LOVE WITH INDIAN RAILWAYS WITH A LITTLE RISK ,COMPROMISE AND HOPE

1. “Railwday track, Train bogies and Locomotives are the things that have always enthralled me since childhood. I really love to go on a long distance train journeys of more than 1000 kilometres. In 2008 I got enrolled in VIT university far away from my home. Since then I have covered more than 50,000 km on rails spanning across 13 states of India with my mom and dad living in separate cities also contributing to it.  But there is one condition for me- “Trains should be superfast with lesser halts at least like Bangalore-Guwahati express. If it is like Coromandel or Tamil Nadu express then its best for me as Rajdhani express is not available at all routes.” During these 3 years I travelled by more than 15 different trains between Kolkata, Vellore and Patna. I even remember their number.I really fell in love with some trains as Coromandel, Cape-Howrah and Upasana expess(Here Upasana is the name of train not a girl). I equally hate trains which are very sluggish with many stoppages. If I am given two tickets- 1 One in a AC coach of a sluggish running train 2. A waitlisted ticket in a sleeper coach of a Superfast trains. I will go for the later. General unreserved coaches are overcrowded like hell. Thanks to the large number of people dependent on trains.
2.           I also prefer travelling in Sleeper coaches as the people are very friendly there and also the open windows and doors. I just love looking outside the window observing the scenery outside and even standing at the door for hours even when the train running at 110kmph. The 3 tier AC ICF coaches are quite congested with unclean and almost translucent glasses. But the 3 tier LHB coaches of elite trains are spacious with wider and transparent glasses. I really cannot forget my first travel in Mumbai Rajdhani express this year from Surat to Delhi. I am very thankful to my father for it who managed the reservation ticket for me in this 2nd fastest train in India. The berths of these 3 Tier LHB coaches were as wide as a single bed. Rajdhani express with a WAP7 engine looks like the king of Indian tracks and Duronto express with its mixed shade of yellow and green color looks like a beautiful princess.
3.           But our Railways still lag much behind in safety and other aspects. Many of us must have been aware with large number of train mishaps in recent years.  The latest mishap took place just 40 km away from my college. Most of these accidents are either collision or derailment. These accidents so arise one question for me- “Am I risking my own life by being in love with trains?”.  Once I had a return ticket ticket in Coromandel express on 13 feb, 2009 from Howrah. But due to some reasons my father was in Kolkata and I went to my mom’s house in Patna. My mom insisted to leave from Patna by Sanghamitra express. Luckily I acceded to her words and I was saved from the Coromandel express derailment accident on 13Feb 2009. When some of my friends of VIT came to know about the mishap they tried to contact me through SMS and calls. But my mobile was switched off. When I switched on my mobile and read their message. Then I am informed that I am absolutely safe here in Nagpur. But just see my undying love for Coromandel express that I still prefer it over Sanghamitra express. Like all other people I love travelling risking my life.
4.    After the collision accident in September, I was really disappointed to know that ACD(Anti Collision Device) was introduced way back in 2004. But ACDs have still not been brought to use except in NEF zone in Assam. Now the rampant problem of corruption and red tapism must have become clear to you. Red Tapism not only delays any project but it also causes increased cost as the prices of raw materials goes on increasing with years. Finance ministry has directed the Railways for speedy installation of ACDs. We can just haplessly hope it to be done. Another major cause of accidents and deaths is Train Derailment.  Most of the trains have conventional ICF coaches which readily turn turtle upon derailment and they lack crash worthy designs . While LHB coaches don’t turn turtle like ICF coaches as they become grounded upon derailment. LHB coaches have once proved its worth by saving the lives of hundreds of passengers of Bhubaneswar Rajdhani in a derailment incident near Gaya in 2010. You would feel strange to know that Rajdhani expresses meant for Patna and Bhubaneswar have LHB rakes while both Chennai and Hyderabad Rajdhani have old ICF rakes. Now the well aware passengers can ask – “ Why are the passengers of these two and other trains  not being provided with same level of saftety” . The answer is that LHB coaches cost 1 to 1.5 crores more than ICF. But the cost of maintaining and running the LHB coaches is 15% lesser. But still Indian Railways lack the will power to take any such step.
5.       Second thing where our Railways are centuries behind is the speed. In Recent years there have been a marginal achievement in speed by increasing maximum permissible speed of Rajdhani and Shatabdi express from 140 to 160 kmph and of other trains from 90 to 110 kmph. For this step we should be thankful to Laloo Yadav. Many trains were given superfast status with their running time decreased by 2 to 3 hours. Many Important long distance trains as  Bangalore- Guwahati and Cape Howrah express became punctual after getting superfast trains. Punctuality in Railways has been satisfactory since a decade except on the all the major routes except Danapur division in Bihar. There has been the speculation about running Bullet trains in India. In my opinion its unwise for railways to go for bullet trains as they need a separate corridor for it. Construction of a Bullet train corridor costs 500 crores per 1 km.  Bullet trains will have very high fares not only for its running but also for earning back the revenue. The fares will not be affordable by the common public dependent on Railways.  Though China has built a large network of High Speed rail but it has brought the railways under heavy debt. It is tough to say whether the Bullet trains in India will be able to attract the elite class people already travelling by plane. So it is better for Indian Railways to concentrate on Freight Corridor. Separate Corridor for goods trains will not only help in speedy delivery of goods from Mumbai to Ludhiana but also help in increasing the maximum instantaneous and average speed of other trains. According to future plans, it is aimed on increasing the maximum speed of Rajdhani express up to 200kmph and of other trains up to 140 kmph on routes between Mumbai-Delhi and Howrah-Delhi after completion of freight corridor. WAP5 and WAP7 electric locomotives in India have the potential of hauling trains at more than 200kmph but there are no suitable tracks for it. The freight corridor is still in its embryonic stage. Howrah Delhi line  has become almost 150% saturated. It is very disappointing to see that Delhi Mughalsarai section of Howrah-Delhi line do not have 4 railways tracks as Howrah to Sitarampur. So I would like to request railways to put some earnest effort for completion of freight corridor.
6.        Another issue about Indian Railways is the lack of cleanliness. Everybody knows how the platform of overcrowded railways station platforms looks like the biggest yuck and it also cannot be helped much. But the Coaches of trains can still be kept clean. Unfortunately Cleanliness has been in shambles especially since 2010. Once I was travelling by Seemanchal express in the Sleeper class from Delhi to Patna. My god, its sleeper class coaches were so filthy and unmaintained. But I still compromised as the train was superfast and reached Patna on time.  Same was the condition when I was travelling from Katpadi to Howrah by Bangalore- Guwahati Exp. But still I enjoyed my journey by interaction with the people of North Eastern states who were very friendly. By these ways I try to make my train journey enjoyable even in worst conditions. Till 2009 trains going from Chennai to Howrah were cleaned properly at three stations- Vijaywada, Vizag and Bhubaneswar. But now this task is done properly at Vizag only. I know that any such complains by me will fall on deaf ears.
7.         But still I love Indian Railways and Trains. I hope that one day in 2020 I shall be travelling with my wife by a train running at 190kmph inside a coach as clean as our home . I hope that Indian Railways works earnestly to serve me and other people well.
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