Ideas for railway management – 2…… Station infrastructure

As of now I am short of some statistics, which I propose to add with time.

• 7000 stations… of these only 500 are big stations.
• Currently, IR charges passengers per KM, which is for traveling in the train.
• Station infrastructure is what is used by the passengers and what affects him most.
• The station management is the most unempowered staff in the complete administration.

IDEA: Every large station need be a profit center and need be run like a cost effective business.

BUSINESS MODEL:

User charge on every passenger

• Cost of embarking and disembarking trains
  • Rs 1-5 depending upon facilities offered
• Cost of passing through the stations
  • Rs 1-5 depending upon facilities offered

What all is proposed to  be covered

• Shelter
• Platform surface, construction, maintenance and cleaning
• Railway Lines (so called washable aprons)
• Retiring rooms
• Escalators
• Parking
• Circulating area
• Infrastructure upgradation
• Reservation center

What makes it possible today

• With computerized reservation and computerized unreserved ticketing system, these charges can be immediately imposed and the collections moved to the stations funds.
• The profit center should be put under a station administration… all existing staff should be moved out and new mechanisms put in place.
• With cleaning already outsourced, and the maintenance (electrical or civil) non existent, there is hardly any resource transfer involved.
• An entity called ” Station administration” need be formed which is solely responsible for everything relating to the station and should sit on the station itself and manned by empowered senior officers.

These stations should be modeled so that their management can be handed over to private agencies on a PPP model, once it becomes a working model.