Rethinking Rail Strategy During Coronavirus Crisis

The world, including India, has suffered a significant setback by the COVID-19 pandemic. The warlike situation has reduced economic activity drastically. To prevent the spread of the disease, public modes of transport – roadways, railways, and airways – have been suspended. Typically, around 13,000 coaching and 7,000 freight trains were run by the Indian Railways daily.

In the wake of the COVID-19 lockdown, all passenger train services, including premium, mail, express and suburban trains have been cancelled. This situation provides the policymakers with a clean slate. Apart from the immediate challenges for the Indian Railways, it presents a massive opportunity for re-thinking operations in the ‘new normal’.

The Indian Railways (IR) has come a long way since the first train started in 1853. From passenger traffic of 1,284 million just after independence, today it has around 8,500 million. Technology and ecosystem are entirely different today. The road and aviation sector have also leapfrogged. The UDAN scheme, connecting tier 2 and 3 cities, is making long-distance travel easy and affordable. In this scenario, the three modes need to work in tandem rather than as competitors. For Railways to realign focus, the lockdown provides that perfect time to visualise the IR Version 2.0.

Several committees, such as those led by Dr Rakesh Mohan and Dr Bibek Debroy, have recommended policy reforms for the Railways. Some of these include greater autonomy, focus on core activities, and setting up a regulator. Another critical reform was restructuring of the Railway Board, which has been approved by the government. With the level of technology available today and the lockdown pause, policymakers could focus on improving both operational and commercial efficiency. A few steps that can be readily implemented within the existing framework are discussed below.

Firstly, the three modes of transport need to augment each other. For this purpose, the 13,000-odd coaching trains can be categorised based on distance and time. Using data analysis to predict the demand, IR could focus on a niche distance range for running these trains. Shorter distances could be primarily catered to by the road sector and medium distances by rail. We could draw lessons from countries like Japan which show that people choose air mode of travel when the transit time exceeds the ‘four-hour wall’.

Coupled with a focus on niche distance, IR could reintroduce trains based on the long-pending zero-based timetable. This step could rejig the originating and terminating time and reduce travel time. By aligning slack in running time with the globally accepted norms, and standardising different aspects of train operations using simulation, we could further reduce travel time within existing resources. While revising the timetable, the number of stoppages for each train could be rationalised.

In a country with a little over 700 districts, we have 7,000+ stations. While connecting each geographical region is necessary, making trains stop every few kilometres may not be prudent. Therefore, while revising the timetable, the number of stoppages for each reintroduced coaching train may also be rationalised. The process may consider commercially viable options based on the footfall as well as the operational concerns. Apart from increasing convenience for the passengers, the rationalisation could reduce the requirement of rolling stock. The operator can use the freed-up rolling stock to expand services in other categories, such as for introducing dedicated parcel trains. These measures can bring about ‘More Railways for Money.’

The government has already announced PPP in train operations. It aims to address the supply-demand deficit by running 150 trains and provide a world-class experience. Besides the possibility of more semi-high-speed trains in India, it would create competition for the public sector. Sufficient autonomy to private players and the option to adopt UIC (International Railway Union) norms, even if within overarching boundaries, could further attract them. Also, faster completion of intermediate steps, such as tendering and award of work, can enable private players to make a space for themselves before Railways resumes its services completely.

The time is also ripe for introducing the element of guarantee in services and, along with it, incentivising and disincentivising passengers and operators. The ‘delay repay’ policy i.e. refund for train delays beyond a specified time can be extended. Some part of the fare may be automatically refunded to passengers who had booked online tickets. It would not only improve services but also nudge people to choose e-ticketing. This step, besides ATVMs and ETMs, would give a fillip to the automation process and bring in behavioural changes. Also, providing a guarantee in the delivery time of parcel services would further attract revenue.

Given the pandemic, as per a Harvard study, prolonged or intermittent social distancing may be necessary in the US into 2022.  In India also, we could reduce non-essential travel and maintain social distancing. The Indian Railways could start issuing train-specific, rather than only destination-specific, tickets even for the general coaches. This way, the number of tickets issued can be regulated, thereby avoiding a free-for-all situation. Similarly, just like airports and also railway stations in many other countries, access control at the station entry gates could be implemented. Such automated checking would ensure entry of only permitted passengers on platforms. It would decongest the platforms also.

On the commercial front, presently, 53 major types of concessions are extended to at least 15 categories of passengers (such as senior citizens, honoured teachers, sports’ participants). As also recommended by the CAG reports, Indian Railways needs to contain the burden of concession. There is also a need to improve administrative efficiency. Before resuming train operations, the Railway Board can rationalise the types and categories, as well as the eligible classes of travel.

While these are only a few suggested solutions, they show that the system has the potential to reform. Having automated many functions through applications like FOIS, ICMS, TMS, the turnaround can be faster. The need of the hour is to nudge and motivate the railwaymen to raise the bar further. We need to embed competition, build in incentives, and disincentives systemically. Adopting a continuous data-driven approach for evidence-based policymaking and process reforms can realign focus.

Within every challenge lies an opportunity. And that is what the IR has shown precisely. Indian Railways is operating parcel and freight trains, including ‘Anaconda’ trains with 177 wagons so that supply chains continue across the country. They also launched the SETU helpline for providing end-to-end logistical solutions to meet critical requirements, such as essential medicines and raw material for PPE. While the Indian Railways has risen to the occasion during the pandemic and many other crises, it can utilise this opportunity to transform itself towards a 21st-century world-class railway.

(The author is Principal Director, North Central Railway. Views expressed are personal.)