seated and not in a reclining position.

The basic fact that the Railways does not reimburse part of the full-service tariff to RAC passengers for partial service was lost on the man. 

One may argue that this is a very old problem and the system just works fine. No doubt, as Indians, we are habituated to ‘adjustments’ and don’t mind even sleeping next to the filthy toilets on the train (yes, that does happen!) despite paying a hefty premium to buy upper class tickets. But does that justify the overbooking being done by the Railways every peak season?

A decade back, the now defunct Air Deccan created a stir when it routinely overbooked passengers but denied them boarding when they arrived at the airport. Unlike a train, a plane cannot carry passengers standing, otherwise Air Deccan would probably have resorted to that as well in the name of making air travel affordable for the common man. The Railways is no better when it comes to booking multiple passengers on RAC in a bid to ensure no seat goes empty till the end of the journey. 

Why can't the Railways ensure that they provide every passenger a seat and a berth and inform the rest that they have to make other arrangements? The passengers I spoke to didn’t mind being told a few days in advance of unavailability of tickets rather than having to travel, in the now (in)famous words of a former Union minister, like they were in cattle-class. 

Former Railways officials I spoke to concede that the department earmarks a majority of tickets to Tatkal and various quotas in order to make more money. This means that they keep valid passengers who have booked well in advance waiting till the last minute, and then push an unfortunate few onto RAC. For ailing senior citizens, this is nothing but shoddy treatment at the hands of a government that is supposed to give them first priority. 

Fixing this will also require that the unbridled discretion – and power – that is given to ticket checkers comes under control. Their job should only be to ensure valid passengers travel on the train and to ensure the orderly completion of the journey. Trading on tickets and offering berths at their discretion is a practise that needs to end as soon as possible. 

To expect passengers who have paid for comfort such as an air conditioned card and less crowded-coaches to complete a 24-hour journey without pillows or blankets is extremely callous. No one is denying that the Railways need to make money, but this can’t be at the cost of basic comforts. Else, it will ensure that passengers who can afford do will move away completely from traveling by trains. 

As someone who has been lauded for being dynamic and a radical thinker, Mr Prabhu, I hope you are listening to the voices of your passengers.

On behalf of all distraught Indian Railways travellers,

Yours sincerely,

Jency Jacob

Source:Business Standard