Indian railway is considered the lifeline of India because the Indian railway not only transports the goods and people but also connects the entire nation in one thread.
Indian railway is words fourth-largest railway network. The Indian railway network consists of 22,593 operating trains,24 million passengers, and 203.88 million tonnes of freight daily.
Indian railway has recently introduced a new rule that “ only passengers with confirmed tickets can travel on sleeper and AC coaches” If a passenger with a waiting ticket travels in an AC coach, they are fined Rs 440 plus the fare to the next station. In sleeper coaches, the fine is Rs 250 plus the fare. Passengers also deboard the train at the next station in case of traveling without a confirmed ticket.
Indian railways this initiative was introduced for the comfort of the passengers by controlling overcrowding. But this new implementation has also led to complaints and discomfort from the passengers. Let’s delve into both the positive and negative sides of this new implementation.
1. Reducing overcrowding for a smoother journey:
Indian railway has faced the perennial issue of overcrowding sinceThe advent of the railways. The root cause of this overcrowding lies in allowing traveling without a confirmed ticket.
In the Indian railway when people travel without a confirmed ticket in sleeper and AC coaches it creates more chaos and trouble for their fellow passengers. In that case, we can say that not allowing travel without a confirmed ticket is a good decision to reduce overcrowding.
2. Ease in travelling:
It has been observed many times that people who are traveling without confirmed tickets create chaos for those who are traveling with confirmed tickets. Many times people who travel without confirmed tickets occupy the seats of those who have confirmed tickets.
This situation turns into a conflict and creates lots of chaos and trouble for everyone. Hence only allowing travelers who have confirmed tickets will give a systematic approach to the railway and increase the ease of travelling for everyone.
3. Boosting revenue with rigorous checking:
Indian Railway’s new rule will be properly implemented only by rigorous checking, this rigorous checking will help increase the revenue of the Indian Railway.
According to 2022-2023 fiscal year data 3.6 crore people were found travelling without a ticket. This vast number of people who travel without a ticket affects the revenue and growth of the Indian railway very badly. Indian Railways’ new rule will surely reduce this revenue loss by rigorous checking.
On the one hand Indian railway, the new rule is beneficial in many ways reducing overcrowding, ease of traveling, and boosting revenue which we have discussed. But on the other hand, there are lots of other problems which the Indian railway should address let’s discuss that.
1. Insufficient train service:
As we all know India is a country with a vast population and railway infrastructure is inadequate. Most of the people are traveling with waiting tickets only because of insufficient train service. Indian Railways should address this key issue for better management.
2. Sluggish process:
The process of ticket confirmation is still manual in many places. This manual process takes lots of time and makes the entire process very sluggish. Indian railway should become more technologically driven to become fast and advanced. This will ease the entire process.
3. Corruption:
Most of the passengers travel without a ticket or waiting ticket because of power and corruption. Indian Railway should make very strict rules on bribery and corruption and black marketing of tickets. Unless and until there is corruption in the system no new rule can change the system. If we want to change the system we have to eradicate the corruption.
Way forward:
After looking at both sides we can say that the Indian Railways new rule is good but it’s not enough. Only by hitting the root cause of the problem, we can solve it permanently. The new rule is good but it’s only superficial. The root cause of the problem lies in solving the problems like corruption, lack of service, and sluggish processes. Well begun is half done. The new rule is a good initiative in the journey of transforming the Indian railway.
