An Indecisive Indian

Railway safety is making headlines for all the wrong reasons lately, with two dominant narratives emerging based on where you stand politically. On one side, critics claim that the instances of rail accidents have gone up massively in recent times and that Indian Railways (IR) has been focusing on flashy projects like the Vande Bharat trains and swanky stations for sheer optics, neglecting the more pressing issue of passenger safety. On the other side, some allege that cases of averted accidents, and even accidents, have gone up due to nefarious elements working to derail trains by placing obstructions on tracks and that a sinister plot by external enemies is at play, with sleeper cells and saboteurs actively working to cause accidents.   Frankly, both of these perspectives miss the mark by a wide margin.   The recent spate of railway accidents has naturally stirred up public, media, and political scrutiny. However, the conversation often revolves around raw statistics...

I have long maintained that, in the absence of any significant technological advancement in the Vande Bharat train technology since the prototype in 2018—aside from some cosmetic enhancements here and there—it is high time for ICF to shift gears and focus on designing and developing an indigenous 240-250 kmph train for Standard Gauge. My blog connects: http://anindecisiveindian.blogspot.com/2024/03/export-of-vande-bharat-trains-south.html This would not exactly send the Japanese scrambling to slash their reportedly sky-high prices they have offered for the High-Speed Railway (HSR) trains, given that the Mumbai-Ahmedabad HSR corridor is being built for speeds of 320 kmph. Nevertheless, it would channel India’s indigenous capabilities in the right direction, including a great opening in the field of exporting trains to   middle-income countries. So, the Railway Board’s decision asking ICF to take on this challenge was a breath of fresh air. With the right leadership and unwaver...

  Let me first prime you a bit from my blog archives:   http://anindecisiveindian.blogspot.com/2022/06/oh-they-kill-with-kindness.html   http://anindecisiveindian.blogspot.com/2020/12/hbd-forsooth.html   You now know what to expect. And I too know exactly what is coming when my phone starts pinging with a fury that rivals the roar of Armageddon. I was already between a rock and a hard place when the blitz of World Coconut Day greetings seamlessly transitioned to a deluge of Teachers’ Day wishes. Oh, that blessed Friday the 6th at precisely 3:01 PM when it all began, and the torment continued unabated past Saturday the 7th, 5:37 PM. My phone, laptop, and PC were now gloriously cluttered with no less than 467 digital Lord Ganeshas in various mudras —each one looking more bemused and anguished than beatific. A song with beats from the underworld accompanied these blessed visuals, making the torment complete. Then, as if the gods were testing my resolve, they slipped in...