Indian Railways (IR) took a number of severe jolts with Mamata Banerjee and later Mukul Roy of the Trinamul Congress at the helm of affairs. It has now been decided to set up a Rail Tariff Authority. This was long overdue. Rail fares should have been delinked from populism long ago. However, the present railway minister C.P. Joshi’s announcement has not spelt out whether the Authority will be a regulatory or a recommendatory body. The Union Government should act promptly to bring about relief and rehabilitation. Joshi may conceivably go back to Dinesh Ttripathi’s railway budget proposals which were scrapped by Mukul Roy. Passenger fares have been left untouched for a decade, except in the top segment. High-level panels under Sam Pitroda and Anil Kakodkar were set up to make recommendations for modernization and safety. It called for money to be pumped in from outside and also collected from fare hikes. The modernization scheme presented by Pitroda calls for an investment of roughly Rs. 5,60,000 crores in five years. Tripathi upped fares by 20% which was to be spent over a period of time. But Mukul Roy put paid to that. Lower class passengers account for 95% of traffic and time is of the essence. Another headache is the operating ratio which, according to Tripathi, was to slide down to 95% this year.
Indian Railways is starved of resources. The stress should be on safety. If necessary, IR should borrow or make money for it. What is urgently required is to install anti-collision devices, fog safety devices, manning of all level crossings, etc. Safety also involves rake and engine redesign and retrofitting. It is only then that IR can be of 21st Century standard. With such pressing needs to be addressed, preoccupation with hotels, eco-parks, sports academies and bottling plants appears to be idle luxury. Railways should have the autonomy to rationalize fares keeping in mind fuel costs. But the Rail Tariff Authority is a good beginning.