TO PRIVATIZE OR NOT !

With over a month long debate over the privatization of specifically 151 trains on 109 origin routes identified and still counting, all of them being routes of long distance travel for eg. 

Train from Howrah to Mumbai in 25 hours (22:40 to 23:40 the next day), 

Train from Nagpur to Mumbai in 10 hours and 35 minutes (20:55 to 07:30) and have been divided into 12 clusters pan India.

 Privatization of railways is not something being done for the first time in the world. Although there have been reports doing the round how this pitch has failed in other countries like United Kingdom, United states of America, France or not been up to the mark of what was being expected from this pitch, everyone has successfully failed to see the difference between these countries and ours. 

The reason why this operation failed in United Kingdom was because rail was privatized by splitting up the tracks and train operators, unlike the regional division in Japan. Commentators have suggested this as one reason for inefficiency in the United Kingdom.

 The Railways, meanwhile, will end up spending virtually nothing. It will instead earn a fee for electricity and for lending its infrastructure, and also a share in the total revenue of the venture. A train manufacturer will be more enthused to set up a new factory or expand an existing one if there are opportunities to produce both coaches and wagons. 

Another reason for a divisional failure in Japan was due to low passengers, which clearly is never possible in India given the population density. Also it needs to be considered that India is the largest rail network of the world, it has more than 32,000 trains to boast of privatization is being considered or finalized over 150 trains (not the tracks, or lands). Jobs of railway sector are in-fact being offered to the newly added trains on government’s terms. 

What most of the people failed to notice is that these trains amount to less than 1% of the total trains we have currently.

Plus, if these trains charged more the government has not stopped the trains which were already offering us economically feasible services, this is an addition or inclusion without creating ripples on the surface we can treat it as a pilot program. 

Population of India for a long time now has been categorized into many slabs and if this one project is aimed for the higher middle class this move will actually make everyone able to board a train. The only bad private company to enter India was the East India Company. 

Lastly I would like to say that taking inspiration from other developed countries is a great thing and nothing to be looked down upon, we should definitely be inspired. But when these countries fail we should not stop because they failed, will you stop because your role model failed? Instead we should learn why they failed and then further improve ourselves.

- Nishita Patil