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Fares down, freight same We are on track to become Number 1: Lalu

Like a captain who finds his team scoring well above the asking rate, but who is also aware that the powerplay will not last forever, railway minister Lalu Prasad is using the opportunity to score as much as possible before the field becomes restrictive. He has reduced passenger fares and given discounts on freight in the Railway Budget, while promising better facilities and faster passengers and goods trains.

He is making the most of a turnaround that has seen the Railways go from a situation five years ago, when it was spending 98.34 paise for every
rupee earned on meeting routine expenses (known in jargon as operating ratio), to an operating ratio of 78.7%, which Railway Board officials say is the world's best.

That leaves a profit of Rs 20,000 crore before paying dividends to the government and a net surplus of over Rs 10,000 crore. Lalu is willing, therefore, to experiment with a `dynamic pricing and commercial policy' that will see heavier discounts for the lean season January 15 to April 15 and July 15 to September 15 than during the rest of the year. The discounts will range from 2% to 8%, depending on the class, whether the train is `popular' or not, and when you travel. Dynamic pricing will also mean discounts of up to 40% on freight of certainkinds in `empty flow' directions, to bump up volumes. The Railways have got ideal pitch conditions an economy growing at 9%-plus, exports at 20%- plus and they've decided to make the most of them.

Continuing with freight `rationalisation', there is an effective 5% cut in the rate for diesel and petrol, though this may not get passed on to the consumers of these goods.

The rail budget also promises to make ticket booking smoother with post offices and defence premises to be used for reservation counters and e-ticketing to be done through post-offices, petrol pumps and bank ATMs.

Lalu is also dreaming big and hi-tech with promises that work on the eastern and western dedicated freight corridors will start in 2007-08 and the Railways will conduct pre-feasibility studies on similar east-west, east-south, north-south and south-south corridors. Studies will also determine the feasibility of having a train each running at 300 to 350 kmph over distances of about 600 km in the east, west, north and south of the country. If all goes well, you could be doing Delhi-Lucknow or Mumbai-Ahmedabad in less than a couple of hours in a few years.

Classy Cuts

1st class AC fares to be cheaper by 3% to 6%
Non-suburban fare cut by Re 1 per passenger
Superfast surcharge on 2nd class tickets reduced by 20%
Differential discounts for lean & peak seasons, as well as popular and other trains

A New Berth

40 new trains, including 8 Garib Raths, to be introduced
AC suburban trains for Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata; Rs 5,000 cr over 5 yrs for Mumbai locals
Rail tickets to be sold at post-offices, ATMs, petrol pumps
All wooden berths to be cushioned

Making Room

Unreserved compartments in each train to rise from 4 to 6
Quotas for elderly & women in lower berths, special coaches for handicapped
All classes of coaches to be redesigned to take in many more passengers
Double & triple deck freight trains on way

Hi-Fi Experiments

Smart travel cards to be introduced
Palm tops for TTEs
Feasibility study on 300-350 kmph trains
Call local number 139 anywhere and get Rly call centres, which will also provide SMS alerts. Other facilities also on the anvil AT 79%, OPERATING RATIO BEST IN THE WORLD

By skumar25decin, Section Transportation
Posted on Mon Feb 26, 2007 at 10:01:48 PM EST

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