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Showing posts with label modernize Railways. Show all posts
Showing posts with label modernize Railways. Show all posts

Monday, 8 May 2017

07:40

RVNL Important Projects in Infrastructural Development Works of East Coast Railway

RVNL Important Projects in Infrastructural Development Works of East Coast Railway 
01
06-05-2017
Bhubaneswar

RAILWAY GM REVIEWS RVNL PROJECTS:

Works being undertaken by Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL) involving crucial infrastructural developmental works of East Coast Railway were reviewed by General Manager, East Coast Railway, Shri Umesh Singh.

During the review, the RVNL authorities were advised to speed up all pending projects as these are extremely crucial to the building of infrastructural framework of the East Coast Region.

General Manager offered all possible help from East Coast Railway to RVNL and asked them to list out any issues pending where East Coast Railway could be of any help.

General Manager expressed deep concern over delays in some projects and said that all efforts should be made to finish off projects in time.

As regards, important projects being undertaken by RVNL, the following targets have been set by RVNL for completion.

01.HARIDASPUR-PARADEEP NEW RAIL LINE:

#   Full line to be complete by June 2018

# Track linking work to start from June-2017 this year from Haridaspur side.

02.ANGUL-SUKINDA ROAD NEW LINE:

#   Full line to be complete by June-2019

#   Track linking work to start from Budhapank side by November, 2017.

03.BHUBANESWAR NEW STATION

Will be ready for commissioning by end of May-2017.

04.JAKHAPURA-NAYAGARH DOUBLING WORK

Basantpur-Naranpur by March-2018

Sitabinj-Basantpur by June-2018

Source:ECOR

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Friday, 10 March 2017

23:06

Model Railway Stations

Model Railway Stations  
Development of stations under ‘Model’ Station Scheme was in vogue from June, 1999 to November, 2008.  Under this scheme, 594 stations were identified for development and all stations have already been developed.   
 ‘Model’ Stations are provided with “Desirable Amenities”, depending upon the category of the station, such as, retiring room, waiting room, public address system/computer based passenger announcement system, electronic train indicator board, water coolers, standardized signages, Pay & Use toilets etc.
At present, stations are upgraded under the Adarsh Station Scheme. Till date 1253 Railway stations have been identified for development as Adarsh Station.
           Zonewise details of Model Railway Stations is as below : -

S. No.
Zonal Railway
No. of ‘Model’ stations
1.
Central Railway
35
2.
East Coast Railway
24
3.
East Central Railway
55
4.
Eastern Railway
51
5.
Konkan Railway Corporation Ltd.
1
6.
North Central Railway
21
7.
North Eastern Railway
34
8.
Northeast Frontier Railway
35
9.
Northern Railway
80
10.
North Western Railway
26
11.
South Central Railway
64
12.
South East Central Railway
11
13.
South Eastern Railway
22
14.
Southern Railway
48
15.
South Western Railway
22
16.
West Central Railway
20
17.
Western Railway
45
Total
594

 This Press Release is based on the information given by the Minister of State for Railways Shri Rajen Gohain in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha on 10.03.2017 (Friday)
Source:PIBNEWS


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Wednesday, 6 July 2016

07:38

China plans whopping $9b loan for Bangladesh

China plans whopping $9b loan for Bangladesh

Beijing: China plans to provide Bangladesh with a whopping $9 billion low-interest loan to build six rail projects including one close to the Indian border, official media here reported on Tuesday.

Bangladesh wants to use the low-interest loans to build at least six rail projects connecting its capital Dhaka with key domestic industrial areas and the Indian border.

The upgrade was part of $30 billion plan by Bangladesh to modernise its railway system and China is ready to play an active role in this regard, an article in the state-run Global Times said.

China’s reported offer to Bangladesh “attracted a lot of attention following analysts’ suggestion that “Bangladesh has become a focus for the growing geopolitical rivalry between Beijing and New Delhi,” it said.

China’s strategic intentions to extend its trade tentacles across Asia through the promotion of the Belt and Road (Silk Road) initiative are believed to be behind Bangladesh’s enthusiasm for rail, but this is worthy of debate,” it said.

“Cheap financing from China expressly for this purpose is irresistible for Bangladesh. However, India may feel uncomfortable with the increased economic interaction between China and Bangladesh, which to some extent has long been seen as India’s own backyard. But this is not necessarily a bad thing if Bangladesh’s enhanced economic ties with China can put some pressure on New Delhi to pay more attention to strengthening economic cooperation with Dhaka,” it said.

Source:RailNews
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Saturday, 14 May 2016

07:37

Minister of Railways inaugurates Comrade Umraomal Purohit Memorial Research Centre in All India Railwaymen’s Federation (AIRF) Office

Minister of Railways inaugurates Comrade Umraomal Purohit Memorial Research Centre in All India Railwaymen’s Federation (AIRF) Office 

Minister of Railways Shri Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu today inaugurated Comrade Umraomal Purohit Memorial Research Centre situated in All India Railwaymen’s Federation (AIRF) Office Complex, 4, State Entry Road, New Delhi. AIRF has taken initiative for the establishment of this center which will prove to be a mile stone in the history of Labour movement as all kind of Research work related to Trade Union Movement in India as also in foreign countries will be undertaken here. The center will also maintain digital database both from national and international sources which will cover labour related issues as well as issues pertaining to railway safety and railway infrastructure. The center will be open to all railwaymen and other interested persons. 

On this occasion, Chairman, Railway Board, Shri A.K. Mital and other Board Members, senior officials of Railway Board, Northern Railway and Delhi Division were present. Shri Rakhal Das Gupta, President, AIRF gave the welcome address while Shri Shiv Gopal Mishra, General Secretary, AIRF presented the importance of Research Center. The office bearers of other Railway Unions and Associations were among those present on the occasion. Shri J.R. Bhosale, Treasurer, AIRF proposed the Vote of Thanks. 

Speaking on the occasion, Minister of Railways Shri Suresh Prabhu said that it is really a matter of great pleasure that a Union of Indian Railways has taken a different kind of initiative of setting up of a research center on labour issues and issues pertaining to railway operations like safety. Congratulating AIRF for this initiative, Shri Suresh Prabhu said that AIRF has presented a new benchmark in the labour movement. Stressing on the importance of two rails (tracks) which are essential for the successful railway operations, Shri Suresh Prabhu pointed out that the Railway management on the one hand represents ‘one rail’ while the ‘second rail’ is represented by railway personnel and both have to work together for the success and progress of the Indian Railways. Referring to the Amtrak Railway System of USA, the Minister said that the studies have shown that this Railway network got derailed because they did not make timely enough investment into the system to ensure its steady growth. Similarly, there was lot of concern in India that not enough investment was made into the Indian Railway system over the years, hampering its expansion and modernization, Shri Suresh Prabhu said that we took a momentous decision of enhancing investment into the rail sector and save railway from under investment. Now the tempo of investment is continuing and more and more funds will continue to be invested in the railways in the years to come. Secondly, we are focusing on brining in best technology to ensure fully safe railway operations. We are also concentrating on more investment in Research and Development. He said that we have to take parallel steps in all directions and in all respects of railway operation to achieve integrated objectives. Referring to the best industrial relations between railway management and railway staff, Shri Suresh Prabhu said that this has become possible because the management and the staff side are both committed towards the common goal of making the Indian Railway healthy and growth oriented. 

Source:PIBNEWS 
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Tuesday, 8 March 2016

11:53

Modernised Rail Network in India is Socialy Desirable: Simon Giovanazzi, ED/DB Intl.

Modernised Rail Network in India is Socialy Desirable: Simon Giovanazzi, ED/DB Intl.

Kochi: For a company which is based in a country that has the largest rail network in Europe, India,  whose extensive rail network stands sixth in the world, has always been a major market. DB International GmbH, a consultant company and subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn, which is at present engaged with Kochi Metro Project, views High Speed Rail as an area of huge potential in India. This also includes the Kerala High Speed Rail project, which is expected to be launched soon.

Simon Giovanazzi, Executive Director-Asia Pacific, DB International, was recently in the capital city, to part in talks regarding the firm’s future projects in the state.

“High speed rails in just in its infancy in the country with the Ahmedabad-Mumbai line announced recently,” says Simon, who spoke about the growth possibilities in this particular area. He added that urban transit is another major area of focus the company is looking at, as passenger rail is not a huge market potential in the country.

Speaking about its activities in Kerala, Simon says, “Though not the only one, we are concentrating on, Kerala as one of our major points of focus. Looking at the rail system in the state, so much requires to be done. Local transport is congested, and therefore, we feel that a light rail transport system needs to be set in place.”

Talking about the rail transport system in the country, Simon said, “India is already a rail nation. But it needs to be developed to have a more competitive system.”

Registered as a company in India just recently, the German-based company sees Indian cities as its next big market for popularising the high speed rail transport system.

“This is my first visit to the state’s capital city,” says Simon. He adds,”The company, which has a design team in Bangalore, is also involved with rail projects across different countries which include the high speed network in China, Light rail project in Canberra, Australia, metro project in Doha and more.”

Source:Railnews
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Tuesday, 29 December 2015

05:58

Surat Railway Station to undergo phased-makeover from Next Month

Surat Railway Station to undergo phased-makeover from Next Month

Surat: Surat railway station’s makeover would begin on January 1, 2016, with the Ministry of Railway issuing fresh tenders for the construction of mass transportation depot, commercial complexes and parking zones in the city. Some railway officials only wanted construction of new platforms and roofs over them and were opposed to any sort of complete makeover of the railway station, which delayed the project by several months.

Navsari MP C R Paatil said these officials were not in favour of a modern railway station in Surat. “They tried to stall the project by coming up with a partial development plan for the railway station. The Indian Railways had even floated tenders for it. However, we approached railway minister Suresh Prabhu and got them cancelled. Now, the railway station will see complete expansion and the work will begin from January 2016.” The complete makeover and development of the railway station will be undertaken in two phases.

The railway station building will have a 22-metre high roof which will have provision for solar panels too. There will be air-conditioned waiting lounges, kiosks and new platforms. The railway station will also include separate arrival and departure points for passengers and multi-level parking facilities for them.
The eastern side of the railway station is proposed to be developed first under phase I. The railway facilities will be relocated, parking and traffic will be diverted, subways and concourse/waiting areas will be constructed across the platforms.

The western side of the railway station will see reconstruction under phase II. Two platforms, including for DEMU, will be built along with parking facilities. A 30-metre long road on the eastern side is also proposed to be constructed. This will connect Varaccha Road with Lambe Hanuman Road and help reduce traffic chaos.
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Tuesday, 3 November 2015

22:34

SAIL to supply 18m Finished Length Steel for Iran’s Rail Expansion plan

SAIL to supply 18m Finished Length Steel for Iran’s Rail Expansion plan

New Delhi: State-run Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) would supply rails for the major railway network expansion plan in Iran.

SAIL has bagged an export contract to supply about 100,000 tonne of rails to Iran from its flagship entity Bhilai Steel Plant (BSP), which has been the sole producer of rail for the company.

The export order for rails is in 18 metre finished lengths. The Plant supplies world class rails to Indian Railways in lengths of 13 and 26 metre from its existing Rail Mill besides 130 and 260 metre rails from its Long Rail Complex.

Since BSP is not producing 18 metre rails as demanded by the authorities in Iran, it is installing new equipment to facilitate the supply.

“Special equipment is being procured from overseas suppliers for creating new facilities in the existing Rail and Structural Mill of BSP,” a company spokesperson told Business Standard. Besides a new Hot Stamping Machine from Germany, BSP is procuring a new NDT (Non-Destructive Testing) facility from Austria.

The new NDT facility would include online straightness measurement, online profile measurement and online twist measurement equipment.

The Mill as well as the Long Rail Complex are already equipped with state of the art facilities for rail finishing and testing including hot stamping and NDT facilities. The new equipment is being procured to cater to the specific needs of the export order to Iran.

The Plant had earlier also exported steel to Iran in 1967, 1969 and 1976. In all, 275,000 tonnes was dispatched from BSP. The country is now planning modernisation and major expansion of its rail network.

Iran plans to invest $25bn over the next ten years in the modernisation and expansion projects. The investment is expected to extend Iran Railways’ track length from the current 15,000km to 25,000km by 2025.
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Sunday, 25 October 2015

08:04

Indian Railways to be Big Contributor to ‘Make in India’, says Suresh Prabhu

Indian Railways to be Big Contributor to ‘Make in India’, says Suresh Prabhu

Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu said on Wednesday that the Railways will be a significant contributor to the ‘Make in India’ programme through its focus on indigenising production of a host of segments, including state-of-the-art locomotives, high-end equipment and processes, that go into the working of the network.

Inaugurating the 11th edition of the International Rail Conference and International Rail Equipment Exhibition (IREE) 2015, organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the Railways, Prabhu said that almost 90 per cent of proposals made by him in the Rail Budget have been either implemented or put into fast track.

With Japan as the partner country, the IREE 2015, covering 20,000 sq mtrs, is being attended by 400 exhibitors from 20 countries, including the US, the UK, China, Germany and South Korea in addition to a large contingent from Japan.

Prabhu said that the ministry is determined to break the vicious cycle of low investment and low quality of services, which has enveloped the Railways due to inadequate attention being assigned to the vital sector.

The minister emphasised that the conscious decision to tap institutional sources for meeting the investment requirement of $140 billion for modernisation of the Railways in five years is giving the development process an unprecedented impetus.

“This is also sending the right signals to foreign investors, who are excited about investing in the Railways.” In this regard, Prabhu referred to the excellent response he had received from the Japanese government and the private sector there when he had visited the country last month.

“The Japanese are excited not only about the high-speed train segment alone. The new framework of technology agreement envisages a whole spectrum of partnership in various rail-related segments like manufacturing of electrical locomotives, sharing of cutting-edge technologies, etc.” he added.
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Friday, 23 October 2015

08:57

Japan offers Loan to India’s $15 billion Bullet Train in edge over China

Japan offers Loan to India’s $15 billion Bullet Train in edge over China

Japan has offered to finance India’s first bullet train, estimated to cost $15 billion, at an interest rate of less than 1 percent, officials said, stealing a march on China, which is bidding for other projects on the world’s fourth-largest network.
Tokyo was picked to assess the feasibility of building the 505-kilometre corridor linking Mumbai with Ahmedabad, the commercial capital of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state, and concluded it would be technically and financially viable.

The project to build and supply the route will be put out to tender, but offering finance makes Japan the clear front runner.

Last month China won the contract to assess the feasibility of a high-speed train between Delhi and Mumbai, a 1,200-km route estimated to cost twice as much. No loan has yet been offered.

Japan’s decision to give virtually free finance for Modi’s pet programme is part of its broader push back against China’s involvement in infrastructure development in South Asia over the past several years. Tokyo’s push in India comes just weeks after it lost out to China on the contract to build Indonesia’s first fast-train link.

Beijing offered $5 billion in loans without asking for guarantees, an Indonesian official said, ending a months-long battle to build the line linking Jakarta with the textile hub of Bandung.

India’s cabinet will take a decision on the Japanese proposal over the next few weeks, an Indian railway official said

“There are several (players) offering the high-speed technology. But technology and funding together, we only have one offer. That is the Japanese,” said A.K.Mital, the Chairman of the Indian Railway Board, which manages the network.

The two projects are part of a ‘Diamond Qaudrilateral’ of high speed trains over 10,000 km of track that India wants to set up connecting Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata.

Japan has offered to meet 80 percent of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad project cost, on condition that India buys 30 percent of equipment including the coaches and locomotives from Japanese firms, officials said.

Japan’s International Cooperation Agency, which led the feasibility survey, said the journey time between Mumbai and Ahmedabad would be cut to two hours from seven. The route will require 11 new tunnels including one undersea near Mumbai.

“What complicates the process is Japanese linking funding to use of their technology. There must be tech transfer,” said Mital.

JICA declined to comment on the details of its offer. “The report has already been handed over to India, and the Indian government is now in the process of making a consideration,” a spokeswoman said.

Toshihiro Yamakoshi, counsellor in the economic section of the Japanese embassy, said Japanese companies were keen to collaborate with their Indian counterparts on the rail project as part of Modi’s Make-in-India programme. He said it was too early to provide details of the cooperation.

Tokyo’s push in India comes just weeks after it lost out to China on the contract to build Indonesia’s first fast-train link.

Beijing offered $5 billion in loans without asking for guarantees, an Indonesian official said, ending a months-long battle to build the line linking Jakarta with the textile hub of Bandung.

Japan’s NHK broadcaster quoted Transport Minister Keiichi Ishii as saying that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had instructed him to step up exports of transport systems to India and Southeast Asia.

“It is very regrettable that a high-speed railway project in Indonesia was awarded to China,” he said.

China won the Delhi-Mumbai survey after securing clearance from Indian security agencies long worried about China’s involvement in Indian infrastructure.

The two neighbours fought a war in 1962 over a border dispute that remains unresolved, though trade between them is booming.

India’s cabinet will take a decision on the Japanese proposal over the next few weeks, an Indian railway official said. He said there were lingering concerns about whether the billions of dollars required for high-speed rail might be more usefully spent in modernising the railway system.

“There is a lot of money involved in this. The different departments are weighing the implications. Should we be committing all our resources to a single high-speed line,” the railway official said on condition of anonymity.”

“The railways have not attempted anything as big as this before in terms of costs,” the official said.

India’s rickety state-controlled rail system, which moves 23 million people a day, has a poor safety record and is in desperate need of funds to modernise it.

The average speed of trains is 54km/hour, and rail experts have argued that the priority ought to be to improve the speed and safety on existing trains and routes.
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Monday, 5 October 2015

14:43

Investment is the only way-out for Modernisation & Resource Mobilisation on IR

Investment is the only way-out for Modernisation & Resource Mobilisation on IR

Jodhpur: Investment is the only way out to address the paucity of resources in Indian Railways, which has been “plaguing” the much needed modernisation of the rail service, Union Minister Suresh Prabhu said here.

In the city to address the 91st Annual General Meeting of All India Railway Men’s Federation, the minister said that the Indian Railways has been functioning with limited resources and the government has been working hard to arrange finance for its modernisation.

He said that although the modernisation of the Indian Railways has already been affected but it has not been progressing in the “desired manner and with desired pace” for want of funds, route development, signal development, bullet trains etc.

“We are compelled to run 150 trains against the capacity of 100. We are not able to meet the freight load. All these are clear indicators of the railway being heavily under-resourced,” he said.

The Railway Minister noted that Indian Life Insurance Corporation has agreed to lend Rs 1.5 lakh crore for the rail service, with the Reserve Bank of India agreeing to cut the interest on loan by half per cent.

Identifying the development of Indian Railways with the development of the nation, Prabhu called upon the employees, who had assembled to attend the conference, to address the issue of corruption.

He said that the practise of travelling without tickets was eroding the revenue of the Indian Railways and the ministry had launched a campaign to discourage the practise in order to plug the revenue leak.

Referring to rail safety, Prabhu called upon the railway employees to work in unison to ensure safety and informed that a safety drive would be launched.
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Sunday, 4 October 2015

02:20

Investment only way out to address railways' paucity of resources: Suresh Prabhu

Investment only way out to address railways' paucity of resources: Suresh Prabhu 

JODHPUR: Investment is the only way out to address the paucity of resources in Indian railways, which has been "plaguing" the much needed modernisation of the rail service, Union Minister Suresh Prabhu said here today.

In the city to address the 91st Annual General Meeting of All India Railway Men's Federation, the minister said that the railways has been functioning with limited resources and the government has been working hard to arrange finance for its modernisation.

He said that although the modernisation of the railways has already been affected but it has not been progressing in the "desired manner and with desired pace" for want of funds, route development, signal development, bullet trains etc.

"We are compelled to run 150 trains against the capacity of 100. We are not able to meet the freight load. All these are clear indicators of the railway being heavily under-resourced," he said. 

The Railway Minister noted that Indian Life Insurance Corporation has agreed to lend Rs 1.5 lakh crore for the rail service, with the Reserve Bank of India agreeing to cut the interest on loan by half per cent.

Identifying the development of railways with the development of the nation, Prabhu called upon the employees, who had assembled to attend the conference, to address the issue of corruption. 

He said that the practise of travelling without tickets was eroding the revenue of the railways and the ministry had launched a campaign to discourage the practise in order to plug the revenue leak.

Referring to rail safety, Prabhu called upon the railway employees to work in unison to ensure safety and informed that a safety drive would be launched. 


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Saturday, 19 September 2015

07:49

Centre to ensure Rotation in respect of all Sensitive Posts in Railways

Centre to ensure Rotation in respect of all Sensitive Posts in Railways

New Delhi: Based on a complaint by a Member of Parliament Mr.Patole, to the Railway Minister Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu, demanding shifting of railway officials occupying sensitive posts in the Railway Board, Zones, Divisions and importantly in the Workshop areas for years together, the Ministry of Personnel and Training (MoPT) has passed on instructions to all the government departments to ensure rotation in respect of all sensitive posts as immediately as possible.

Patole said that in a meeting held by Cabinet Secretary last month with senior officers of all ministries on mechanisms to adopt to ensure probity among government servants, it was emphasized that rotation needed to be carried out in respect of sensitive and non-sensitive posts and screening of officers. “All ministries have been directed to look into the matter and send inputs to vigilance section at the earliest. These details are also to be made part of the monthly DO letter to be sent to secretaries concerned,” said Patole.

Patole in his complaint had said that though Prabhu was making all out efforts to bring railways back on track, officials and their secretaries sitting on the same posts in commercial and vigilance departments for more than 15-20 years were creating hurdles in the process. There is already a Railway Board circular issued on February 18, 2009, about rotation of officials working in sensitive posts. The circular clearly states that based on Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) directives, officials manning sensitive posts should be rotated every two-three years to avoid developing vested interests.

Patole said as per the communication received from Prabhu’s office, any violation in this regard was required to be intimated to the Adviser (Vigilance) and CVO of the ministry of railways for remedial action. The matter was discussed by the full board and it was decided that tenure of officials on sensitive posts should continue to be four years. Despite that, Patole received a list of over 150 officials, secretaries, directors and personal secretaries posted in the Railway Board itself for more than 20 years in the same office.

In Nagpur division of South East Central Railway (SECR) and Central Railway, there were many officials and subordinates in sensitive posts for years together. Patole said rotational transfers were not being implemented and had urged Prabhu to do the needful.

It was also brought out that in locations like Kharagpur Workshop (Wagon Shop) etc., where iron scrap material is abundantly dumped by Railways, it was an established fact that a RPF Inspector is in continuous loot of the iron material rendered scrap who is also in connivance with the local goons. Surprisingly it is also learnt that his monthly illegal earnings are reportedly to be more than Rs.15-20 Lakhs on an average from the illegal theft of scrap material from the Kharagpur Workshop (Wagon Shop). However the concerned officials are not even bothered atleast to save the revenues of Railways, particularly when the Railway Minister himself is struggling hard to raise enough funds for modernisation of Indian Railways.  Can such loopholes/incidents be considered as the acts of responsible Railway servants sufficiently involved in derailing/thwarting the process of Railway Minister’s efforts by rendering the IR bankrupt in their respective jurisdictions?

The MP is highly particular on such culprits who are actually derailing the Railways and pushing the system bankrupt further.

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Friday, 18 September 2015

06:40

Safety needs to be top Priority

Safety needs to be top Priority

Railways on notice

Safety, not bullet trains, needs to be top priority

Almost a year into his tenure as railway minister, Suresh Prabhu, has done what he should have done right after taking charge: called a meeting of the most senior railway officials and told them he will not have any more excuses on safety. The meeting took place in the wake of several railway accidents causing deaths and raising serious safety concerns all around. The glamourous new idea of the government has been creating a diamond quadrilateral of high-speed train links, and Mr Prabhu's public pronouncements till date have mostly dealt with the need to find fresh big-ticket investments. 

There has been no commensurate public concern over too many rail accidents - although introducing bullet trains and the like without improving safety can only lead to more serious accidents. Yes, the railways does need to modernise, which does not come cheap; and investment and safety are conceptually linked if new technology is considered as a route to greater safety. But whenever there is talk of addressing the poor safety record of the Indian Railways, all that the leadership can think of by way of a solution is big-ticket investment. 
Even as Mr Prabhu expressed his exasperation over the continuing spate of accidents, the railway board chairman spoke of a Rs 1-lakh-crore safety plan to be put before the Union Cabinet. Of course there is a need to invest for creating necessary infrastructure to eliminate level crossings and renew ageing tracks and rolling stock. But the railway establishment should know that safety can be improved also without spending a paisa more - by toning up the way the organisation functions.

The need of the hour is to ensure that well-established safety practices and drills which have been allowed to be run down are again followed with alacrity. The drill of inspecting tracks before trains are allowed to go through has become lax. This drill helps detect breaches in tracks caused through ageing, sabotage, or when flash floods wash them away. If there are sections where the traffic is too heavy for this kind of inspection to be undertaken with the necessary periodicity, Mr Prabhu must cancel some passenger trains on the ground that the present traffic density is unsustainable. 

Several accidents take place because of human error. The only way this can be undone is by motivating the staff better - which cannot happen unless they see the minister and top officials leading from the front. The minister has reminded top railway officials that he has already delegated substantial autonomy to them and it is high time they were held accountable. He has given them six months to act and underlined the need for safety audits by neighbouring zones (not a zone auditing itself) - but he should have done this six months ago.

The reality is that there is no sign that the railways today is a more toned up organisation. For the past several months, it has not been able to appoint a full-time member on its board to oversee traffic operations - a responsibility that includes overseeing safety as well. An additional member is looking after this crucial portfolio. A certain amount of outsourcing of passenger services is being done with immediate improvement in delivery - but subsequent backsliding.

The performance of outsourced agencies needs monitoring; but in a business-as-usual scenario, that does not take place. More than anything else, railway safety today needs to be a greater priority.

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Tuesday, 8 September 2015

22:47

Suresh Prabhu aligns Priorities, Funding & Organisation to shape a Transformation Agenda

Suresh Prabhu aligns Priorities, Funding & Organisation to shape a Transformation Agenda
This man – a Chartered Accountant by profession, is determined to do wonders with Indian Railways – come what may!..

It is not easy being railway minister. Ask Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu. Everybody in India has a strong opinion on what the Railways should do. There are tomes of recommendations from weighty committees – notably the Rakesh Mohan Committee on Restructuring, 2002; the Kakodkar Committee on Safety, 2012; the Pitroda Committee on Railway Modernisation, 2012; and finally the Bibek Debroy Committee on Railway Reform, 2015.

Weave in the political imperative to demonstrate visible action to an aspirational India wanting bullet trains, and a bottom-of-the-pyramid India wanting to avoid getting trampled to death on railways stations during festival rushes.

Then there are the railway unions that get into paroxysms of righteous indignation whenever they hear the words privatization and PPP (public-private partnership)and threaten strikes to bring the nation to a halt.

If this were not enough, you have a staid, monolithic Railway Board and related establishments steeped in complacent Raj-era traditions alongside an archaic accounting system which Bibek Debroy publicly decries as being “non-transparent”.

And to put matters in perspective, India spends only 0.3 per cent of its gross domestic product on railways as against China’s 2.5 per cent. Even investments in highways has risen to 1.5 per cent.

Prabhu took charge of the Railways on November 9, 2015 – no doubt a wise choice by the Prime Minister, and welcomed by all. Ten months into the job, this affable, ego-less, practical and savvy professional-turned-politico is briskly working on his game plan.

So, has he got his priorities right? Does he have the finances to address these priorities? And are the allocations in sync with the priorities?

In a scan of his speeches, press and industry interactions, and other public deliveries, the priorities clearly reveal themselves.

The number one priority is clearly network decongestion and network expansion. Nobody can quarrel with this. Out of 1,219 sections of the Indian Railways, 492, that is 40 per cent of the network, operates at more than 100 per cent capacity. Mughalsarai is reportedly the most congested at 150 per cent.

Compared to the enormity of this problem, everything else pales into insignificance; and adding more rolling stock is akin to passing a thick rope through the eye of a needle.

Next is safety. That is followed by rolling stock modernisation, station redevelopment, passenger amenities, special projects, organisation revamp and social obligations (North-east and Kashmir connectivity). The priorities are clearly bang on target.

Moving on to funding and allocation, the two tables reveal the funding plan and allocations thereof.

For an establishment, struggling to generate internal cash at close to 90 per cent operating ratio; and dependant on the Union Budget for under Rs 50,000 crore, the railway minister has done well to plan to mop up cash from joint ventures (with states, public sector units ports et al), PPPs and debt.

From the institutional debt bucket, Rs 1.5 lakh crore from the Life Insurance Corporation of India is already being put to use for network decongestion, and others like the World Bank, National Infrastructure and Investment Fund, tax-free bonds et al are work-in-process.

The fundraising scenario is grounded in its potential for practical achievability and is certainly not a pie-in-the sky projection.

The allocation of finances is congruent with the priorities. It is commendable that the minister has stayed away from populism and stuck to the urgent requirement of alleviating the rail network congestion.

Close to 45 per cent of all the funding is earmarked for network decongestion, and network expansion.

Does that mean that all challenges and concerns are taken care of? By no means.

Clearly, the biggest elephant in the room is organisational rejuvenation. Here Prabhu appears to be the only minister in the Union Cabinet who openly welcomes the idea of an independent regulator.

Nitin Gadkari trashes the idea of an independent regulator for highways just as Piyush Goyal feels that a regulator for coal is unnecessary.

But Prabhu believes that an independent railway regulator is required for tariff setting, engagement with the private sector and service-level accountability from the railway establishment.

It is understood that he is working behind the scenes to make this a reality in as much as he is personally engaged in track II diplomacy with the unions to get their buy-in for his growth and development vision.

In fact, the top railway union leaders sit in on the Ratan Tata-chaired Kaya Kalp Council. The much-recommended revamp of the top echelons of the ‘Railway Diwan-i-Am’, is also a challenge.

Its break-up into a governance board with independent directors and an executive board (much like the current Railway Board) are changes up for consideration as are issues of decentralisation and ‘SBUisation’.

This great railway transformation has to be achieved in the middle of day-to-day pressures of profitability, winning back passenger confidence and positivism, and arresting the slide in freight carried.

This is clearly the best time for the Railways to effect a long-awaited and historic turnaround under a purposeful prime minister and an indefatigable railway minister.

To achieve this, Prabhu has clearly set out his own challenging set of tasks which we heartily endorse. More importantly, we wish him luck.
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