No move to rationalise train fares to take on airlines

Unfazed by the low fares offered by budget airlines, railways are not contemplating any move to rationalise passenger tariffs.

"There is enough space for everyone to grow. We are not competing with airlines. We continue to have long waiting list and the passenger traffic is ever increasing," Ramesh Chandra, chairman, Railway Board, said.

"Railways ferry about 15 million passengers every day in 8,622 passenger trains whereas airlines' numbers are not the same," said Chandra. "So we are not rivals anyway."

Railways earn about 20 percent of their total passenger revenue from the upper class segment "" First Class AC, Second Class AC and AC chair car. With the budget airlines offering tickets equal or even lower than AC train fares in certain sectors, the challenge is clear.

Acceleration of speed, enhancement of pantry services, increased frequencies, extension of routes, frequent traveller scheme, passenger profiling system and e-ticketing are some of the measures undertaken by railways to maintain an edge in traffic.

"Besides improving amenities, we are paying considerable attention to the safety and security of passengers. We have provided adequate number of security equipment to the Railway Protection Force (RPF) as an enhanced security measures," said Chandra.

Beside security, railways are focussing on safety also. "We are installing anti-collision device (ACD) to prevent accidents and our aim is to cover the entire rail network with ACD in the next five years."

A global positioning system (GPS) for rail navigation has been planned in coordination with IIT-Kanpur as a pilot project. The system, called SIMRAN (Satellite Imaging for Rail Navigation), is to track every train for its location, speed and direction of movement.

It would also disseminate information on real time basis about trains running, to passengers and to the general public through display boards at stations, Internet and SMS.

"The trial of SIMRAN project is being carried out in Allahabad-Kanpur and Lucknow-Kanpur sections," said Chandra adding some selected superfast trains like Rajdhani and Shatabdi originating from Delhi are being tracked daily.