Apropos Bhupesh Bhandari's column "Railways, theirs and ours" (White Knight, March 15), drawing comparisons between the Chinese and Indian railways defies logic. On the one hand, it laments the overstaffing in Indian Railways, and on the other hand, it goes on to enlist the myriad activities performed by it - from hospital services to managing stadiums and colonies, apart from running trains. In fact, it is rarely reported that Indian Railways' safety statistics compare with the best in the world. It also never fails to surprise us how much bashing Indian Railways survives because the published statistics about this overstretched railway system is freely available to an average Indian. Just to balance out the number crunching done by the writer, some 3,500 additional passenger trains have been added over the last 10 years, notwithstanding the fact that routes of only 13,000 km have been added in the last six decades. Indian Railways asks for less Budgetary support from the government, and still manages to retain a net financial surplus. It is able to keep its head above water, despite political compulsions and demands of this populous nation. It is now possible to travel on Indian Railways without even a paper ticket, but just an SMS alert on your mobile phone. It is now possible to track your train online at the click of your smartphone button. It is time we reinvented our beliefs about Indian Railways, and have some fresh insights about this magnificent railway system.
Kalpana Dube, Lucknow
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