The Indian Railways seems to be struggling with day-to-day management issues. Sleeper coaches have effectively turned into general coaches, with waitlisted passengers crowding out those with reserved tickets. The unreserved general coaches are currently no better than cattle wagons. Passengers frequently post videos on social media expressing their frustrations. The Maha Kumbh 2025 further highlighted these problems, as the railway system failed to efficiently handle the massive influx of passengers. Even those with reserved tickets, including First AC, Second AC, and Third AC, found it impossible to board their trains due to overcrowding from unreserved passengers. These viral videos on social media should serve as alarm bells to awaken officials from their complacency.
Ashwini Vaishnaw is an educated and experienced individual, but he has come under scrutiny from the opposition for his inability to deliver results on multiple fronts. On social media, he is often mocked as a ‘reel minister’ and has faced increasing criticism following various accidents. Opposition leaders have challenged him to name just one initiative or achievement that he has initiated and completed during his tenure. For example: As the minister, Vaishnaw does not seem to have focussed on improving safety measures and implementing the Kavach system, which could serve as a pivotal moment for him, feel experts.
While the Indian Railways and the Narendra Modi government are occupied with showcasing their achievements through the impressive Vande Bharat trains, Zee News interviewed Sudhanshu Mani, the former General Manager of ICF Chennai and the architect of the Vande Bharat trains. In this exclusive interview, Mani addressed various issues, discussing both the successes and failures of the Indian Railways. Excerpts:
On Vigilance Probe Against T-18 Project
There were people in the government, bureaucracy and politics who alleged corruption and a vigilance investigation was launched. They were jealous of the success of the project. Since there was no wrongdoing, we were sure that nothing at all would come out of the probe. Nevertheless, it did cause stress to the team members and me and while many of the members progressed in their careers eventually, there were some who suffered. It’s a painful story but it’s past now.
On Why India Lags In High-Speed Projects
There is no dearth of talent in India. The ICF team designed and delivered the 180kmph train (Vande Bharat) and it has been around for more than six years. We have not been able to make any technological improvement in that and are busy boasting about it. This will not do. We will have to improve step-wise and only then we can move forward. If we think that it’s a world-class train, then we are wrong. We made it and I am saying it’s near world-class, not yet world-class. We have talented people to do much better but there is a lack of committed leadership. If we work on it, we will move to 220-240kmph from 180kmph first and then one day India will make 320kmph train but it’s a stepwise process. We don’t have a leadership with freedom to act and then the fake vigilance case has also created fear among people who are capable of thinking and delivering out of the box by taking risks.
On Rise In Train Accidents
We should go by data when it comes to train accidents. If you take into account serious accidents, 15 years ago, around 500-700 people used to die in train accidents annually. Now, this is around 25/30 on average if you keep the Balasore accident aside as an aberration in which 292 people were killed. The accidents have not increased but the reach of media and YouTubers has expanded so much that even a minor accident gets reported. The opposition’s discourse that accidents have increased is out of place.
The government should come out and say that accidents have not increased but decreased and they should list out steps being taken to improve safety. However, the government is alleging sabotage and terror links, which they have not been able to prove even in one case. To reduce accidents, the Kavach system is important. They hyped it so much but are not able to implement execution as the coverage has not increased in the last four years. Moreover, it is very important today to employ use of Artificial Intelligence for warning systems to alert higher management on near-misses and should increase the pace of improvement of tracks.
Solution To End RAC, Waiting List
Last year, the government claimed that it would end the waiting list by 2027. But there is no strategy or roadmap. Leave aside ending the waiting list, the rush for unreserved passengers has increased manifolds and it seems there is no solution for it except making more non-AC coaches. They should increase the number of trains, length of trains, average speed of trains and number of tracks on saturated routes, only then it will be possible to end the waiting list. Then there is a speed differential between freight trains and passenger trains. It’s very high at present. They should increase the speed of freight trains as well. The sections are highly saturated at present and increasing the speed and improving the tracks are the only solutions to boost punctuality and efficiency. Only making granite and glass buildings at stations won’t help in achieving this fair objective.
Low-Cost AC Travel For Poor
Earlier there were talks that Railways would produce only AC trains. I liked the idea as I thought that they would enable everyone to travel in AC without increasing the fare somewhat like the Garib Rath Express concept. Today, the poor have less money, so allow them to travel in AC at a low cost and when India gets developed and they will have money, then charge them accordingly. However, it did not happen as they kept increasing the AC coaches and the number of non-AC coaches reduced. The government faced severe backlash. If the non-AC passengers don’t get seats, they will encroach on whatever seats are available, be it AC or others. This is what is happening at present. Now the railways are focusing more on non-AC coaches. This is also wrong. There should be a balanced approach.
If today’s non-AC coaches run in ‘Vikasit Bharat’, well past 2047, it would be a shame. The government should make a clear decision to enable the poor to travel in AC with comfort and dignity. What the government can do is allow the poor to travel in AC coaches at a fare equal to or lower than that of Garib Rath. The railway is getting a lot of money and they can take some more losses from here and earn more from trains like Vande Bharat. People will pay more for higher-end trains if the railways manage to cut down on travel time by increasing the average speed of the Vande Bharat to 100-110 kmph from the current 70 to 90 kmph; the first Vande Bharat between Delhi and Varanasi still has the highest average speed at 96 kmph. They should take a balanced approach and the knee-jerk reactions won’t solve the problem.
On Overburdened Railway Staff
The railways can outsource the non-safety category vacancies but it should have full strength in safety category staff like loco-pilots, guards, station masters, points man and signal maintainers etc. There should not be any vacancy in the safety category as it will overburden the existing resources which is detrimental to safety.
On Improvement In Railways
The functioning of the railway administration is still very feudal. There is a valley of hierarchy between the administrators and their staff. This is not good for a modern organization. We are forgetting the good systems instituted by the Britishers for train operation and maintenance but are carrying ahead their bad legacies like this system of administration sans any empathy for those administered. There should be more empathy and that would bring a feeling of well-being among employees.
