Railways should adopt fair practices

CONSUMER NOTES
Railways should adopt fair practices
S PUSHPAVANAM

Railways managed a profit of Rs 13,534 crore last year after paying dividends. Its freight revenue improved and passenger revenue was up by 14%. The operating ratio has come down to 76% from the average 85% in the last decade and is fixed at 73.6 % this year. However, there has not been any meaningful debate on how it was achieved.
But I must give the devil its due. Wagons are ready for use again within 4.5 days. It used to be 7.5 days earlier. Overloading, done hitherto by greasing palms, now has a surcharge, fetching more revenue. Wagon production reached 15,000 a year. Return on capital is 21%. Growth by fair means is welcome. What is not welcome and unfair is that much of the “turn around” has been achieved at the expense of the passengers, taking them for a ride at their own cost.
For one, the safety surcharge on tickets, which met its target of Rs 5,000, has been silently renamed “development fund” and is continued without the consent of the Parliament and the consultative committee on railways. Next is the blatantly unfair return journey surcharge of Rs 10 for sleeper class and Rs 15 for A/C classes. When no extra service is rendered, there should be no extra cost. All these years, there was no surcharge. If the journey starts from any station other than the one where you book the ticket, it is considered a return journey. If you bought a ticket from Kanpur to Nagpur and back, at Chennai, it would be treated as two return journeys. More than Rs 300 crore go to the kitty this way. In fact, it should cost less, as the money is paid upfront.
Another strategy is to rename the trains super fast and collect a super fast surcharge of Rs 20 for sleeper class, Rs 30 and Rs 50 for other A/C classes. In 2004, we had 286 trains; now we have 590.
The norm of 55 kmph was fixed by the railways for the first time in 1992 when the Consumer Protection Council filed a case in Supreme Court. Even now there are several super fast trains that run at less than 55 kmph. A few samples will show the absence of rationale but desire for profit.
The Chennai-Kovai Express takes four-and-a-half hours to cross a distance of 334 km between Chennai and Salem, averaging 75. 62 kmph. The recently introduced Chennai-Salem train takes seven-and-a-half hours to cross the slightly longer distance of 354 km as it is via another route, averaging 47.73 kmph. Both of them are super fast trains. To boot, the passenger who has to journey a longer time ends up paying Rs 17 more in the A/C three-tier and Rs 6 more in sleeper class. The 2555, a super fast, covers 117 km between New Delhi-Biwani in two hours and 45 minutes, averaging 42.55 kmph while the 2553 Gorakpur-New Delhi train covers a distance of 719 km in 13 hours and 25 minutes, averaging 53.59 kmph.
While super fast trains have some norm, express trains have no speed norms even now. So you have some express trains running slower than a fast passenger train. The 887 Tiruchi-Palakkad fast passenger covers Tiruchi-Coimbatore, a distance of 243 km, in five hours and 55 minutes, averaging 42 kmph while the same distance is covered by the Chennai-Mangalore Express in six hours and 45 minutes, averaging 31.9 kmph. While one pays Rs 60 to reach quicker, another pays Rs 139 to reach later. An in-depth study will reveal more such instances.
Finally, the revenue is literally squeezed out of the passenger by making him lie in a side middle-berth. Getting onto the berth and out of it is near impossible for adults and four people have to sit in one lower berth to accommodate this extra person. This failed experiment must be stopped.
What can the consumer do? Write in your protests to the railway minister. A public interest litigation before the National Consumer Commission may also change things. Railways should fix a speed norm of 55 kmph for express trains and 66 kmph for super fast trains. Fair revenue is better than unfair surplus.
(The writer is Secretary, Consumer Protection Council, Tamil Nadu, Tiruchi, and can be reached at consumerpc@rediffmail.com)

Source: www.timesofindia.com - 22.10.2008