Indian Railways in 2023 – Year Review

The Performance of Indian Railways in 2023 showed significant strides in infrastructure but reveals underwhelming freight loading and financial performance.

How Indian Railways performed in 2023?

• Near completion of DFC – Dedicated Freight Corridors are nearing completion with more than 200 freight trains already running on the corridors.

• Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL) – It is symbolic for connectivity and seamless integration of J&K with India.
• But its poor progress reflects on IR’s credentials in executing and implementing large projects.
• Delhi-Srinagar train – The 1^st train is expected to run sometime next summer.
• High-Speed Rail project – It was mooted in 2014 between Mumbai and Ahmedabad, intending to complete it by 2021.
• But the goal post kept shifting, however, due to non-cooperation between the Centre and Maharashtra governments and is expected to be operational by 2028-29.
• Vande Bharat– It was success with large-scale deployment from a mere 6 at the year start and with nearly 50 trains at the end.
• It showed that there is the space for fast and comfortable trains even with higher fare.
• But some of the trains were deployed on political merit and some run with poor occupancy.
  • Example: Bhopal-Jabalpur and Bhopal-Indore fail to cut travel time.
• The sleeper version is badly-delayed.
• Railway tracks – Delay in upgrading the tracks for higher speeds.
  • Work on raising the speed of Delhi-Howrah and Delhi-Mumbai sections to 160 kmph has seen tardy progress.
• Safety Issues – On safety front, Indian railways has shown improvement in the last 5 years with the closure of all unmanned railway crossings and improvements in track maintenance.
• However, the Balasore accidentdented IR’s safety record and was followed by at least 4 more accidents with fatalities and injuries.
  • Delhi-Kamakhya Express derailment near Buxar.
  • Fire cases in Patalkot Express near Agra and Delhi-Darbhanga Superfast Express near Etawah.
  • Collision of two trains near Vizianagaram.
• Financial performance – The rail freight and total revenue is only between 3-4%, leaving no surplus for investments, thus increased reliance on the Centre for the same.
  • In an economy growing nearly 7%, one would expect rail freight and total revenue to expand at a minimum of 10%.
• Dismal roll-out of IRMS – Indian Railway Management Service at the entry level is the lowest choice among Civil Services aspirants.
• Only 90 out of 150 vacancies could be filled up, as many candidates likely to qualify choose another service.
• New Amrit Bharat Trains – 2 Amrit Bharat Trains are to be launched.
• The Amrit Bharat train is a Linke Hofmann Busch (LHB) push pull train having locos at both ends for better acceleration.
• It provides improved facilities for rail passengers with a maximum speed limit of 130 kmph.

Indian Railways has launched theme - based Tourist Circuit trains (Bharat Gaurav Trains) to showcase India’s rich cultural heritage and magnificent historical places. 1^st Bharat Gaurav Train (Shirdi Yatra) was launched in 2022.

• Record Amrit Bharat Stations - 1,309 Amrit Bharat Stations have been identified across the nation to modernize passenger amenities and improve accessibility & inclusivity of railway stations.
• One Station, One Product (OSOP) Outlets - It promotes ‘Vocal for Local’ vision, providing a market for indigenous products and creating additional income opportunities for marginalised sections of society.

Indian Railway has set a target of becoming Net Zero Carbon Emitter by 2030.

What should be focused in 2024?

• Safety – The shift should be strongly to improving safety of rail travel, including track and signalling upgrades.
• The progress of installation of Kavach, a unique safety system developed by IR engineers need to paced up.
• Address Issues – While electrification of rails are promoted for greening railways it is silent on
  • The fate of more than 500 diesel locomotives
  • The need for ‘hydrogen trains’ amidst electrification
  • The requirement for airport-like stations
• Prevent saturation – The announcement to add 3,000 passenger trains to eliminate waiting lists should consider the saturated capacities into account.
• Non-political deployment of trains – Vande Bharat should be made after traffic surveys to reduce poor occupancy issues.
• Future prospects – IR should make efficient use of initiatives like Gati Shaktito improve its loading and revenue performance significantly.

PM Gati Shakti is a National Master Plan for Multimodal Connectivity launched in 2021 to transfer India into a hub of world class infrastructure by providing integrated and seamless connectivity for movement of people, goods and services.