Make quality service and punctuality the norm
A big deal has been made of the fact that Gatimaan Express, India's first semi-high speed train, which was flagged off on Tuesday to run between Delhi and Agra, is only some seven to 10 minutes faster than Shatabdi Express in covering this stretch. It is wrong to concentrate overly on the speed angle for two reasons. The first is that this is only the beginning to the advent of high-speed trains. A large portion of the track for Gatimaan Express still remains unfenced, and this will restrict the speed until the work is completed. There will be enhancements in signalling and safety features along the way, which will contribute to higher speeds. Gatimaan Express can travel at a maximum of 160 kilometres per hour but its average speed would obviously be lower.
This is the case with the fastest trains around the world, including the so-called bullet trains. There is likelihood that over time and with the introduction of more Gatimaan trains on other routes, the speed factor will improve. The second reason why we must not be quibbling too much over speed is because it seeks to deviate from the real attention-grabber: Passenger experience. From the available feedback, Gatimaan left users mesmerised, at least on Day One. The onboard service — quality catering and personal attention by uniformed personnel, as well the availability of wi-fi and entertainment — was akin to what airline passengers are accustomed to; by some accounts, Gatimaan was better. Besides, the concept of hygiene and cleanliness has been kept high with bio-toilets and shiny coaches.
The elation among passengers is expected to sustain over the coming few days and weeks, after which the real challenges will begin to crop up. It's then that the Ministry of Railways will have to rise to the occasion. The first challenge will obviously be to sustain the quality of service. It has been the experience that citizen services begin with a bang and then trail off with a whimper. It should not become the case that over time, Gatimaan Express goes in a similar direction. A real indicator here will be a review of the situation after, say a couple of months. Minister for Railways Suresh Prabhu is known to doggedly follow up matters; he will need to take personal interest to ensure that Gatimaan Express's reputation does not fall by the wayside. This is all the more necessary since the ministry is planning to introduce more Gatimaan trains over time in other sectors.
The second challenge is to effectively extend the Gatimaan experience to the many existing train services across the country. Of course, it is not possible to exactly replicate the model in all the trains for a variety of reasons, including commercial and pragmatic, but the essence can surely be. Most Indian train services suffer from non-punctuality, poor on-board food, lack of cleanliness and inadequate safety and security of passengers. Some efforts have been, and are being, made to address these grievances, but they need to be scaled up. Passengers across the nation should not end up complaining of being discriminated against vis-à-vis their counterparts who travel in Gatimaan trains. Besides, many services on even trains such as Rajdhani Express and Shatabdi Express are far from satisfactory. The Railways Ministry has to take a holistic approach.