Indian Railways’ poorly-managed trains and stations

Posted on September 11, 2011
Filed Under India | 8 Comments

I get so psyched every time I have to take a train journey. Although less middle class Indians seem to travel on a train these days, for people like me who still fall “below poverty line” (no jokes) train journeys are inevitable.

indian-trains-stationsIt is a pretty long travel from Delhi to Bangalore (full 2 days). And every time I step in to the New Delhi Railway Station, I so crave to see a little of a lot difference. Sadly, it just keeps getting worse. We just seem to take delight with facts such as our railways is the largest rail network in Asia and runs around 11,000 trains each day. The ground reality is our trains and stations continue to be managed in putrid conditions. We are talking about the central station of India’s capital!!

Thanks to Laluji, he turned the railways from loss to success. That’s why international business schools like Harvard are studying the network and success mantra of Indian Railways. What were they studying? The tracks that the British meticulously planned for us? Or Laluji’s eccentric style of having MBA grads walk with the paan crate? The bottom line is our trains continue to stink; food seems substandard; stations and tracks are full of exposed, untreated excrement. Who is to be blamed?

The stations (some exceptional though not NDRS) seem so unattended with clueless people all around, some squatting, some sleeping and some even openly defecating on the tracks. There is cargo all around, disorganised counters that have labels called “help desk”, uncovered food, stinking toilets, trains inhabited by rats and what not. I am not so fastidious about things, but these little displeasures are absolutely vexing. If you are a frequent flight traveller, forget about understanding even a percent of the discomfiture I am describing here.

Wonder what these guys are doing in management schools? We boast of having some of the best management schools in the world and yet we don’t have guys to bring out initiatives that make our life comfortable. We have the best IT brains and yet our own railway website is down 12 hours a day.

It is very encouraging to see politicos like Rahul Gandhi take a train. Unless our bureaucrats who travel on private jets and business class flights experience what it is to travel on a train in India nothing is going to change. And they need to take no elegant steps. Just some elemental measures like more managed toilets, stone slabs, decent restaurants, organised ticket counters etc..Would this require arduous work? Dint our railways earn close to a thousand crore last year?

India keeps promoting itself as an emerging global economic power. Not just IT hubs and metros that they need to keep clean, but should also give more attention to trains, stations and lot of such areas where westerners tend to explore. It is funny…every time am waiting for my train, bearing all the stink at NDLS…I see a humble English traveller sitting on the floor wearing a saffron coloured robe with painted face and reading Lonely Planet’s travel guide on India or Rohinton Mistry’s ‘A Fine Balance’…looking at the scuzzy tracks and gutkha-stained station floors and gleefully assuming it to be all part of the great ‘Incredible India’. Should we call it another stereotype on India like the Slumdog Millionaire?

Listen, may be we should ask Anna Hazare to start a campaign on this? After all his activist life began at a train station. The story goes that one day at the New Delhi Railway Station, he chanced upon a book on Swami Vivekananda. Drawn by Vivekananda’s photograph, he is quoted as saying that he read the book and found his answer — that the motive of his life lay in service to his fellow humans.

C’mon guys someone should also speak on such matters. Ill quote here Okhil Babu’s letter to the Railway Department in 1909 which is on display at the Railway Museum in New Delhi. It was also reproduced under the caption “Travellers’ Tales” in the Far Eastern Economic Review. Dont laugh reading, it is of historic value as it led to the INTRODUCTION of toilets in trains!! You will have to read it twice by the way ;-)

“I am arrive by passenger train Ahmedpur station and my belly is too much swelling with jackfruit. I am therefore went to privy. Just I doing the nuisance that guard making whistle blow for train to go off and I am running with ‘lotah’ in one hand and ‘dhoti’ in the next when I am fall over and expose all my shocking to man and female women on plateform. I am got leaved at Ahmedpur station. This too much bad, if passenger go to make dung that dam guard not wait train five minutes for him. I am therefore pray your honour to make big fine on that guard for public sake. Otherwise I am making big report to papers.”

What say? Any Hazare’s or Babu’s to take on the current railway management? Someone soon should cuz our trains carry about 20 million people across the country each day and am one of them! That is something, aint it?

Adios ~

Comments

8 Responses to “Indian Railways’ poorly-managed trains and stations”

  1. Pritis C Majumdar on September 12th, 2011 12:54 am

    Who is the writer of this complaint? Why there is no name in the report? Does he know what is BPL?
    Indian Railways was never in loss making situation. It is a great lie. Mr. Lalu made the Indian Railways so bad railways doing all non-ethical and anti-development work in the railways during his period resulting in so bad present status. He helped the railways grossly for being bankrupt in all respects stating all untruth propaganda like Rs. 90.000/- crores surplus for his voting interest and later it was unearthed as only Rs.14,000/- crores surplus. During his time all sorts of mismanagement started offering very bad services to the passengers.Next to him, another minister is also responsible to make the railways completely bankrupt in all respects for personal voting and her party’s interest. Both prevented to earn increased revenue of Indian Railways for their cheap popularity in their political fields exploiting Indian Railways employees and finance.

  2. Ashwani Lohani on September 12th, 2011 4:26 am

    I agree with what the article says. We do not require an advice on how to improve stations. We are aware of the bad situation. The problem is our (IR’s) archaic decision making processes coupled with the bankruptcy in so far as financial situation is concerned. And again the core issue of archaic decision making process is not confined to IR alone. See our cities. Are they any better. Atleast give the IR credit where it is due. Despite everything the wheels keep moving.

  3. Sam on September 12th, 2011 4:34 am

    @ Pritis – even am very critical of L’ji..i just made a satirical look on him here friend :)
    and yes i do fall under BPL lol ;-) just yesterday i had breakfast, lunch and dinner for Rs 20 and the only thing I ever owned was a dog which was born 5 years after me at my backyard..Jimmy was sadly orphaned :(

  4. An ex-railwayman on September 14th, 2011 11:35 am

    Having lived outside of India for a few years now, my conclusion is that IR actually does a fantastic job and its processes/procedures are better than most in ‘developed’ nations – its just overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of people who travel by train. I challenge any western railway system to cope with the passenger numbers that IR deals with and maintain a pristine passenger area on platforms/trains at the same time. That said, this is not to say that improvements cannot be made; they can and should. Get the politicians out of the way of IR officers and then just sit back and watch the amazing transformation that will happen!

  5. Sam on September 15th, 2011 5:10 am

    aw yea mate I should agree with you on that..the amount of reservations that IR handles is simply stupendous..when it comes to figures like I said IR is superb..but..talk about the services..dont tell me the last time you travelled on train was when you were a kid going with your family from Cochin to Trivandrum (3 hrs). Talk about 2 days and talk about taking a train when you order a vegetarian food and you get complimentary non veg (just sans chicken but with little cute worms), when you are given a towel to wipe your face but you have to use a hankie to first clean the towel, when you have reserved just 1 seat while you have unwelcome friends for company (roaches) on bed, when after a back breaking sleep you are so hoping the train reach 1 hour late but reaches 3 hrs late..now these are not woes you would hear from a frequent flight traveller..talk about train..the great IR buddy..

  6. viv on September 18th, 2011 8:28 pm

    dont belive in fast transport our children and we have a beautiful trip in train traveling from trivandrum to darbanaga bihar me and my wife and 2 kids they saw nearly half india for cheap (half ticket)fare of cource i agree with u sam our track condition of IR OK then only way we must pay good fare to get it but sorry we r a poor country we cant afford it but if your poor IN USA EuROPE RUSSIA CHINA you cant afford in that country this
    same railway journy ok the secrat is its bonding indiansm in our life connectin all people together and travel free for so long distences without an ID or something its great u know unreserved circular ticket in india its world cheapest even ur fuel prices are high great

  7. William on November 22nd, 2011 9:45 am

    That letter in 1909 was not written by Laloo’s grandfather was it?

  8. William on December 27th, 2011 9:08 am

    How was Christmas Sam? Hope all is well with you.

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