Redevelopment of railway stations. Will things change this time?

 Redevelopment of railway stations. 

Will things change this time?

Jim Morrison of The Doors once ingeniously said, “Whoever controls the media, controls the mind” but today I am somewhat inclined to differ with my legendary hero of the 27 Club. Minds have been so habituated with bhakti (worship) that even balanced kambhakts (less of a worshipper) are patronized or taunted by the irredeemable bhakts; kambhakts as distinct from the pretentious brigade which finds fault with anything the government does, and there are, for sure, many things that this government did get right. Nevertheless, Mr. Mojo Risin', it is more like the minds are so favorably mutated that they also control the media.

I say this because I was on a panel twice on NewsX in the background of the PM launching revamp of 508 railway stations across India at an estimated cost of ₹24,470 crore, including Mumbai CSTM at ₹1,813 crore, Surat at ₹980 crore and Egmore at ₹842 crore. I merely wanted to say that this government in their wisdom does believe that the Indian Railways’ (IR’s) performance should not be viewed in isolation but in the context of the country’s economy as a whole as IR is an important engine to complement and boost economic activity. I would add that massive investment in redevelopment of stations, along with introduction of more and more Vande Bharat  trains is an offshoot of this belief, which is fine but the government should not lose sight of the IR’s performance, financial health and safety. There is indeed merit in investments in railways as it would bring revenue to government from taxes and create job opportunities but with the qualification that the investments should be productive for IR’s revenues too. 

It is not an either-or situation but greater stress on increasing the modal share of IR in freight sector, upgradation of basic infrastructure to support heavier and speedier trains and introduction of Kavach and other safety works is perhaps lacking as they have much lower visibility and optics. Why? The growth in freight volume of IR which brings it most of its revenue is at 1% this year while the economy grows at 6% which is an extremely dismal performance. If record hike in Capex upping two lakh crore rupees last year and far more than that this year, with record electrification, record new lines commissioning, record locomotive production does not result in a matching increment in freight sector, it is time to pause and relook.

 

In the middle of the emittance of a barrage of by-now-familiar buzzwords like Amrit Bharat, Atmanirbhar, 5 trillion, Vande Bharat and Gati Shakti, and razzmatazz like aspirational India and airport-like stations, I did manage to say what I needed to say. I was also able to put through my viewpoint on the specific subject of station redevelopment. Simply and merely what I have already said many times.

 

Yes, station redevelopment is absolutely needed and taking it up with this magnitude is welcome. But the caveat is that all this money should be spent on making these stations functionally-efficient eschewing the temptation to construct photo op station through a grand façade, granite galore and mall-like environment. First and foremost, we need easy entry and exit of road vehicles with grade separation in large stations, easy entry and exit of passengers with PIS on devices or large boards obviating the need to ask someone, hygiene and cleanliness, easy boarding and deboarding and crowd management on platforms.

 

Railways stations are not airports so this airport-like hype is so misplaced. Ideally the waiting time, unlike an airport, should be minimal and that can happen only if trains run punctually and their receipt and dispatch works like a clockwork. Even for transit passengers, it is possible to make it seamless with a matter of minutes. Nice clean waiting areas and eateries are needed but they cannot be the focus.

 

The stations on IR already have huge footfalls of regular passengers running into lakhs per day and we need to cater to them efficiently instead of trying to attract more non-travelling footfalls. That said, commercial exploitation and increase in earning non-fare revenues is important but we should not forget that more than a decade of dalliance with PPP model of redevelopment came a cropper. It is all under EPC model now; only after the basic amenities are ensured, the promise of non-farebox earnings should definitely be examined and planned.

 

Some other aspects which should be targeted are the facade reflecting the ethos and culture of the city it represents, inter-modal transfer to and fro in large cities and eventually and IR devising a system for restricted entry to platforms and even the concourses.

 

And last but not the least, effective time-bound execution is the key. IR has done only three major station projects, Gandhinagar, Habibgunj and Byappanhalli in 20 years since station redevelopment came into focus and the experience at the last shows that mere sprucing up of a station would not work, other aspects like approachability and operation of popular trains are equally important.

 

The station next to my home in Lucknow, Gomtinagar, is a work in progress for at least six years. The saga of what should have been the flagship project, New Delhi station, is forever embroiled in tendering and retendering. In September last year, IR once again announced, inter alia, three most prestigious redevelopment projects for New Delhi, CST Mumbai and Ahmedabad stations with great fanfare. Two of these were derailed once again with the bidding process getting cancelled for New Delhi and Ahmedabad stations, taking them to square one. I do not wish to downplay the challenges like the urban congestion on both sides of tracks near stations, dealing with multiple agencies like municipalties and state governments etc. but still, such tardy progress is inexcusable.

 

No Ghālib and Shakespeare today, just trying to emulate Morrison who saw himself as ‘an intelligent, sensitive human, with the soul of a clown”, and so I also venture to blow it at times with the soul of a railway mountebank with the hope to be taken seriously. Some day! This being my day of the doors of perception, I do hope it was more from a place of hope than actual bravado.*

(*as quoted frequently about the number ‘Hello I Love You’)

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