RailEnquiry

NEW DELHI: Even as Indian railways took several steps to bring back railway services on track after severe grid failures in the past two days, several within its ranks have begun questioning the logic of cancelling over 280 goods trains in the past two days. The actions, claim railway officials, have set them back by over Rs 110 crore under conservative estimates."The railways is an organization that is not a profit making organization. We are primarily working for the people. When there is an emergency, passenger trains will always be given first priority,'' said a Rail Bhawan official. The commercial department officials though say that it is only freights that bring the bulk of railway earnings. "Remember that now roadways have become competitive. Any organization now survives on competition. For every consignment undelivered, we loose the goodwill of our customers. With regular freight rate hikes even when passenger fares are remaining constant, we cannot allow such practices to continue,'' said an official.The operations wing, though back the railway board decision. "We were working with low voltage and just three to four trains were being pushed in 40-50 km corridors to keep the load less and keep the rail system working. A goods train movement at that crucial juncture with signaling system down would have been an operational hazard.

Certain sections, though, see logic with both groups but contend that once services are restored, it was important that goods trains receive as much attention as passenger trains. "There has to be both sides of railways - a human face and a business model face. The greatness of the system lies in balancing the two,'' said an official.