IR has done well in giving a fillip to the Vande Bharat project but now it must move with circumspection

 It was significant that the Integral Coach Factory (ICF) of Indian railways (IR) conceived but also marshaled and achieved the impossible in 2018—Train 18/Vande Bharat Express, a world class train. A sterling team of brilliant engineers and technicians from ICF and the allied industry came together with great synergy and delivered Train 18/Vande Bharat Express, which was made entirely in India in just 18 months at a fraction of what it would take both in terms of time and cost, anywhere across the globe.

This train caught the imagination of people because they saw it as a symbol of resurgent and aspirational India; the first time that a rolling stock project of this magnitude was executed from concept-to-manufacturing entirely in India. The train paved the way for a whole new ballgame in rail transportation—not a mere organic continuation of what IR had been used to be producing in respect of trains but a courageous, transformational leapfrog into the future, a signal that India had arrived on the global scene in the Rail sector.

The first train was launched between New Delhi and Varanasi by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and the second one between New Delhi and Katra by Home Minister Amit Shah in 2019. Shortly after, some negativity emerged out of the blue. The train was scandalised, but since it was working flawlessly, the mud did not stick; some unscrupulous media houses persisted though. Soon the entire team responsible for Vande Bharat trains was victimized through bogus vigilance cases.

Even as this negativity continued, delaying furtherance of the project, the two trains continued trouble-free service and then came the announcements by the PM on August 15, 2021, that 75 such trains would ply across the country in 75 weeks. A new Minister had taken charge. Vibes had changed dramatically.

The Budget this year sprang another surprise by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman that 400 Vande Bharat trains would be manufactured in the coming three years. Meanwhile, the Central Vigilance Commission threw away the vigilance cases, restoring the dignity and honour of the team which built the train.

Negativity is a thing of the past now. It is time to look at the future dispassionately against the backdrop of the plan to introduce 400 Vande Bharat trains. The common refrain in Railway and industrial circles has been that the government had overreached because, while not even one train had been made after the success of the first two in 2018-19, the financial performance of IR was so poor that such a massive investment in passenger trains, which are largely losing propositions, seemed out of place.

A more practical analysis would, however, be that the government had shown its intent, and the question should be how, and not whether, this can be achieved, given that Vande Bharat trains had proved to be remunerative. As for the question of financial viability, IR has leapfrogged to spend multiple times more on infrastructure upgrade since 2014, underlying government’s belief that investments would drive growth of railways and country’s economy by borrowing heavily and, therefore, IR’s financial performance in isolation is not a deterrent to government investments.

It is important to review the announcements made when Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw visited the ICF recently. It was announced that the third rake, or the first prototype of the revised-specification train, is expected to roll out in the first week of August, to be followed by the second prototype in the second week of August.

After the rolling out of the trains, prototypes would be put on trial for 45 days before launching commercial services. This means a delay of some months from the earlier announcements but that is not important. In case the testing is indeed completed in 45 days it would be a great progress which would clear the way for quick serialization of manufacture at ICF.

A word about the revised specification: Revision of the specification was an exercise driven by extraneous factors and not by any deficiency in the product; it attempts to enhance the acceleration of a train which was at the optimum already or improve the ride index of a train which is acknowledged to have a

ride-comfort far superior to the existing coaches.

The die was already cast by the time the thrust came for a large number of trains. One can only hope that these pointless modifications do not come in the way of proliferation of the trains due to some unforeseen complication; these changes have already set the project back by three years.

It is not that the train does not need improvement. The ICF did build a great train but was it world-class? Not quite. They wanted to, but they were running against time; they were trying to do something in 18 months against the global norm of 36 to 42 months. The improvements relate to passenger amenities like more comfortable seats, spacious catering paraphernalia, finish of the interiors, reliability of light fittings and similar issues, in addition to some minor technical issues like ventilation of traction motors and provision of shatter-proof glass. One hopes that these issues have been addressed appropriately.

It was also announced that the production capacity of Vande Bharat rakes at the ICF was being enhanced from four to six rakes per month to meet the target of 75 Vande Bharat trains in 75 weeks. The ICF may be eager to go into a mad rush to meet, or at least reach close to, this ambitious timeline declared by the PM, but this seems too far fetched.

The ICF has not made any rake for more than three years and to claim its capacity of four rakes per month is bizarre, let alone its upgrade to six rakes per month. Heavens would not fall if the ICF goes about making these trains cautiously to ensure that the quality does not get compromised. The country had waited for decades for modern train sets till 2018-19. It can wait a little more; the tearing hurry, which may impact continued reliability, should be avoided.

Then there was the declaration that IR had finalised the plan of setting up depots for maintenance at 15 stations on the 28 routes of Shatabdis and other intercity trains. Can we really run these trains in large numbers all over the country without a robust plan for maintenance and training? Shall we push these rakes on unprepared railway zones, running the risk of frequent cancellations and disruptions due to maintenance downtime and reduced reliability? Once again, IR must tread with caution.

The intended routes should first be concentrated around two or three depots in addition to Delhi; and only after a robust regime of running and maintaining at least 30 rakes is consolidated, should they think of introducing more routes which would necessitate additional maintenance depots.

IR also needs to address other important issues like development of sleeper and energy-efficient aluminium-bodied versions to replace Rajdhanis. It is quite an overreach to run 104 trains, which are on order, only in day time services like Shatabdis, simply because we do not have that many viable day services at present.

IR has come very far in giving a much-needed fillip to the Vane Bharat project but they must move with circumspection instead of moving rashly. The country is hoping to see an improved avatar of Vande Bharat trains and those hopes should not be dashed because of hasty execution.

 (The writer is retired General Manger, Indian Railways. The views expressed are personal.)