‘We’re only milking the cow’

See, in July 2001, a committee was formed under Dr Rakesh Mohan and it said the Indian Railways is heading towards a debt trap — if the government did not take effective measures soon, it will have a debt of Rs 61,000 crore by 2015. It’s 2006 now and, since then, the Railways is moving fast towards making profits. Our cash reserves, which were just Rs 350 crore in 2001, will grow to Rs 11,000 crore. This year, we will not only pay Rs 3,500 crore as dividend, but also past missed dividends.

You haven’t raised fares or tariffs. So, how has this happened?

We have broken the myth that our financial situation couldn’t improve without raising passenger fares. Prices of diesel have risen thrice, but our tariffs have fallen; our profit margin has increased without increasing fares. Also, while our economy is growing at 7 per cent per annum, we have been growing at 10 per cent.

Let’s talk specifics. The axle loads of freight trains has been increased. Isn’t there a safety issue here?

Those who say this don’t know their facts. Over the past 15 years, we have invested Rs 70,000 crore in tracks, bridges and other infrastructure. In other countries, trains carry axle loads of 25 tonnes on such tracks; we are carrying only 23 tonnes. And these are on non-passenger routes. So, the issue of passenger safety simply does not arise. We are only milking the cow. Safety is a priority for us. And in any case, overloading used to happen, but the money would not come into the Railways.

Who would take it?

The officials and workers involved in it. They have been caught and punished. Many were suspended, inquiries were initiated against them. They were transferred to non-sensitive posts.

But what’s the guarantee that overloading is not happening now?

No, no, that’s not possible at all, we are monitoring it, weighing every wagon…

So, how has increasing the axle load helped?

See, we have about 4,000 goods trains. Earlier, we used to transport 58 tonnes of goods, now it’s 68 tonnes. On an average, a train took seven days to go from one loading to another, so we were able to load 565 trains a day. Today, this turnaround has been cut to 5-5.5 days and we can load 800 trains a day. We have increased our capacity by 30-35 per cent.

We understood the needs of the market and our customers. In today’s competitive environment, we can’t increase demand by hiking tariffs. That’s why we are giving a rebate of 10-20 per cent in the busy season.

Your big customers like SAIL saying that by moving them from one classification to another, you have effectively raised their rates…

No, no. The Railways had such a big book (motions with his hands) about rate structures — different rates for different commodities. It had 4,000 pages, more than 150 basic classifications (laughs), according to the whims and comforts of our customers. That’s been compressed into one page.

They say you have cut their loading time.

What else could we do? They would block our trains. Their job is to unload the wagons. We have transported your goods on time, release our wagons, we told our customers. We told them to increase their efficiency.

What about smaller customers?

That is a problem area, and we are addressing it. If a trader wants to use the Railways to transport piecemeal goods, he can’t, as we don’t offer that service. He can do it only through containers through warehousing, where we have allowed private participation recently.

But by asking for just Rs 50 crore for the Mumbai-Delhi route and Rs 10 crore for other routes, haven’t you sold cheap?

We want to make money not from licence fee, but by increasing trade so that we make Rs 5,000-10,000 crore every year. There are lines, our infrastructure, we will drive the trains, offer services…you will make money, so please deposit some. Through container trains, we hope to serve small and medium enterprises.

But wouldn’t an open bidding process, as in catering, have been the better way to open the container business?

If we do that, it will become a monopoly situation. We want people to come, but the right people.

What about passenger traffic?

We are lengthening trains, making them 22 or 24 coaches long. But the platforms are built for older, smaller trains. So, we are increasing the length of the platforms. We are also planning more and better amenities…

As in catering?

There are so many trains that don’t have catering services. We are trying to give them facilities too.

What about the resistance you faced there when you put catering on a bidding process?

No, nothing. Who will resist? They know who the minister is!

Well, 72 cases were filed…

It doesn’t bother us. Their job is to file cases, our job is to make the Railways robust. And the court has given us justice.

Critics say you are benefiting from the actions of your predecessors.

The financial condition of the Railways in 2001 and who the railway minister then was is not hidden from anyone. What our profits and financial condition in May 2004 were and what they are today, you can study it and come to your own conclusions.

What has Lalu brought to the Railway berth?

I consider the Railways as a sone ki chidiya, a golden bird. But people running it were not able to see its significance, did not explore it. So, it became a sone ki chidiya for a few people. Now, how are we cutting our expenses and increasing profits? It’s because of our ideas, our integrity. Today, the Indian Railways is the world’s number three, we want to make it number one — this is our sankalp.

You have turned the Railways around, but not Bihar.

As I was trying to turnaround Bihar, I myself had to turn around (laughs). I will do that, I’m still working on Bihar — hamara Bihar will rise.