Hi guys, I have been seeing these messages regarding the debate of fastest train versus India scenario...Don't understand why people want to compare everything...we have very different requriements compared to france or UK or Germany.....Railways is the lifeline of our country.....literally....I've been in France, Belgium, Germany where these high speed trains run....first of all, these guys don't depend on railways as much as we do...My personal opinion is that our focus of attention should be more on improving the services and maintaining punctuality and safety of the existing system...This would lead to building up of a fundamentally strong system...make the staff more user friendly, as public, we also need to be responsible enough not to damage the railway property...If these things are really maintained to the highest international standards, I think the railways will generate high enough revenues to go to the next level...and I've personally got the impression that Lalu and his team have been proving to be extremely competent at this...... Now regarding the privatisation of railways...Here is a classic example of how it can fail for major things like railways....I don't know how many of you have used the UK rail system, but I have one word for it "Pathetic"....As an example, you can try booking your ticket between London and Cambridge on www.nationalrail.co.uk and see how much of a hassle it is to get a simple job done like booking a ticket...compare that the Indian reservation system developed by the railways....I must say that its exemplary by any world class standards for the kind of database and efficiency it maintains....So much so that, British people here think that privatisation has failed terribly as far as railways is concerned.. I do not expect everyone to subscribe to my views but as far as the underlying message is conveyed to a few, I'm glad.
