Indian Railways: Compartmentalizing and how it has helped
India is one of the fastest growing
countries in the world, which boasts of the 6th largest economy along with the
2nd largest population in the world. These figures are great indicators of
progress for any country, but India is relatively young; having gained its
independence just 70 years ago, there is still a lot of work to be done.
The wage gap and the hierarchy
between the rich and the poor are still very evident in the country. Despite the huge economy, India has one of
the lowest per capita incomes in the world. This is partly because of the fact
that a majority of the population’s income is agriculturally based. However, in
the 21st century, there are big strides being made in order to turn the economy
into an industrially based website.
The Indian Railways is one such
public sector, where the disparities seem to fade away. One can find people
from all backgrounds and classes coming together and travelling on the same
train bound for the same destination. This is possible as the IR has a system which
keeps separate compartments for different travellers.
These compartments can be very
luxurious, with amenities such as air conditioning, bedding, world-class food
service, personal cabins and much more. At the other end for the people below
the poverty line, the compartments are of the same space, but with no
additional features whatsoever and usually fits over 100 people. This is
possible as the pricing of the different compartments varies drastically, the
first class compartments can cost as much as 6000Rs (100$) whereas a
general-class ticket to anywhere in India can cost as little as 100Rs (1.5$).
India has one of the lowest train
fares in the world, and this can be attributed to the government keeping a
close track of the needs and requirements of the majority of travellers. These
reasons and the super wide connectivity, help the Indian Railways carry over 8
billion passengers daily, which equates to nearly 23 million people daily. Such
staggering numbers only keep growing as the population increases and the impact
of technology helps IR widen its reach.
Technology has helped bookings, and railway inquiry is much easier. One can
easily find trains seats based on budget and requirement at the click of a
button. It can be found on the native website of the Indian Railways as well as
other travel booking websites. Along with booking, one can also change seats
based on preference and even move up or down on seat classes. There are added
features on phones, and one can use features such as live tracking and
departure timings to check for delays and cancellations.
