The Indian Railways’ progress is replete with classic cases where the full potential of the investment is not reaped because assets/inputs are not aligned to a common performance level
For many years now, Indian Railways has been facing flak for low efficiency, poor operating ratio and massive inertia. None would deny that despite lakhs of crores having been invested, the system is stressed and shaky and the market share stands eroded. Yet, a severe capacity crunch exists on the main routes and high outlays have driven up overall logistic costs. There is no denying that there are positives and strengths on the quantitative side. Globally in network size, it is the fourth-largest system. In freight turnover, too, it is the fourth and in passenger output it ranks first. The daily system sustains a run of 23,000 trains, 9,000 freights and 13,000 passenger trains, including 5,000 suburban ones. Daily transport of 3.20 metric tonnes (MT) of cargo and 23 million passengers across a network of 64,000 route km and 7,300 stations is no mean feat. So is a modern passenger reservation system, freight operation system, unit train operation, proliferation of electric traction system, transition from mechanical to electronic/solid state signalling systems, transition to higher axle loads, higher capacity rolling stock, heavier trains, longer trains and so on. Another distinction has been human capital formation to equip the mammoth cutting-edge workforce with requisite skill sets to adopt and operate the new technology and systems.
But a major disconcerting dimension has been the lopsided development, which has been eroding productivity of investment and operational efficiency, thus making it a regressive, expensive system, telling on the overall logistic costs of the economy. The network is saddled with serious infrastructure deficiencies. The bulk of the routes, about 75 per cent, are fit only for a maximum speed of 110 kmph. Barely about five per cent routes can sustain the speed of 130 kmph. The Golden Quadrilateral and Diagonal (GQD), six routes which with 15 per cent route share bear 60 per cent of the traffic, are no better. Of the total 10,000 km route on the GQD, only 2,740 kms is fit for the speed of 130 kmph. The most prestigious Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Howrah routes still have 35 per cent length below 130 kmph. Shockingly, three important GQD routes viz. Howrah-Chennai, Howrah- Mumbai and Mumbai-Chennai are entirely unfit for 130 kmph.
Mismatch in the top speed potential of the modern rolling stock and the network speed is another drag. Due to modern technology, new rolling stock viz. Linke Hofmann Busch (LHB), Tejas, the recent entrant Vande Bharat T18 generation coaches and WAP5 generation electric locomotives are all 160 kmph fit. We find a bizarre scenario of a Vande Bharat train operating at a speed of 130/100 kmph in the Allahabad-Varanasi sector. Similar is the story of all Tejas and LHB stock trains.
It is ironical that there is a solitary 160 kmph train, Gatimaan Express on the Nizamuddin-Agra route. All Rajdhanis and LHB stock trains in Delhi/Agra are fit stock-wise for 160 kmph, the signalling system is compliant, the operating protocol is in position but the available traction power capacity can sustain only one 160 kmph train on that stretch. The Indian Railways’ progress is replete with such classic cases where the full potential of the investment is not reaped because assets/inputs are not aligned to a common performance level.
Likewise the freight ecosystem also has a self- defeating feature. Progressively, higher axle load wagons are being inducted to increase payload per wagon and load per train. It’s an initiative to check the need for additional line capacity for meeting higher traffic demand and also contain the per unit transportation cost. But due to speed sustainability of tracks, these wagons are pegged at speeds of 45 kmph and 60 kmph for 25 ton and 22.9 ton axle loads. This is a drag as compared to the 75/100 kmph speed for lower axle load generation of wagons. Surely the average speeds will get depressed, nullifying the gains intended from higher axle load wagons. The economics of higher axle load wagons will turn unfavourable. Again, it is a classic case of absence of alignment in performance features of inputs/assets.
Another disquieting feature is that over several decades, the average speeds of passenger and freight trains are hovering at the pathetically low levels of around 45 kmph and 24 kmph. Transit duration critically influences choice of the mode of travel due to its cost and time implications. Both passenger and freight transport markets have progressively become more time and cost-sensitive.
A lot is amiss. Huge capital outlays on doubling/tripling, new lines, tracks, signal, traction, rolling-stock and technology upgrades have failed to catalyse railways. The problem lies in severe flaws in the pattern of investment planning and implementation. The maximum speed on the route is conditioned by the most limiting input. Technical stipulations exist for tracks, signals, traction, level crossings, fencing and so on, for different speeds. Ad hoc inputs given over a period of time have led to gross inconsistencies. It has been a success for a part but not the whole.
Unfortunately, a comprehensive view has been lacking. Departmental goal- seeking has led to suboptimal input spread in infrastructure, assets and technology, causing lopsided outcomes. Failures and inordinate delays occur due to multiple agencies working from sanction to implementation in an uncoordinated manner.
The Railways took a big step forward to fix these pitfalls through Mission Raftaar. A strategy was evolved for route- wise investment with a modular input package and upgrading important routes to a top speed of 160 kmph. It was marked as a vision to set up express railroads akin to expressways with a balanced dosage of inputs to upgrade tracks, signals, traction, train protection and warning systems, modern diagnostics for assets, fencing, elimination of level crossings, all directed at an ideal approach to make the route seamlessly speedier and safe, hence viable.
Based on this new approach, 160 kmph upgradation projects were approved for Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Howrah routes that carry 29 per cent of passenger and 20 per cent of freight traffic. This is a harbinger of an era to commission all GQD routes as express railroads having speeds of 160 kmph.
For reaping the full-scale benefit, concurrent, fast-paced action is required for induction of speedier rolling stock and resolution of trade-off between axle load and permissive speeds, all through a coherent thought process.
The need is for methodical investment planning and synchronised implementation, harnessing economies of scale, state-of-the-art technology, skill sets and synergy to keep the train block time minimal. The only way to do these projects within meaningful timelines is a paradigm engineered by the collaborative inventiveness of a team of multi-disciplinary specialists of the Mobility Directorate. A nodal unit must be set up to carve out a roadmap and achieve the Mission Raftaar goal of doubling the average freight trains speeds and a 25 kmph increase in average speeds of passenger trains over a five-year period.
A drastic cut in travel time holds the key to reducing the cost of operations, conserving asset demand and restoring competitiveness. It is reckoned that premium trains like the Rajdhani will take 10-12 hours between Delhi- Mumbai-Howrah. The journey time of all coach trains will be slashed up to half and freight trains will register up to two-fold jump in average speeds. A one kmph increment in average speed of all freight/passenger trains has the potential to save about 3,000 wagons, about 70 locomotives, unleashing a latent revenue of about Rs 1,400 crore and Rs 900 crore from freight and passenger traffic.
Now Indian Railways is venturing into private operation of coaching trains to induct the much-needed new technology rolling stock with a target speed potential of 160 kmph. Underneath reverberates the implied commitment and urgency for 160 kmph. Indian Railways has miles to go as at present only about 190 route km of the total network are 160 kmph-compliant.
The railway leadership, which is passionate to reform, must also recalibrate decisions about how much to invest by reorienting strategy on how to invest and on what. Endeavour ought to be for optimisation, accelerated outcomes and to rid the railway of the woes of disproportionate and dispersed investments.
A crystal clear goal and a strategy to strike will ensure that every penny spent is well-directed, has the right mix of involved assets, infrastructure and technology required for fructification of the intended result. Given the intertwined interplay of departmental inputs in the railways, outcomes such as a turnaround are possible only if a unified, empowered, multi-specialist body steers investment and is held accountable from conception to commission. Accomplishing the Raftaar vision by sticking to the charted course in mission mode deserves to be the focal point. Higher top speeds, scaled-up average speeds, besides spurring mobility and market, through a multitude of associated positives will render the system systematically safe and state-of-the-art. This would surely launch railways on a trajectory of viability, vitality, vibrancy and fast growth to become an engine of the Indian economy’s progress.
(The writer is former Principal Executive Director, Mobility, Ministry of Railways)
