11 November, 2022
STRENGTHENING INDIAN RAILWAY'S CONTRIBUTION TO THE ECONOMY
1. Indian Railways be complimented for National Railway Plan (2030) which addresses Network congestion by rapid capacity augmentation of 5,571 Km of very high density network. Prioritization has been done by classifying criticality of projects with a total outlay of Rs 7.5 lakh Cr.
2. Vision 2024 focuses on Port connectivity, coal evacuation, J&K projects and North East connectivity for completion by 2024.
3. Delhi-Mumbai and Ludhiana- Delhi- Sonnagar Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) projects (Total 2800 km), to run long haul goods trains at a speed of 100 kmph potential which is planned for completion by 2023 Construction activities in the high speed Mumbai-Ahmadabad project, held up earlier by land acquisition problems have gathered momentum.
4. Achievement of IR has been on safely with no serious passenger Train Accidents during period 2019-20 - 2020-21 by expediting replacement of over aged assets / track renewals, elimination of unmanned level crossings and replacement of old coaches by new safer Linke Hofmann Busch (LHB) coaches.
CONCERNS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
5. These include recent trends of high operating ratios, low generation of internal net surplus revenues leading to low funding for safety, capital and rehabilitation works. The Parliamentary Standing Committee (2019-20) on Railways also made observations on above concerns.
6. Losses in Passenger Operations. These have mounted to over Rs 50,000 Crs annually. IR needs to address this issue urgently by a progressive increase in fares and seek State & Central Govt support for taking over suburban losses. High Staff costs (60% of working expenses) will need to be reduced by freezing some percentage of vacant posts, progressively.
7. Uncertainties in Future Coal Freight Earnings. Presently these contribute to around 48% of total freight earnings. Demand will come down in future because of carbon emission/climate change issues. Economic Survey (2019-20) has stressed need for IR increasing its share of freight traffic from around 27% to 45% by 2030 in rail/road freight mix from energy conservation/ carbon emission angle. This will be challenging.
Send your Suggestions