The PCPSPS includes eminent academics, jurists, erstwhile administrators, trade unionists and social activists. The PCPSPS intends to have in-depth consultations with all stakeholders and people concerned with the process of policy making and those against the government’s decision to monetise, disinvest and privatise public assets/enterprises and produce several sectoral reports before coming out with a final report. This is an interim report of commission

Report 

The recent rail accident in West Bengal involving a freight and passenger train on June 17 has once again highlighted the government’s lack of focus on safety in the Indian Railways. In particular, this accident, and several others in the last year, raise five sets of important issues that point to problems of a systemic nature that have a bearing on railway safety in India:

• The high incidence of signal failures and the lack of clarity to railway staff on the processes to be adopted in such situations
• The failure of Government in resolving the inhuman working conditions of loco pilots.
• The large number of vacancies in the safety category
• The tendency of the Railway authorities at the top to put the blame for any accident on the safety category of workers such as loco pilots, station managers, signal and telecommunications, pointsmen instead of accepting their own responsibility.
• The inordinate delay in the deployment of Kavach, the anti-collision system

Signal Failures

Most of the collisions and accidents in the recent past have been due to Signal Passing at Danger (SPAD) when the signal had failed or had been defective. The recent accident has highlighted the fact that there is utter confusion about the procedure to be followed by loco running staff and other railway workers when signals are defective or do not work. The recent accident as well as the accident in October 2023 occurred because the train drivers and the station masters did not have clear instructions about the procedure to be followed when signals “fail”.

It is startling to note that the incidence of signal equipment failures has not declined in recent years:  54,444 in 2020-21, 65,149 in 2021-22 and 51,888 in 2022-23. The Commission regrets to note that this information is no longer available in the Indian Railways’ bulletin of monthly statistics, marking yet another instance of hiding data from the public when such information is inconvenient to those in power.

Inadequate rest and long working hours for loco pilots are a safety hazard 

The Railways’ own special Task Force on safety noted in 2017 that SPAD often occurs soon after the loco pilots resume duty after home rest. It concluded that this happens because loco pilots have not had adequate rest before reporting for duty. It determined that the large number of vacancies among loco pilots to be the primary reason for their being denied adequate rest.

It is astonishing that in this day and age railway workers still do not get weekly rest as do most workers in organised industry; instead they only get 30 hours rest, once in 10 days. Indeed, in the railways this is termed as “periodical rest”! This Commission endorses the longstanding demand of the railway workers that they be entitled to 30 hours of continuous rest after 16 hours of rest at headquarters four times a month. This is important not only for the health of the loco running staff but also for maintaining safety standards in the Railways. For example, reports indicate that driver of the freight train driver in accident on June 17 had availed rest of 30 hours, but only after finishing four consecutive nights of duty, indicating that he had inadequate rest prior to the accident. Indeed, the Commissioner for Railway Safety (CRS) had recommended after an inquiry into the accident at Vizianagaram in October 2023 that loco pilots must not be made to work for more than two consecutive nights.

Another longstanding demand of the loco pilots has been their demand to reduce the length of their working day. Indeed, the Government had, as far back as 1973, conceded to their demand that their working day be limited to 10 hours. However, in the half a century since then, successive governments have dragged their feet on this crucial issue. The problem is particularly serious in the case of loco pilots manning freight trains, which do not follow a regular timetable, resulting in long and unpredictable working hours.

Women loco pilots, who number about 3,000, face an additional burden because they are forced to report for work six months after delivery; they are denied menstrual leave; and they are unable to nurse their children. Strangely, a government that swears by Swachh Bharat, still has not thought it fit to address the problem of lack of toilet facilities in locomotives.

The rules in the Indian Railways classify loco pilots as “continuous” workers and require them to work for 104 hours a week. However, internal circulars issued to loco pilots stipulate that they actually work for an average of more than 125 hours a week. Naturally, this “excess” work has adverse consequences for railway safety.  

Vacancies and the increasing work load

The longer working hours and the inadequate rest for loco pilots is a direct result of the Railways not filling up vacancies. The total vacancies now amount to a staggering 3.12 lakh persons. Specifically, there are more than 18,000 vacancies for loco pilots. In fact, the Railway Board had only announced recruitment of 5696 loco pilots and only because of the recent accident and the ongoing agitation of loco pilots in the Southern Railway, has it recently announced plans to recruit 18,799 loco pilots. Going by past experience, by the time the recruitment actually happens the number of vacancies may climb even further.

According to a recent response to an RTI application, there are about 1.5 lakh vacancies of the total sanctioned strength of 10 lakh in the safety category. The relentless drive to reduce the workforce implies that even this does not reflect the actual strength required for the smooth and safe running of the railways. There is a shortage among all sections of safety category workers — train drivers, inspectors, crew controllers, loco instructors, train controllers, station masters, electrical signal maintainers, signaling supervisors, track maintainers, pointsmen among others. These workers are crucial for the safe operation of trains. The severe shortage also puts extreme pressure on the remaining workers. The threat of summary removal from service adds another dimension of pressure on these workers.

The Commission urges the Railway Board and the Ministry to address this issue on an urgent basis because it has implications for passenger and worker safety.  

Top officials unwillingness to take responsibility but blame workers instead

A disturbing feature of every recent accident has been the tendency of the top authorities – in particular the Minister and the officials of the railway Board — to put the blame on the lowest rung of the workforce, in particular the loco pilots, station masters, the signaling staff, and other workers. This was repeated after the recent accident too.

Shockingly, after the Vizianagaram accident, which resulted in 14 deaths, the Railway Minister flippantly alleged that the Loco Pilot and Assistant Loco Pilot were watching a cricket match, which led to accident. Although this was proved to be utterly false by CRS the Minister has not had the grace to apologise for his irresponsible allegation, which has a bearing on worker morale.

Senior railway officials often demand that railway workers cut corners and, in fact, violate standard rules of operation, in order to maintain train schedules in gross disregard of safety norms. Workers refusing such instructions are often punished or even dismissed from service citing specious grounds. It is obvious that such violations, which are well known and are a safety hazard, are happening with the connivance of the Railway Board. 

Kavach

The Railway establishment has touted the Kavach anti-collision system as a magic wand that would solve the problem of rain collisions. In reality, it is a system that requires an entire communication system to be in place – at stations, on tracks, on signals and on locomotives – in order to actually work. Progress has been lethargic. In the last three years the system has been installed only along 1500 km and on 65 locomotives, whereas the Indian rail system runs for 68,000 route kms and is served by more than 14,500 locomotives. Reports in the media indicate that there are only three private vendors implementing the system, indicating that their capacity may be very limited to meet the needs of such a large system. In effect, only about Rs 1200 crores have been provided in the last two budgets, which indicates just how serious the government has been about implementing the scheme.

As the recent accident has shown, modernisation is only one aspect of the problem. An even bigger issue is the lackadaisical manner in which human resources have been trained and utilised while working on these assets. The Commission would like to warn that this will be even more important in the case of the Kavach system. For example, if there is a derailment or collision, it is very likely that Kavach infrastructure would be destroyed as well, rendering the system ineffective. Railway workers need to be trained about what to do when such systems fail. Moreover, senior officials need to be hands-on in such situations, unlike what has happened in the recent accidents. This is an important lesson from the recent accidents.

The spate of railway accidents provide ample evidence that systemic failures lie at the heart of the problems in the Indian Railways. The Modi Government’s attempts at cosmetic “improvements” such as the introduction of the Vande Bharat trains, instead of addressing fundamental constraints such as the extreme congestion on the tracks, are a vain attempt to deceive and misdirect public opinion.  The latest accident, and several others in the last year, demonstrate that the prime casualty of this approach has been safety. 

Conclusion

The Commission calls upon the Union Government to:

• Modernise signal systems by allocating sufficient funds
• Make it mandatory for all railway staff to undergo periodic training on new equipment
• Reduce the working hours of loco pilots to 8 hours a day and 48 hours a week
• Provide loco pilots with regular weekly rest: to start with, 16+30 consecutive hours of rest
• Ensure loco pilots return to headquarters within 48 hours of duty
• Do not make loco pilots work for more than two consecutive nights
• Ensure sufficient funding to implement Kavach on entire network and locos within three years
• The top leadership of the Indian railways – particularly, the Ministry and the Railway Board – must scrupulously avoid rushing to blame workers for railway accidents because this affects worker morale
• The Union Government must treat the Railways as a productive national asset and undertake time-bound investments that decongest the Indian rail network, which is the primary cause for railway accidents. The Union Budget must address this as a topmost priority, which will also make rail transport safer.

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A similar situation had occurred with passengers in March 2023, when several passengers complained about being charged undue amounts of money during festival season for ticket fares, according to the Times of India. Furthermore, the Sabrang India report has stated that on the eve of Chath Puja, November 17, the rent for the air-conditioned second-class seat from Mumbai to Patna was INR 9355. Meanwhile, the rent for AC Three Tier was INR 6655, and for sleeper class, it was INR 910. The AC three tier category had a fare of INR 6335. And this was only for the journey back to Mumbai. Similarly, on November 22nd, the fare for the air-conditioned second-class seat from Patna to Mumbai is INR 9395. The fare for AC Three Tier is INR 6655, and for AC Three Tier Economy, it is INR 6335.

The highest increase in fare is seen in the Sleeper Class category from Patna to Mumbai. While the maximum fare on November 17 in Sleeper Class was INR 910 for the journey to Patna, it has now reached up to INR 2625 for the return journey on November 22. On regular days, the fare for AC Two Tier from the Patliputra station is only INR 2645.

According to a report by Sabrang India, citizens online tried to humorously address this concern. One person named Ajay Prakash advises, “Be cautious not to gasp at the sight of the train fare. Ache din aane waale hain. Modi ji might just transform railways into aeroplanes and ensure equal fares.”

Along with surges in ticket prices, reports have emerged of the harrowing and even unsafe situation taking place at the railway stations. Furthermore, Newslaundry reported the condition of railway stations near the festive season and noted how scores of people were sitting on the floor and near toilets in trains, and on social media videos were showed scenes of people clinging to train doors in their attempt to reach their hometowns. This has happened despite the fact that the government has started 42 Chath special trains.

According to another report, due to the rising crowds at the railway stations several people have even witnessed fainting out of lack of oxygen. The police can be seen here trying to resuscitate these passengers. This chaos seems to be a routine occurrence every year prior to the Chath, people have expressed dissatisfaction with the inadequacy of transport facilities to cope with the increased demand. A passenger, who had reserved a ticket three months in advance, lamented the lack of hope and facilities, expressing frustration at being unable to board the train due to the overwhelming crowds.

सूरत रेलवे स्टेशन पर दिवाली और छट के त्यौहार पर घर जाने के लिए जमा हुई भारी भीड़ के चलते बड़ी संख्या में यात्री दम घुटने से बेहोश हुए ! #IndianRailways pic.twitter.com/Cqo4cosuLn

— News Network 24×7 (@24x7_network) November 11, 2023

Have the railways seen any hikes?

No, the Indian Railways have not introduced price hikes in the fare since 2014, reports however allege that there has been the inclusion of “superfast trains” that have higher prices. Despite this, many of the Indian railways passengers continue to face difficulties when booking tickets.

According to a report by The Hindu, a Right to Information request resulted in the response by the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) that about 1.4 crore passengers were unable to secure confirmed seats, leading to denied train travel in the last six months.

What is the Suvidha provision by the Indian railways?

Prompted by the uproar, the Indian Railways has, according to Outlook, been considering removing the Suvidha Train options. But what are the Suvidha trains? 

In 2014, the Railway Ministry had introduced the Suvidha Express which was to address the growing demand for train tickets, especially during festival rushes. Thus, Suvidha Express works on some of the busiest routes and connects major cities across India. According to The Quint, the fares for Suvidha Express trains are relatively higher compared to other express trains covering the same route, and the fair is generally “dynamic.” This means that train ticket fares automatically undergo a 10 percent hike after every the sale of 10 tickets, thus as the date of travel approaches and the availability of seats declines, the prices continue to rise. This is the same model followed for airplane ticket prices.

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The Indian Railways Need to be Saved

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“This train started from Vasai [Mumbai, Maharashtra] to reach Gorakhpur [Uttar Pradesh] three days ago. We were told it will go to Gorakhpur directly but it has taken us to Orissa, Jharkhand, Chattisgarh, Kolkata. These s**f***ks are taking us all over the country. What is the point of getting us to Jharkhand, Orissa,” the migrant worker standing on a railway platform is ringing angry, loud and clear.

The video of the trainload of migrant workers who have been stuck on these virtual prisons on wheels exposes the complete failure of the State, and even alleged a sinister conspiracy against migrant workers hoping to go to their hometowns and villages.

This train took the passengers to four states and they are yet to reach destination. pic.twitter.com/b6ZAdeHUpf

— Tufail Ahmad (@tufailelif) May 28, 2020

As the so-called diversions have extended journeys by many days, those on board are suffering even more than they were in the cities they are trying to escape.

“Innocent children are stuck on this train for three days now. Everyone is dying of hunger, there is no water. Children are falling sick,” said the man as a crowd gathered around him on the platform. The train had once again halted at Jharkhand and no official was there to help alleged the migrant worker. “We are all gathered here. There is no assistance from the government, people are on the platform here, we are hassled. We are not stuck in Jharkhand. No one has any answers. The station master has gone inside” his anguish is palpable. His question is simple: Why is this being done to us? The ‘us’ are men, women, and children who have suffered the most in the wake of the sudden Covid-19 lockdown and had boarded the train in good faith, trusting the Indian Railways to take them home safely. 

The railways have no answer. Instead, they offered a clarification justifying this dangerous delay, and issued a statement, promptly reported in the Deccan Herald, which stated: “A Shramik Special train which started its journey from Mumbai for Gorakhpur on May 21 was to take the Kalyan-Jalgoan-Bhusaval-Khandwa-Itarsi-Jabalpur-Manikpur route but instead it was diverted to Gorakhpur via Bilaspur (SECR), Jharsuguda, Rourkela, Asansol,” the DH reported that according to the Indian railways, it was ‘not a diversion, but rationalisation of routes’. 

Why was this done only to the Shramik Special trains? How is this ‘rationalisation’? A bizarre phenomenon that has never been seen in the history of Indian Railways, has been unfolding on its tracks over the past few days. Special trains carrying migrant labourers back to their native states have been ‘diverted’ without warning, say news reports, and are reaching destinations via routes that they have never taken before.

This train to Gorakhpur travelling across new and longer routes, is not a one-off incident. These unplanned, and many have alleged irrational, diversions have added days to the original journeys. Stuck on board, often without food and water, migrant workers across the country are now facing a greater risk than they did when faced with the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown, loss of jobs and habitat. 

They now find themselves stranded on board, or at railway stations they are not familiar with. And as reported earlier, without food, water, medical facilities. Where is the Railway Minister Piyush Goyal? Today, he was busy “addressing an online Digital Summit on Exports organised by CII via Video Conferencing”

Addressing a Digital Summit on Exports organised by CII via Video Conferencing https://t.co/Izk6mq0mRQ

— Piyush Goyal (@PiyushGoyal) May 28, 2020

Before that he paid tributes to VD Savarkar, “राष्ट्रवाद को लेकर जीने वाले, और उसके लिये पूरा जीवन संघर्ष करने वाले वीर सावरकर जी के जन्मदिवस पर उन्हें मेरा नमन।

घोर कष्ट सहने के बाद भी मातृभूमि के लिये उनका प्रेम अडिग रहा, उन्होंने अपना जीवन देश के लिये जिया, और युवाओं के लिये वह एक प्रेरणा बन गये।”

राष्ट्रवाद को लेकर जीने वाले, और उसके लिये पूरा जीवन संघर्ष करने वाले वीर सावरकर जी के जन्मदिवस पर उन्हें मेरा नमन।

घोर कष्ट सहने के बाद भी मातृभूमि के लिये उनका प्रेम अडिग रहा, उन्होंने अपना जीवन देश के लिये जिया, और युवाओं के लिये वह एक प्रेरणा बन गये। pic.twitter.com/nV34qiUerR

— Piyush Goyal (@PiyushGoyal) May 28, 2020

Meanwhile, some more questions were raised by social worker Pravesh Jain who had asked his contact, “a senior IRTS officer with railways (Traffic), on “how could a train left Mumbai for Gorakhpur but landed at Rourkela and also why trains are running 24-72 hours late. His instant reply was total system failure (sic)”

I asked a friend of mine who was very senior IRTS officer with railways ( Traffic), how could a train left Mumbai for Gorakhpur but landed at Rourkela and and also why trains are running 24-72 hours late. His instant reply was total system failure . 1/n

— Pravesh Jain (@PRAVESHPARAS) May 27, 2020

Jain’s thread, though not independently verified yet, has since then gone viral. He posted that “system of railway is so robust and disciplined that such mistakes are not possible at all.” He says, “All trains have train number when they start, it has a destination point, it has a route charge like via via train will reach its destination. It has a crew team. Crew team consist of Loco pilot (Driver) Asstt loco pilot ( asstt driver) Guard. The loco pilot, asstt loco pilot and guard and other staff like TT etc who have to replace the new crew mentioned in the chart. New crew is waiting at a particular railway station. (sic)”

As is known, the official apparently told Jain that the “Indian Railway is controlled by Control Rooms and sub control Rooms like when a plane is flying in air it is controlled by ATC. So, the moment a train by mistake takes a wrong route it is alerted by control room. Trains are diverted only when there is accident enroute.” 

He posted that during traffic congestion trains are not diverted but can “at best be delayed, that too for few hours. Not for many hours and many days. In fact, now there is not much traffic also. Delaying of train and diversion is beyond understandable.”

The thread, which we repeat has not been verified independently and is so far a personal opinion of the anonymous source as told to the person who posted it, has pointed at a “failure of the system. Many many heads must roll. Those in control room monitoring the movement of trains must be answerable so the top brass of traffic. (sic)”

This critical information too perhaps has not reached the railway minister the night before, as instead of responding, he showcased “an intricate work of music & art, take a look at a Patachitra, ancient folk art of West Bengal. Singing a beautiful song while unfurling a vivid painting, the artist has creatively depicted how health workers are taking care of the people during the COVID-19 time.”

Showcasing an intricate work of music & art, take a look at a Patachitra, ancient folk art of West Bengal.

Singing a beautiful song while unfurling a vivid painting, the artist has creatively depicted how health workers are taking care of the people during the COVID-19 times. pic.twitter.com/SYedePVYqk

— Piyush Goyal (@PiyushGoyal) May 27, 2020

All this while migrant workers were said to be waiting for food and water on the ‘diverted’ and hence delayed trains. Reports of deaths, some say because of hunger and dehydration claiming the life of the victims already suffering from poor health. The dead include innocent children. People may claim they are hungry and thirsty but before any food or water is provided, the system was quick to silence those voices.  

Official Railways social media handles were quick to share perfectly timed photos of large amounts of food on clean train berths, a phenomenon that is not even seen during normal train journeys: “#Food & Water being kept ready on berths of #MigrantWorkers before boarding for travelling by #ShramikSpecialTrains #BackHome @RailMinIndia

#Food & Water being kept ready on berths of #MigrantWorkers before boarding for travelling by #ShramikSpecialTrains #BackHome @RailMinIndia pic.twitter.com/AXdsZnnH3h

— SouthCentralRailway (@SCRailwayIndia) May 27, 2020

This was an echo of the claims made by the Ministry of Railways itself: “Indian Railways operationalises 3274 “Shramik Special” trains till 25th May, across the country and transports more than 44 lacs passengers to their home states Distributes more than 74 lakh free meals and more than 1 crore water bottles to travelling migrants”

Indian Railways operationalises 3274 “Shramik Special” trains till 25th May, across the country and transports more than 44 lacs passengers to their home states

Distributes more than 74lakh free meals and more than 1crore water bottles to travelling migrants#IndiaFightsCorona pic.twitter.com/ghXj3Fz1D2

— Ministry of Railways (@RailMinIndia) May 26, 2020

Official ‘fact checks’ also denied news reports, PIB Fact Check posted: “Claim:40 trains are diverted from their route. #PIBFactcheck:This is INCORRECT. Trains have not been lost. Congestion due to 80% Shramik spl trains going to UP & Bihar. Thus, trains diverted to reach destinations by other feasible routes as per practice followed in regular ops.

Claim:40 trains are diverted from their route.#PIBFactcheck:This is INCORRECT. Trains have not been lost. Congestion due to 80% Shramik spl trains going to UP & Bihar. Thus, trains diverted to reach destinations by other feasible routes as per practice followed in regular ops. pic.twitter.com/xUSwxXiStO

— PIB Fact Check (@PIBFactCheck) May 26, 2020

It is important to note here that the news report of another Shramik special train from Gujarat to Bihar ending up in Bengaluru was pulled down by Deccan Herald, and later Firstpost news portal which instead posted this “Editor’s Note: This article was based on an exclusive Deccan Herald report claiming that a Shramik special train from Gujarat to Bihar ended up in Bengaluru. As Deccan Herald has since taken down the report, Firstpost is also withdrawing its article.” 

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The curve marking Coronavirus spread in India is far from flat but the Indian Railways has deemed it safe enough to run passenger trains from May 12. The online bookings are now open. According to the Indian Railways press release the initial reopening of the rail tracks will start with 15 trains, making 30 return journeys. The railways have marked these as ‘special trains’. The move is unusual to say the least as Delhi has 11 ‘red zones’ and cases have continued to rise. The trains depart Delhi to reach various places across the country, as far as Thiruvananthapuram in the south, Howrah in the East, and Ahmedabad in the west. Some of the destination cities for these trains are still classified as Coronavirus red zones too. The trains will also bring back a fresh set of passengers from these red zone cities, and other places, back to Delhi on the return journey.  

The Union Ministry of Home Affairs, has already endorsed these special trains, as they did the special trains earmarked for migrant workers. On Monday, the ministry proudly announced that 101 ‘special trains’ have already run till May 11  to take migrant workers home to their native places. Add to that the 15 trains.

The new ‘special trains’ are open to general passengers, who can now travel no questions asked as long as they have a valid e-ticket for the journey and are wearing masks. Both the Ministry of Railways, and the MHA have announced and reconfirmed the standard operating procedures (SOPs) for passengers who want to travel on these trains. 

However, the question is that if it was so simple to take a train journey after following basic hand hygiene and wearing masks why did it take so long to restart rail services? An even bigger question is why the migrant workers were not allowed access to trains to go  home when they first started walking more than a month ago? Painful visuals of migrant workers still walking hundreds of miles home continue to merge on social media each day. The horrific eport of migrants being killed on railway tracks shook those with a conscience. What if there are still people walking along, and on the unmanned tracks? They may not know the special  trains are running again. A horror story, one hopes, never unfolds. 

Now access to these special trains, and the station,  is available to those who hold an e ticket in their hands. Passengers with valid confirmed tickets will have to wear a face cover,  and will have to undergo “screening at departure and only asymptomatic passengers will be allowed to board the train,” the Railways has announced. 

#CoronaVirusUpdates:

MHA issues SOPs for Movement of persons by Train:

Movement of passengers to & fro railway station allowed only on confirmed e-ticket.
Compulsory medical screening of passengers & only asymptomatic persons are allowed to travel#StayHome #StaySafe pic.twitter.com/gCPfQ9RDs2

— #IndiaFightsCorona (@COVIDNewsByMIB) May 11, 2020

However, those dropping them off at the station are also allowed to drive with a copy of the e-ticket, and do not need a movement pass, curfew pass, said the MHA. Hopefully the same ticket will help them drive back from the station after they have dropped the passengers off. It is not known yet how the railways will sanitise the luggage of the passengers traveling. 

Booking for reservation in these trains has started from May 11 and is to be done only on the IRCTC website (https://www.irctc.co.in/). All ticket booking counters at railway stations remain closed and no tickets, including platform tickets, will be sold there.

According to a doctor from Ahmedabad, starting trains now is not a good idea, “It is still high risk and most people are asymptomatic. A mere temperature, and symptom screening at railway stations is not enough to ensure they are no asymptomatic carriers travelling.” 

In the past, before rail services had shut down train passengers in North India had been found Covid19 positive and all those travelling in that bogey had to be traced and home quarantined. “Even in the images of the international flights that came back we saw people sitting close to each other, they were wearing face shields and masks, and the crew was in PPE. Will that be possible in a train,” asked a doctor.

Another doctor hoped that the trains had been thoroughly sanitized before departure but was not sure how the sanitization would remain effective till it reached the destination.  “How will they ensure distance on the platforms, and then in the trains?” he asked.

It is also not clear how the passengers are expected to make their way home from the station at the destination. Public transport remains banned across the country. The MHA has said people will make their own arrangements. While it is assumed that everyone travelling will have smartphones and good internet connections, as well as the Arogya Setu app downloaded for good measure, it is not clarified if the train itself will have a continuous supply of sanitizer, disinfectant for common surfaces, including toilets, tap covers, handles, windows, berths, etc. It is also not known yet if the long haul trains will have on-board catering, how the catering will be done on a sanitized supply chain etc. 

“Will there be a sanitization team on board to keep cleaning all surfaces? There is a common toilet in a bogey, the taps and handles are touched by multiple people, multiple times, how will they be kept sanitized?” asked a traveler from Kerala. Delhi to Thiruvananthapuram is a long journey by train. “Will the bedding be certified sanitized,” asked another.

Too many questions for the Ministry of Railways to answer right now. Instead they have shared that “all the trains, will operate from New Delhi Station connecting Dibrugarh, Agartala, Howrah, Patna, Bilaspur, Ranchi, Bhubaneswar, Secunderabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Thiruvananthapuram, Madgaon, Mumbai Central, Ahmedabad and Jammu Tawi.” 

Most of these journeys include one, and some have two nights of travel, with multiple scheduled stops at stations en route. It is not known if passengers will be allowed to alight at the stations as usual.  Twitter user Vivek Avasthi, a journalist shared the list of trains.

The Indian Railways has also announced that they shall start “more special services on new routes, based on the available coaches after reserving 20,000 coaches for COVID-19 care centres and adequate number of coaches being reserved to enable operation of up to 300 trains everyday as “Shramik Special” for stranded migrants.”

According to ANI the Indian Railways is running Shramik special trains keeping berths empty in each coach to maintain social distancing. The trains are returning empty from destinations under lock & key. Free food and bottled water is being given to migrants by railways.

Indian Railways is running Shramik special trains keeping berths empty in each coach to maintain social distancing. The trains are returning empty from destinations under lock & key. Free food and bottled water is being given to migrants by railways: Railway Ministry Sources pic.twitter.com/MJKnI28jxn

— ANI (@ANI) May 4, 2020

The passenger trains, however, will not run empty on the return journey. It is not clear why these rules are different based on the kind of passengers on the trains.

However, as a doctor working in a major city hospital explained, the onus will be finally on the passengers themselves. “We have to learn to live with the Coronavirus. We need to be careful for a long time.” That is what the government seems to want as well. Watch your own backs, and  travel at your own risk.
 

(Names withheld on request to protect identities)

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Pictures of tea being served on board the 12040 Kathgodam Shatabdi Express was tweeted and shared by multiple people. Some of the images may be viewed here:

After coming in for scathing criticism at this serious lapse, the railways accepted the blunder and initiated penal action. In a statement released soon after, the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Ltd. (IRCTC) said, “Space in cups and other materials is used for paid publicity by the licensees as per agreement. The licensees are required to take prior permission for printing advertisements However, in this case, no such approval has been taken.”

The IRCTC has slapped a fine of Rs 1 lakh on the licensee and served them a show cause notice. They also admitted in their statement, “These lapses were overlooked by onboard supervisory staff/pantry incharges.”

The entire statement may be read here:

The cups have since been withdrawn. This comes just days after Priminister Narendra Modi’s picture appeared on railway tickets and airline boarding passes, prompting the Election Commission to write to the Railway and Aviation Ministries. 

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Arguments that are being advanced are the same ones that are given for selling public sector enterprises into private hands – the lack of efficiency and losses. Instead of filling the lakhs of vacant positions in the Railways or laying new tracks as needed for people’s security, or repairing worn out tracks or ensuring proper systems for safety, security and punctuality; the government is making the Railways the scapegoat for inefficiency and losses. This is part of he government’s strategy to first defame the public sector and then to sell it to the private sector. 

The government’s whacky decision to run a bullet train between Mumbai and Ahmedabad after incurring a debt of one lakh crores from Japan, is a cruel joke with the poor public. Besides, it also exposes the ruling elite’s mentality of indulging itself at the cost of others.      
 
The Socialist Party believes that the privatisation of Indian Railways in any form is unconstitutional and anti-people. The privatisation of Indian Railways is different from the privatisation of any other public sector undertaking. The Railways is intrinsically connected with rural and urban economy, composite culture, education and internal security. If the government sells the Railways, it is as if it sells the country.
 
In view of this serious calamity, the Socialist Party has launched a nation-wide awareness campaign against the government’s decision to sell the Railway. This campaign was inaugurated by a ‘Save Indian Railways’ march from Mandi House to Jantar-Mantar in Delhi on 22 June 2017. In that series a ‘Save Indian Railways’ Dharna has been organized at Jantar-Mantar on 2 October 2017 from 12.00 to 5.00 pm.

Kuldip Nayar (veteran journalist), comrade Shiv Gopal Mishra (general secretary, Northern Railway Men’s Union), Ali Anwar (Member Parliament), Rajeeb Ray (president DUTA), Dr. Shahsi Shekhar Singh (member, Academic Council, Delhi University), senior socialist leaders Raj Kumar Jain, Arun Srivastav, Shyam Gambhir, Dr. Harish Khanna, Dr. Prem Singh (president, Socialist Party), Renu Gambhir (vice president), Manjoo Mohan (general secretary), Faizal Khan (organising secretary), Syed Tahseen Ahmed (acting president Socialist Party Delhi Pradesh), Shaoor Khan (vice president), Tripti Negi (vice president), Yogesh Paswan (general secretary), Shahbaz Malick (secretary), Niraj Kumar (president, Socialist Yuvjan Sabha), Bandana Pandey (general secretary), Ram Naresh (secretary, SYS, Delhi Pradesh), social-political activists, writers-intellectuals-journalists and students in large numbers will participate in dharna. 

A memorandum will be given to the President at the end of dharna requesting him to stop the privatisation of the railways.

Kindly send reporter/team of your newspaper-magazine-channel to cover this important program.   
         
Thus Stands the Socialist Party
Upholding Brotherhood and Equality

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Image Courtesy: DQ India

The Indian Railways is moving fast towards total privatisation as seen in the light of the Centre's decision to auction 23 railway stations across the country. Centers’ new move came as a part of Public Private Partnership (PPP) projects.

The stations will be allocated to the private firms through auction. The firms getting tender will be allowed to modernise the stations. As part of the modernisation of stations, Railways will allow developers to build malls, cinema halls, hotels and specialty hospitals within the station premises. 

The financial model for the redevelopment work has been framed in a way so that the government doesn't incur any expenditure as the developer would be rebuilding the railway stations and maintaining it for 15 years.

In return, the firms would be granted 45 years’ leasing rights for the commercial properties developed at these stations. It gives them right to commercially exploit railways’ land. The firms will also be allowed to maintain all the station facilities like power, platform maintenance, parking, food stalls, retiring rooms, etc.

The redevelopment of the stations is occurring through different phases. In the first phase, the responsibility of redevelopment had been given to Indian Railway Station Development Corporation (IRSDC), a joint venture Company of Ircon International Limited and Rail Land Development Authority.

A senior official from Indian Railways stated that the revamping work of Habibganj Railway station is likely to be commenced soon.  For the facelift at Habibganj, developer Bansal Group has obtained financial loans of a total 400 Crores. The business firm will take care of all the station facilities like power, platform maintenance, parking, food stalls, retiring rooms, etc.

Also Read : Not Much to Gain & Much to Lose: Selling Indian Railways Bit by Bit

In the second phase of redevelopment 23 Railway stations will be auctioned.  Kanpur Central, Allahabad, Lokmanya Tilak, Pune, Thane, Visakhapatnam, Howrah, Kamakhya, Faridabad, Jammu Tawi, Udaipur City, Secunderabad, Vijayawada, Ranchi, Chennai Central, Kozhikode, Yesvantpur, Bangalore Cantt, Bhopal, Mumbai Central, Bandra Terminus, Borivali, and Indore are those stations.

Eyeing on Udaipur, Howrah, Indore, Secunderabad, Pune, and Faridabad railway stations, Malaysia’s state-owned Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) will participate in the auction . It is said to be one of the potentially big Foreign Direct Investment in railways. According to the officials from Railways, apart from CIDB, many Korean and Japanese companies have expressed their interest in the redevelopment project. Through, liberalizing the policies, Indian Railways will become a fertilized soil for Foreign Direct Investment.

Earlier, in 2014 India allowed 100% FDI in railways infrastructure through automatic route. Through this foreign companies have established two rail loco factories in Bihar with an investment of Rs 3500 crore. According to the railway official, various investors from Japan and South Korea have also expressed in the station redevelopment projects and the government has queued up 400 stations for redevelopment.

The private participation in public sector indicates the implementation Bibek Debroy committee report. The pro-privatisation wing is substantiating their point on the basis of it. The report favored private participation which is said to be the key to increase the efficiency of the system. The committee has also looked at the railway restructuring experiences from multiple countries, including Japan, the United Kingdom, Germany, Sweden, Australia, and the USA, as examples.

Indian Railways moves about 2.3 crore people and 3 million tons of goods every day.  The majority of the Indian populations, who cannot afford private vehicles, rely on the public transportation system. Railways are the most viable mode of transport for this section of the society. Millions use railways which connect geographically diverse population, each day.

Connecting the remotest corners of the country the railways runs 12,617 trains which carry both passengers and freight. Privatisation will affect the economic friendly transportation and connectivity to these areas. Preference for profitable route will result innegligence of the non-profit yielding routes.

Privatisation will also affect employees in the railways, including 14 lakh employees and almost as many pensioners.

Indian Railways which focuses on the service of the society will become a money yielding machine through privatization. With the intervention of the private sector, the fares may be hiked.  The privatization will also lead to market monopoly. Monopoly through the private sector may tend to cause the troubles include low accountability, lack of responsibility, producer-centric approach, exploitation of the poor, etc.
 

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Railways is public transport. It is not meant to be a commercial venture as the present government is trying to tell people. Railways needs to be affordable for the people who travel by train- said Arvind Raj Swarup.

The decision will force passengers to pay at least 50% more than the basic tickets rates.

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