Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'Railway fare raised but who will benefit at last?' that was published in Newsband

Railway fare raised but who will benefit at last?

The fare for the Rajdhani, Shatabdi and Duronto trains has been raised by the Ministry of Railways to shore up lagging passenger revenues. Without raising the fares it will be difficult for the Railways to spend on infrastructure and amenities and focus on features such as safety — all of which are imperatives.

But these fare increases in the premium trains for some classes could result in airfares being lower at certain times and routes. This could wean away some train travellers.

The real worry is that the experiment may be extended to include other long-distance trains in the future. For resource crunched railways, this was a much needed move. Passenger fares in India are among the lowest in the world. So using surge fare pricing and that too on premium trains will give fillip to revenues by shelling out money from the better off and at the same time poor will remain immune to it.

Actually there is no need to increase the fare for the super rich. The newly rich middle class doesn't think, it’s a status quo class. They won't protest. The middle class will feel the pinch and the lower middle which sometimes has to travel in Rajdhani to reach in time for some function or attend to death ceremony or hospitalisation of some family member. It’s this class that will be hurt most.

The argument that train fares could potentially be higher than air fares is specious. Not all Indian cities are served by the major airlines - the rail network is denser than the air network. Additionally, airlines also have capacity constraints. After all, unlike trains, you cannot travel atop the fuselage of a plane flying at 30,000 feet.

It is sorely needed to increase revenues such that there can be much needed investments in infrastructure, safety, passenger comfort, hygiene etc. But will these investments ever take place, given the current government’s penchant to invest in flashy, big-ticket projects such as high speed trains etc. that serve the few rather than on more basic investments that serve the many.

Today, our Indian railway is touching the new stars of success. It has made investment in various fields of railway for improving its condition, making longer train, making fastest train and any more. In fact, many people who are poor like vendors and students and even females face many difficulties in railway journey. It is not safe for women due to overcrowd. So, the railway must increase the revenue but, only in the case if they fulfil the demand of safe and healthy journey.

The government has not made any commitments to plough back the increased revenues to enhance safety, cleanliness, provide amenities etc. Instead, the govt. is enamoured by costly high-tech solutions such as bullet trains that shunt passengers between a few urban destination pairs. No thought is given to increasing capacity and safety. For instance, the Mumbai suburban trains are overcrowded and utterly unsafe, killing a few passengers each day. Nothing will be done for the poor who depend on these commuter trains. Likewise, safety on the network is increasingly being compromised with old rolling stock, signalling and track systems. Surge pricing must deliver tangible benefits to the passenger, not just revenues to government coffers.