To be honest it does not justify the cost I pay to travel in the above train as it is one of the dirtiest train with old rolling stock from bygone era. The AC coaches are infested with cockroaches and rats, which keep crawling all over with any fear. It is criminal, firstly to run such a dirty train even worse to charge so exorbitantly.
To reduce loss of railway,it must adopt computerised system like delhi metro,where there is no possibility of travelling without ticket and this will save cost of callous and lazy staff of railway.
Railways calculate costs per passenger in terms of paise/kilometer. Premium trains charge in terms of rupees/kilometer. No doubt cost of running premium trains is higher but so is the revenue. We are being fed all untruths about losses in Railway operations do not believe it blindly. Railways has a complex pattern of cross subsidy where some operations run in loss, massive loss mostly political routes but rest are moderately to highly profitable.
Re: Bibek Debroy has got it wrong, All premium trains make profit
by Amit on Jun 19, 2015 06:16 PM
some trains do make losses , but can be improved by stopping in stations along the way to increase occupancy
Another major reason is why railway subsidies govt servants / security personal and others via free tickets ?
When the cost of travelling by train is near equivalent to airfare, people naturally prefer flights, both for saving time and for the fancy of it. If train fares can be rationalized the commuter size will go up. Somebody who cannot get II class in Rajdhani will opt for I class if the difference is not too high. Duronto has no regular stoppings but there are technical halts; if these are converted to regular halts, commuter size will go up. During non-seasons special offers can be made so that people will use the service. Free passes should not be allowed in special trains and higher classes. All free passes should be for general III tier in non-special trains. It can come to atleast breakeven level.
Re: Losses
by Amit on Jun 19, 2015 06:08 PM
Some trains that are loss making can be improved by making it pick more passengers along the way to increase occupancy .......if not possible must be scraped.
Another major reason is why railway subsidies govt servants / security personal and others via free tickets ?
it is highly astonishing that even after so many decades of experience the Railways is not able to gauge the exact profit/loss it is making . they should probably adopt the system being followed by Airlines of pushing the BOOKING/reservation as per demand/supply basis.A Methodology can always be worked out to fill the vacuum and overcome losses.
Like airport ,the trolleys can be provided to passengers on nominal charges.the money so collected can be used to pay salary to porters for bringing back trolleys to parking area.
They are prestigious trains and are the need of the day for faster and comfortable commuting for those who can afford.
For this to happen, the occupancy of the trains has to be improved say about 90%. There are limited stops for the Rajdhani and for Duronto it is from one starting station to the terminating station. If the railways can make at least 3 to 4 stopovers at major junctions in each state, a lot of people will start using the same.
For example, the Kurla-Ernakulam duronto once it leaves Kurla has no official stops in between. It is suggested that the same train has a stop in Mangalore (Karnataka) and Shoranur (Kerala), many of the passengers would prefer it as it gives a convenient and quick get away.
Even for the Rajdhani, they can add one or two stopovers to attract more passengers.
La Loo as a Railway Minister had claimed that Indian Railway under him as Railway Minister, had made profit for the first time since IR came into existence.And the entire Media carried the story as if he has done something miraculous and branded him as a Modern Management Guru. Some Management Institutes and Educational Institutes even used to invite the Modern Management Guru to lecture their students on his " Management Skills" . Indian Railway never made profit and will never make profit. More than 50% passengers does not buy tickets. Ticket Checkers take bribe of Rs 200-250 and aloow passengers to travel in A/C coaches. This is the reality. Railway Minister Mr Suresh Prabhu is an efficient man. PM Mr Modi has a vision for Indian Railways. But what about we the passengers? Our mindset is that of 18th century. The tumblers in the Coach's toilet has to be tied to a nail else the tumblers will be stolen. can Indian railways will ever attain International Standard?
Overstaffed,trains running late,inefficiency,militant unions who will not change for the better facilities all add up.In fact this is the case of all govt undertakings.Run them proffessionly,and you will get returns.Start with the scrapping of the rail budget as their is no use for it.Why should the tax payers hard earned money be wasted on the govts inefficiency,dont cheat the aam aadmi
