A friend sent me a video clip which shows a train driver holding an umbrella in one hand, to protect against the leaking roof, and operating the control panel with the other. Had this been a Carnival float, it would have been funny and even won the first prize, but this is the stark reality of Indian Railways – one of the three biggest Railway Networks in the world!
The Indian Railways safety records are abysmally pathetic. The main reason for mishaps being the dilapidated railway lines & rolling stock. But keeping aside the crumbling railways infrastructure crying for attention, our Government in its wisdom has now inked a deal with Japan for a Bullet Train costing a Gargantuan Rs 1.1 lakh crore! Expert estimates say that this kind of money can provide dwelling units to all the homeless people in the country!
Prime Minister Modi tells us that Bullet Train signifies the progress made by the country. What progress? Have we developed the technology?
It is difficult to find a “made in India’ nail cutter in the market that actually works. Why can’t we first upgrade our existing run down Railway lines so that the common man can travel safely at a happier pace? Why can’t we add a few more bogies to overcrowded trains where passengers have to literally struggle to breath, before dreaming of Bullets Trains?
It’s a well known fact that high speed railway lines are extremely expensive to build and maintain. The average Japanese is more than ten times richer than the average Indian but still the common man there cannot afford the Bullet trains. This fact is brought out nicely by the Japanese scientist Koichi Tanaka who after winning the Nobel Prize (chemistry 2002) said that with the Prize money he would now be able to buy a Bullet train ticket! If this is the case with Japan which never had to pay through their nose for the Bullet trains, one can well imagine the relevance of Bullet trains to the common man in India!
Thailand has recently approved a USD 5.5 billion contract with China for a 3000 kms long High Speed Railway line (Bullet Train) that will allow the Chinese from southern China to travel to Thailand and Bangkok at a much faster more exciting pace.
In sharp contrast, our Bullet Train linking Ahmadabad to Mumbai, a distance of a mere 500 kms, is costing us a whopping USD17 billion. As flight tickets on this route will be much cheaper, this Bullet Train will at best only help filthy rich Gujjus travel to Mumbai for a drink and get back home for a good night’s sleep!
“I hope to enjoy the beautiful scenery of India from a bullet train when I come back in a few years,” said the Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as a parting shot on his recent India visit. We can’t blame him… If we are dumb enough to keep aside burning issues and cough up Rs 1.1 lakh crore for their half a century old technology, the Japs have every right to think that they can also make us believe that the scenery can be all that beautiful at 350 kms/ hr. There is more to life than speed; sceneries for example, are better enjoyed at slower speeds!
