Emergence of elitism in rail passenger services!

By M.Y.Siddiqui

The emergence of elitism in railways passenger services in India since 2014 is characterized by a strategic shift towards premium, high speed and air-conditioned trains like Vande Bharat, Tejas and Gatiman Express, while reducing the availability of or investment in general and sleeper class coaches for the common travellers like migrant workers, lower middle class and general public who cannot afford high costs, high-speed luxury air-conditioned trains. The ‘bullet train syndrome’ represents a policy shifts prioritizing speed and convenience for affluent urban travellers, often at the cost of neglecting the vast majority who rely on affordable non-a.c. travel.

Prioritization of elitism includes premium services, reduction in general/sleeper coaches, increased passenger costs, ‘slum dog’ treatment of commoners, besides, reduction in service frequency for all. Other factors driving the shift include privatization and profit motive, focus on modernization, cross subsidization of loss making passenger services constraints. New high-speed luxurious train options are frequently introduced aimed at competing with airlines and catering to middle and upper middle class. Express trains that formerly operated with 12 sleeper coaches and 4-6 unreserved general coaches have seen significant reductions, sometimes to few general or sleeper coaches. In addition, push towards privatization and premium services generally drives up ticket fares, making travel less accessible to lower-income groups. Added to this, ‘slum dog’ treatment of commoners’ syndrome has overtaken high-speed luxury train services. 

While premium air-conditioned options expand, unreserved and sleeper class passengers face overcrowded conditions, long ticket queues, and lack of basic amenities, reflecting a ‘two-tier’ service structure. There is reduction in service frequency for all. Records indicate a significant decrease of around one billion fewer passengers in the second-class segment in 2022-23 compared to 2011-12. Factors driving the shift in policy include the entry of private operators for passenger trains intended to enhance service that brings a profit-centric approach, which often prioritizes premium segments over ‘social services’ that were priorities before 2014. There is also focus on modernization drive like Vande Bharat often resulting in ‘showmanship’ approach, focusing on elite experiences. The railways have traditionally used high freight earnings to subsidise loss making passenger fares, which is now considered financially unsustainable, leading to higher passenger fares. This makes the current RSS Pariwar union government anti-poor, anti-people as it has discarded social responsibility in a constitutionally ruled law based democratic governance of a welfare state, publically seen to be working against the proletariat.

The current policy shift has impacted passengers adversely. This has led to a situation where a pleasant fast track rail travel is created for a privileged minority, while the majority continues to face challenges in securing affordable and comfortable travel. Key drivers in priorities reflect policy shift away from Indian Railways’ traditional role as a public service provider under social responsibility in our democratic welfare state, abandoning the common traveller’s needs. Also, there is a financial pressure of high operating ratio of 98 percent or higher and the need to fund modernization that brings focus on higher-revenue passengers and the potential for public-private partnerships. The trend highlights a growing disparity between high-income commuters, who benefit from improved faster services and lower-income passengers, who face increasing difficulty in finding affordable comfortable travel.

Meanwhile, e ticketing has touched 86 percent coverage in the reserved sector. Dynamic QR code based payment has been enabled across on all counters of railways. Wi-Fi has been made available at over 6000 stations. CCTV surveillance has been installed at 1,051 stations, with plans to extend it to all non-halt stations. The anti-collision device, renamed as Kavach safety system, designed to prevent train accidents has been initiated for 10,000 locomotives. Over 23,000 track kilometres have been upgraded to support speeds up to 130 kilometre per hour, 54,337 kilometres upgraded for 110 kilometre per hour speed. Besides, more than 99 percent broad gauge network has been electrified making train service environment friendly and pollution free. Electrification drive of rail tracks, begun during colonial era, has since been almost completed.

The evolution of Indian Railways is considered a quiet transformation that brings the system closer to elite, global and private sector like travel experiences at a higher costs! 

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