There is a need and scope for introducing bus services between railway stations and various residential areas and official spaces in the cities with the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission bus funding
It was reported that the Union Government had requested State Governments, who have failed to use their allocated funds for the financial year 2013-2014, to procure buses for their States under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission scheme, unless otherwise they submit a report on the usage of their funds by August 24.
Although it was reported that the unused fund can amount to Rs884 crore, the exact amount that would be returned to the Ministry of Urban Development by the State Governments will be known only when the State Governments submit their reports on the same in the due course of time.
Instead of beseeching the State Governments to use the funds to improve their urban transport, the MoUD should utilise these funds to provide high-end public transport access (egress) facility to (from) the railway stations. At present, the cities which provide public transport bus service have extended the same facility to the railway stations from various points of the city.
However, the quality of bus ride, the facilities inside the bus to carry luggage, the frequency of the bus and stoppages that are not so close to the departure points and railway stations do not match up with the access and egress travel requirements of the rail travellers. This is essentially because most of the buses which ply via railway stations are not exclusively meant for access and egress travel requirements of the rail passengers. As a result, most of the rail passengers are forced to use para-transit services such as auto-rickshaws and taxis, irrespective of the class of their rail travel.
The average rail fare per passenger across all the train classes even today does not exceed 50 paise, whereas the same passenger has to pay anywhere between Rs12 and Rs25 per km for access and egress travel depending on the level of premium service he looks for in the para-transit service. This results in a peculiar situation where the access and egress travel costs are at times on par with the train fare or even higher than the train fare, especially when a single traveller with minimum luggage uses the para-transit service.
It is not uncommon for a passenger to spend Rs300 for a 500 km travel by sleeper class train and another Rs400 for access and egress travel, resulting in a total travel cost of Rs700. As per the calculations, even when there is a group of two passengers, the access and egress cost would be about two-third of the train fare. Only for a group of three and above, the para-transit service may be a better option.
It is an irony that the Railways Ministry is forced to think many times to bring about a reasonable hike in the rail fares, even when the total cost of travel has been increasing at a much higher rate due to the frequent increase in fares of para-transit service providers.
Given that a sizable number of passengers travel single or as a group of two, top-notch access and egress to public transport service towards the stations at a lower rate than the current para-transit service fares will go a long way in reducing the total travel cost without adding penalty to the travel experience. There is a clear need and scope for introducing buses between the railway stations and various residential areas and official spaces of the city with the JNNURM bus funding. To begin with, A1 and A railway stations may be targeted for providing the ‘rail bus’ service.
The design of the ‘rail bus’ service should look at the specific requirements of the rail passengers. The foremost requirement is the frequency and punctuality of such services. Neither the passengers who avail public transport for access travel to catch a train nor the passengers who avail public transport to egress from a railway station can ill afford to wait with uncertainty for the rail bus.
The rail bus in every route may be for every three to five minutes during the peak hours of train departure and arrival time window and every five to 10 minutes during other time. In this backdrop, the better bet for the ‘rail bus’ service would be a 15 to 20 seater premium low-floor mini bus, which can manoeuvre even on not so wide roads easily, provide superlative ride, enough space for luggage, easy en-boarding and de-boarding and real time information and communications technology facility to communicate with the passengers on the movement of the bus.
Higher frequency may not be possible with regular buses as it is difficult to get passengers for the entire capacity, unless some specific route creates huge demand. The other requirements are stoppings closer to residential areas in such a way that the people do not have to walk not more than 100 to 200 meters to access the rail bus. The design of the rail bus system should include all the features so that they attract as many single and double passengers across various economic strata.
Union Minister for Railways Suresh Prabhu recently announced that the railways intend to re-develop 400 railway stations belonging to A-1 and A category according to the Swiss challenge method by inviting open bids from interested parties. The essential aim of modernising the railway stations is to provide penalty-free traversing through the terminal to reach the platform at the boarding station and to reach the entrance of the terminal from the platform at the alighting station, pleasant, safe and comfortable stay in the terminal and shopping facilities.
However, the critical requirement is that the passengers reach the railway stations faster and leave them in such a way that their stay is shorter in the railway stations, which would make the stations accommodate more passengers. For this, it is essential to have easy access and egress travel facility by any mode at every station so that the door-to-door travel becomes seamless for the passengers. After the railway stations are re-developed, the access and egress facilities by all the possible modes including that of public transport ‘rail buses’ will have to be incorporated.
The Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation has been providing excellent Volvo bus connectivity between Bangalore Devanahalli airport and various places of the city. Mini bus services have been operating in Chennai by the Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation for the last few years very successfully, providing bus connectivity to inner areas of the city. Rail buses may adopt the better practices of BMTC and TNSTC and introduce services and improve upon them in the future.
If the buses are provided by the MoUD, free of cost to the operator, the collected fares can recover the maintenance and operating costs of the bus. This would enable the ‘rail bus’ operator to charge a fare which is higher than the regular bus service but are much lower than the para-transit services. The Railways Ministry and the MoUD, along with the respective State Governments should coordinate to make this possible. So far, Indian transport systems have been operating in silos, leaving the passengers in lurch. It is time for India to provide seamless travel experience to the rail passengers at an affordable price.
(The author is a doctorate in public systems from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad)