Lok Sabha Question No. 1673 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2015-12-09
Subject: Operating Ratio of Railways
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: C.S. PUTTARAJU

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1673 TO BE ANSWERED ON 09.12.2015

## OPERATING RATIO OF RAILWAYS

## 1673. SHRI C. S. PUTTA RAJU :

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state :

- (a) whether  the  operating  ratio  of  Indian  Railways  is  relatively  higher  in comparison to other countries;
- (b) if  so,  the  reasons  therefor  along  with  the  details  of  operating  ratio  of Indian Railways during the last three years and the current year, yearwise;
- (c) the  steps  taken/being  taken  by  Railways  to  optimize  their  operating ratio;
- (d) whether different committee reports have highlighted that Railways are lagging  behind  and  have  not  kept  pace  with  technology  upgradation requirement due to inadequate investment;
- (e) if so, the response of the Government thereto; and
- (f) the concrete steps taken by the Government to develop rail transport in the country?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

( SHRI MANOJ SINHA )

(a) to (f) : A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

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STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  TO  (f)  OF  UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1673 BY SHRI C.S. PUTTA RAJU TO BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 09.12.2015 REGARDING OPERATING RATIO OF RAILWAYS

(a) & (b):     Information on Operating Ratio of railway systems in other countries is neither compiled nor maintained in this Ministry.  The Operating Ratio of the Indian Railways for 2012-13, 2013-14 and 2014-15 was 90.2%, 93.6% and 91.3%(Provisional) respectively. Budget Estimates 2015-16 envisage an Operating Ratio of 88.5%.

(c):  Improvement in Operating Ratio necessitates a progressively higher growth rate in  Traffic  Earnings  vis-a-vis the  Working  Expenses. It is a continuous endeavour of the Railways to increase revenues and control expenditure.  Steps taken to maximize the  traffic  earnings,  inter-alia,  include  periodic  rationalization  of  fare  and  freight tariff,  effective  marketing  strategies  to  capture  more  and  more  traffic,  creation  of additional  capacity  and  optimum  utilization  of  the  existing  rail  infrastructure, improved throughput by steps to increase productivity and efficiency, improvement of  passenger  interface  etc.    To  contain  expenditure,  Railways  have  made  efforts through diverse means including strict economy and austerity measures, improved man-power planning, better asset utilization and inventory management, optimizing fuel consumption etc.

(d):  Yes,  Madam.  Technological  upgradation  and  the  funding  arrangement  for  the same on Indian Railways has been highlighted by different expert committees. (e) & (f): Technological upgradation on the Railways is an on-going process and has to  match  the  topographical  and  socio-economic  conditions  of  the  country  and specific need and requirement of Railways. Efforts to garner more resources to meet these  requirements  is  also  a  continuous  and  progressive  endeavour.  Towards technology upgradation and development of rail transport in the country,  Railways have already initiated the following:

 Upgradation of sleepers from wooden and metal to concrete sleepers.

-  Use  of  fan  shaped  turnouts  on  concrete  sleepers  in  place  of  wooden  &  metal sleepers.
-  Use of heavier section (60kg) and high tensile strength (90 UTS) rails in place of 90R/52 kg 72 UTS rails.
-  Predominant use of long rail panels or welded rails in place of earlier fish plated joints.
-  Decision to use thick web switches on heavy density routes along with Wieldable Cast Manganese Steel (CMS) crossings in place of ordinary curved switches and Cast Manganese Steel Crossings (CMS).
-  Ultrasonic testing of rails & welds with the help of digital double rail testers (DRT) in place of analogue single rail tester. Vehicle borne ultrasonic testing of rails and welds.
-  Mechanised maintenance of track.
-  Introduction  of  corrosion  resistant,  stainless  steel,  higher  pay  to  tare  ratio wagons.
-  Bogie Mounted Brake system for wagons.
-  Higher capacity Auto car wagons etc.
-  Installation of Mobile Train Radio Communication (MTRC) system for providing full duplex communication between Driver, Guard, ASM, LC Gate & approaching trains as well as maintenance staff on A, B & C routes of Indian Railways.
-  Setting up of MTRC system based on GSM-R technology.
-  Pace of electrification on Indian Railways has been accelerated and around 1300 RKMs are being electrified every year.
-  Signalling systems like Electrical/Electronic Interlocking with centralized operation of points and signals.
-  Multiple Aspect Colour Light Signalling with LED Signals.
-  Complete Track Circuiting of the station.
-  Digital Axle Counters.
-  Automatic Signalling.
-  Train Management Systems (TMS) etc.
-  Considering adoption of Train  Protection  and  Warning  System  (TPWS)  and  Train Collision  Avoidance  System  (TCAS)  as  means  of  Automatic  Train  Protection subject to available funds.
-  Elimination of level crossings & unmanned level crossings.
-  Introduction of new generation locomotives.
-  Traction development for improvement in fuel efficiency, emission and reliability.
-  High speed potential LHB coaches.
-  Upgradation of suburban coaches.
-  Green toilets on all passenger trains.
-  Enhancement of customer amenities at stations and on trains.
-  Feasibility studies for semi high speed operation.
-  Establishment of loco and coach manufacturing units.
-  Installation  of  captive  power  generation  and  renewable  energy  projects  (solar, wind etc).
-  Introduction of mobile ticketing.
-  Construction of dedicated freight corridors: the Dedicated Freight Corridors (DFCs) on the Eastern (Dankuni-Ludhiana, 1839 kms) and Western (Jawaharlal Nehru Port Terminal  (JNPT)  -  Dadri,  1499  kms)  routes  are  being  constructed.  The  DFC Corridors  are  a  strategic  capacity  augmentation  initiative  taken  by  Railways involves construction of dedicated freight lines to carry predominantly coal and steel on the Eastern Corridor and containers on the Western Corridor.
-  For  financing,  apart  from  ring-fencing  priority  projects  and  ensuring  funding  for last mile projects, areas such as Foreign Direct Investment(FDI) and Public Private Partnership(PPP)  are  being  tapped.  In  this  connection,  Ministry  of  Railways  has signed  a  Memorandum  of  Understanding  with  Life  Insurance  Corporation  of India(LIC) whereby LIC has agreed to provide a funding assistance of ` 1,50,000 crore  over  a  five  year  period  from  2015-16  to  2019-20  for  financing  Railway Projects.
-  Entering  into  partnership  with  State  Governments  &  other  stake  holders  for enhancing the reach.

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