Generational change is now needed in Indian rail travel: Vaishnav

In an interview at Mint Mobility Conclave, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav said that in its transformational path, the main objective of the Railways is to enhance the passenger experience. He said that the plans are aimed at making railways not only a major transporter of passengers but also an important freight carrier with the goal of transporting half of the country’s freight. Edited excerpt:

What is your vision for Indian Railways?

To carry a billion people, we must have three or four modes of transport that are highly developed and highly developed such as roads, railways, waterways and aviation. We have to change every dimension of railways to be able to fulfill the aspirations of the people. It should fulfill the aspirations of the poorest of the poorest. We are not doing anything here which should put additional burden on the people. There should be a generational change in the way train travel in the country and we are moving in that direction.

Freight transportation is an important component of railway revenue. But railways is rapidly giving land to roadways. Is there any plan to get back the lost land?

The share of railways in the country’s freight traffic has been falling since the 1950s when it used to be 80%. Today it has come down to 27 percent. Most of it has gone into roadways. But changes are already taking place with better infrastructure and dedicated freight and parcel services with timetabled operations; The share of railways in freight traffic has already increased to 28% and the share has increased to 29% at the end of the year, next year (FY24), it may be 31-32%. Our endeavor is to take the share of Railways to 50 per cent. Only when this is achieved can the country’s high logistics cost fall from about 14% of GDP to around 11%. A savings of 3 percentage points would mean additional resources from the railways’ share by 2030 unless India is poised to become a $5 trillion economy.

There are a lot of things that are moving slowly. Where are we on railway rakes and wheels?

I will answer this question head-on. Rakes Yes, we need a very large number of rakes and Railways has already placed an order for 75,000 wagons, which is probably the highest in the history of Railways. Now we are already adding 1,500 wagons every month. The part of the railway (in freight transport) which was falling has started going up. This was possible because the railways added 185 million tonnes of additional cargo last year. We intend to add another 200 million tonnes this year and continue that journey.

As far as wheels are concerned, we need around 160,000 wheels every year.

Hence, we are issuing a 10-year tender for supply of forged wheels as the wheels we are manufacturing are good for speeds of less than 120 kmph. But now we need to go higher. Earlier these wheels were manufactured in Ukraine and Russia but now we will manufacture them in India.

What is the progress on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project?

The work on the project is progressing at a very satisfactory pace. In a few months, we have completed 75 km of pillars. The work started only in August last year when the first foundation stone was laid. I also want to thank the new government of Maharashtra as they have given us all the permissions soon after coming to power. Accordingly, now all tenders have been called for civil works.

What is the progress on electrification?

Electrification of all rail routes is almost complete. The thought process here is to use the latest technology. So, we need to see where we want to see the railways in 2047.

In electrification, we will move completely to 2x25KV, the latest technology that supports high-speed rail, and the first few tenders have already been concluded. So whatever electrification we have done so far will also be upgraded.

Private passenger trains exploded, but they seem to have lost their charm?

The private sector did not have that kind of risk appetite. It is not just an Indian experience, but a global one. About 55% subsidy is given on passenger service in India. That kind of concession cannot be given by the private sector.

So, if the private sector comes, the rents will have to increase significantly and it is not working in the current economic and political climate.

So, can we say that the project has been postponed?

I think we need to investigate this further.

Gati Shakti Mission is where all the infrastructure including railways is integrated? Where are the railways fitting?

Railways is a major pillar for Gati Shakti Mission. Gati Shakti is a unified plan for all means of infrastructure. Within the Railways, we have merged nine directorates and created one directorate. Now all departments need to take calls at one table. That thought process is translated into action.

So, speed will be the power unit in all units. Telecom towers used to take 7-8 months. Today it takes a few hours to get permission for the tower. And if it is a tower which does not have any neighboring airport of the defense establishment, permission will be granted in seconds. This is a thought process that the Prime Minister wants to bring to every sphere.

On the ground, in terms of supply, it all depends on which costs more and which costs less. How do you balance it?

We have to invest a lot more in railways. If you look at competing economies, they’re investing around 9 trillion for the last 30 years. The merger of the Railway Budget with the General Budget was the right move and because of this the average investment, which was 40,000- 45,000 crore per annum, has increased 90,000 crores.

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