CHENNAI: The decision by railways to allow private trains in its network has faced strong resistance not only from railway employees, but also rail users. Passengers fear the move may sound the death knell for railways’ core objective - serving the poor. Eventually, they fear, train services may become ‘elite’ services catering to the well-heeled.
A few days ago, the national transporter invited a request for qualification application from interested parties for operation of private trains across the country. Though on paper, railways hasn’t increased ticket fares for more than a decade, it has earned revenue from passenger ticketing through ‘backdoor’ tactics such as introduction of surge pricing, introduction of premier trains, suvidha trains and increasing AC class berths and seats in existing trains.
“No private company would be interested to operate trains on uneconomic routes. So high-demand routes have been earmarked for private trains. Revenue earned from busy lines helps railways to operate passenger trains on uneconomic routes. Now, additional earnings through suvidha and other premier trains will go to private players, and railways may have to cancel less-patronised trains,” said Edward Jeni, secretary, Kanniyakumari District Railway Users’ Association.
Referring to the recent decision to convert over 30 trains of Southern Railways into express trains, Jeni said private players will charge exorbitant fares like omni bus operators. “Besides, share of confirmed railway employees may come down, and employees may not have job security.”
Operating both private and railway trains on the same routes may lead to malpractice and corruption, pointed out rail passengers. “It’s an open secret that timings of the Chennai-Coimbatore Kovai Express were tweaked to increase patronage of Shatabdi Express. The train which once reached Central at 9.10pm now reaches the station beyond 11.10pm. Similar malpractices may happen,” feared R Johnson, a regular commuter.
Railway minister Piyush Goyal has justified the decision, saying the move would enhance passengers’ services and help railways increase its earnings. However, the TN Southern Districts Train Passengers Association (TNSDTP) said railways’ revenue has been hit due to a variety of reasons, including expenditure incurred by the top hierarchy and low fare in certain routes. Soosairaj, president of TNSDTP said, “Top railway officials account for a substantial portion of expenditure. Railways should cut unnecessary perks to officials and nominally increase the ticket fare in non-AC class and suburban sections.”
However, V Giri, former member of DRUCC, opined that private trains are not that bad an idea given that private players are to be allowed only in five per cent of routes. “Railways believes that its work force is not competent enough to come up with innovative ideas. Private participation in railways started with the launch of IRCTC in 1999 itself. Now, railways is going for open bidding, instead of closed one. There should be sufficient checks and balances ensuring that private players are not given any undue advantages in profitable routes”. Giri added that it may be too early to comment on enhancing rail tracks for withstanding the speed of 160 kmph.