New Delhi: Story of Indians railway 2021 was to recover and put his home in order after a forced hiatus from the tracks for the first time in his history due to the coronavirus outbreak.
The Railways has been completely dependent on its freight revenue over the past two years, with the passenger segment running at a loss in 2020 and slowly gaining momentum with the lifting of restrictions during the first half of this year.
financial situation:
A recent report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) states that Indian Railways’ operating ratio of 98.36 per cent in 2019-2020 does not reflect its actual financial performance and if actual expenditure on pension payments is taken into account, So the ratio will be 114.35 percent.
The CAG also noted that the national carrier needs to rethink on passenger and other coaching charges to recover the cost of operations and minimize losses in its core activities in a phased manner.
This comes at a time when the national transporter has set a target of reducing its operating ratio to 95 per cent.
Last year, the Railways was able to reduce its expenditure and meet the shortfall in traffic through revenue generated from freight traffic. The fall in pension liabilities has led to massive conversion of pension bills into debt of over Rs 51,000 crore in the current financial year of the Railways. Finance Ministry,
While the railways saved money by not reinstating most of the concessions, it did earn through a “slight” increase in fares for special trains and a hike in platform ticket prices.
Its revenue from goods traffic till December 18 has been Rs 98075.12 crore while its target for the financial year 2021-22 is Rs 137810 crore. In passenger segment, Railways has earned Rs 26871.23 crore while its estimated target for the financial year is Rs 61000 crore.
Big Ticket Projects of Railways:
The year was also marked as a struggle to resolve issues that led to delays and resulted in missed deadlines for big ticket projects. The Rs 81,000-crore Dedicated Freight Corridor, the biggest developmental project of the Railways, which is currently underway, was to be completed by December 2021.
The new deadline is now June 2022, which officials said could be further delayed.
Then there is the ambitious bullet train project between Ahmedabad and Mumbai. Caught in land acquisition issues and then the pandemic, the project has now been hit with cost escalation. While the deadline for this project was December 2023, it has now been extended to 2026.
Another major railway project to hand over some routes to private entities has failed due to lack of interest from the sector. The ministry had rejected bids worth Rs 30,000 crore for private trains about four months ago, as it had received only two offers – one from IRCTC and the other from IRCTC. Megha Engineering and infrastructure.
Initially, the national transporter planned to introduce private trains on its network in phases, with the first dozen due to run in the 2023–24 fiscal year and all 151 by 2027. However, sources reveal that the national transporter plan will give another try and have started discussions with the private sector on this.
The launch of state-of-the-art trains like Vande Bharat has been delayed due to cancellation of tenders and gained momentum only when the Prime Minister Narendra Modi In his Independence Day speech, he had promised 75 such trains to the country by August 15, 2023.
So, when passengers were imagining traveling in new trains, railways has just floated new tenders, this time for 58 such trains. A prototype of one such train is expected to be on track in April 2022.
Passengers’ pain
When will the concessions for senior citizens be restored? Will the waiting list end? Shall we get bedrolls?
These are some of the questions that passengers have for railways.
While the national transporter has restored the facility of serving cooked meals on board trains, concessions are yet to be reinstated in most of the categories.
Between March 22, 2020 and September 2021, around 4 crore senior citizens have traveled in trains without any concessions.
During this period, train services remained suspended for several months due to the coronavirus-induced lockdown. The concessions that have been suspended since March 2020 remain suspended till date.
The Railways, which recently started serving food on board trains, is yet to take any call on providing bedrolls or concessions for senior citizens, saying there is a need to exercise caution in view of the coronavirus crisis.
Another issue that remains a perennial complaint for passengers is waiting list tickets and in the first six months of FY 2021-22, more than 52 lakh passengers who are on waiting list after finalization of seat reservation charts. According to official figures, could not travel by trains. Indicating the need for more trains on busy routes.
As far as new trains are concerned, Railways has introduced just over 800 new trains in the last five years.
Recruitment Blues:
Job seekers have now taken to social media sites like Twitter to protest the delay in the recruitment process Railway Recruitment Association,
One candidate tweeted, “More than one crore students applied for railway exam in 2019. It’s been 3 years, the exam hasn’t happened. I demand the government not to play my future. Group D to railways.” The exam date should be announced immediately.”
what next:
The game changer for the Railways will be the commissioning of the Dedicated Freight Corridor. DFC, with its advantages of speed and high carrying capacity, can also help in reducing freight charges by up to 50 per cent. Officials say the lower freight charges will be passed on to the customers and the plan is to generate Rs 15,000 crore revenue every year. It will also connect hinterlands with industrial hubs and allow railways to be an economical means of transporting goods across the country.
For the travellers’ experience, Vande Bharat trains will provide a new travel experience and bring a sense of style to rail travel. The new AC three tier coaches introduced in some trains this year will provide a never-before-seen experience for those looking for pocket friendly yet comfortable travel in the days to come.
The Railways has been completely dependent on its freight revenue over the past two years, with the passenger segment running at a loss in 2020 and slowly gaining momentum with the lifting of restrictions during the first half of this year.
financial situation:
A recent report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) states that Indian Railways’ operating ratio of 98.36 per cent in 2019-2020 does not reflect its actual financial performance and if actual expenditure on pension payments is taken into account, So the ratio will be 114.35 percent.
The CAG also noted that the national carrier needs to rethink on passenger and other coaching charges to recover the cost of operations and minimize losses in its core activities in a phased manner.
This comes at a time when the national transporter has set a target of reducing its operating ratio to 95 per cent.
Last year, the Railways was able to reduce its expenditure and meet the shortfall in traffic through revenue generated from freight traffic. The fall in pension liabilities has led to massive conversion of pension bills into debt of over Rs 51,000 crore in the current financial year of the Railways. Finance Ministry,
While the railways saved money by not reinstating most of the concessions, it did earn through a “slight” increase in fares for special trains and a hike in platform ticket prices.
Its revenue from goods traffic till December 18 has been Rs 98075.12 crore while its target for the financial year 2021-22 is Rs 137810 crore. In passenger segment, Railways has earned Rs 26871.23 crore while its estimated target for the financial year is Rs 61000 crore.
Big Ticket Projects of Railways:
The year was also marked as a struggle to resolve issues that led to delays and resulted in missed deadlines for big ticket projects. The Rs 81,000-crore Dedicated Freight Corridor, the biggest developmental project of the Railways, which is currently underway, was to be completed by December 2021.
The new deadline is now June 2022, which officials said could be further delayed.
Then there is the ambitious bullet train project between Ahmedabad and Mumbai. Caught in land acquisition issues and then the pandemic, the project has now been hit with cost escalation. While the deadline for this project was December 2023, it has now been extended to 2026.
Another major railway project to hand over some routes to private entities has failed due to lack of interest from the sector. The ministry had rejected bids worth Rs 30,000 crore for private trains about four months ago, as it had received only two offers – one from IRCTC and the other from IRCTC. Megha Engineering and infrastructure.
Initially, the national transporter planned to introduce private trains on its network in phases, with the first dozen due to run in the 2023–24 fiscal year and all 151 by 2027. However, sources reveal that the national transporter plan will give another try and have started discussions with the private sector on this.
The launch of state-of-the-art trains like Vande Bharat has been delayed due to cancellation of tenders and gained momentum only when the Prime Minister Narendra Modi In his Independence Day speech, he had promised 75 such trains to the country by August 15, 2023.
So, when passengers were imagining traveling in new trains, railways has just floated new tenders, this time for 58 such trains. A prototype of one such train is expected to be on track in April 2022.
Passengers’ pain
When will the concessions for senior citizens be restored? Will the waiting list end? Shall we get bedrolls?
These are some of the questions that passengers have for railways.
While the national transporter has restored the facility of serving cooked meals on board trains, concessions are yet to be reinstated in most of the categories.
Between March 22, 2020 and September 2021, around 4 crore senior citizens have traveled in trains without any concessions.
During this period, train services remained suspended for several months due to the coronavirus-induced lockdown. The concessions that have been suspended since March 2020 remain suspended till date.
The Railways, which recently started serving food on board trains, is yet to take any call on providing bedrolls or concessions for senior citizens, saying there is a need to exercise caution in view of the coronavirus crisis.
Another issue that remains a perennial complaint for passengers is waiting list tickets and in the first six months of FY 2021-22, more than 52 lakh passengers who are on waiting list after finalization of seat reservation charts. According to official figures, could not travel by trains. Indicating the need for more trains on busy routes.
As far as new trains are concerned, Railways has introduced just over 800 new trains in the last five years.
Recruitment Blues:
Job seekers have now taken to social media sites like Twitter to protest the delay in the recruitment process Railway Recruitment Association,
One candidate tweeted, “More than one crore students applied for railway exam in 2019. It’s been 3 years, the exam hasn’t happened. I demand the government not to play my future. Group D to railways.” The exam date should be announced immediately.”
what next:
The game changer for the Railways will be the commissioning of the Dedicated Freight Corridor. DFC, with its advantages of speed and high carrying capacity, can also help in reducing freight charges by up to 50 per cent. Officials say the lower freight charges will be passed on to the customers and the plan is to generate Rs 15,000 crore revenue every year. It will also connect hinterlands with industrial hubs and allow railways to be an economical means of transporting goods across the country.
For the travellers’ experience, Vande Bharat trains will provide a new travel experience and bring a sense of style to rail travel. The new AC three tier coaches introduced in some trains this year will provide a never-before-seen experience for those looking for pocket friendly yet comfortable travel in the days to come.
,