New Delhi: It's almost been a decade since passenger fares were increased and railway finances are in the red. The Indian Railways is the country's 24*7 lifeline with 23 million passengers a day and 2.65 million tonnes of freight traffic.
With the Railway finances going from bad to worse, a question often asked is whether the railway sector is going the aviation sector way.
Union Minister Dinesh Trived says, "No, railways is not going the Air India way."
"We lapsed in the last two years into compulsive populism, we refused to look at the writing on the wall. It will hurt the economy. Railway today is a shrinking organisation. They carry one-third of the freight traffic. The share of freight must be 40 to 50 per cent," Railways expert Radhu Dayal said.
A basic estimate suggests that the Indian passenger services segment generates less than 30 per cent of the total revenues for the Indian Railways but demands two-third of the traffic of output. The railways incurs a loss of Rs 20,000 crore on passenger services. Rs 800 crore is given by way of concessions alone. Railways pays salaries to nearly 1.4 million people. It has 1.2 million pensioners.
But the question is whether increasing the passenger fare is a solution.
Former member of the Railway Board Sumant Chak said, "Passenger cess is not a solution. Freight will give maximum. You have to ensure that the traffic comes. If you don't carry on railways, it will go somewhere else."
Over the last few weeks various railway committees have emphasised on the need for an infrastructural overhaul and modernisation saying that the the world's biggest utility firm needs over Rs 8,00,000 crore of funds in the next five years. Experts say railways will have to decide whether it will be a social welfare organisation or a commercial enterprise.
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