Yuthish Prabakar R

19478

Key Learnings from Module B – Leveraging Technology

Session No – 4 & 5 | Topics – Infrastructure and Information and Control Technology

To Electrify or not?
From the discussion on the Naini - Itarsi electrification case, my key learning was that I got to
understand both sides of the question “Should IR should go ahead with electrification?”.

While most views and inferences seemed like advantages for electrification, here are a few:

 Greener fuel: The main contention for using electricity was the lesser pollution it
generates compared to using HSD. Noise and smoke from diesel engines could direct
the push to electric engines.

 Economics: Also, diesel prices are volatile and cannot be controlled internally. Since,
20% of the cost of running IR is already incurred as fuel costs, it would make better
long-term sense to move to cheaper forms of power generation.

 Operational efficiency: Electric engines can accelerate faster, thereby improving

train speeds, decreasing turn-around time and improving on-time credibility of IR.
Fewer moving parts in electric engines make them easier and cheaper to maintain.

 Eye on the future: With the government having a vision to move to renewable forms
of energy, all of which involve electricity, it would be a strategic win to electrify.

While these were the merits of the move, it did have demerits and limitations as well.

 Infrastructure: A large section of the existing infrastructure will have to be

refurbished to accommodate electricity as a source of power. This includes laying
lines above tracks, electric locomotives and manpower trained to handle these
changes.

 Traffic density: In general, high-density lines are electrified. Most of the lines in
India are for connectivity rather than a profit center. This brings in to focus the
dilemma of IR between being profitable and being socially conscious.

If the goal is to be profitable, all lines cannot be electrified. On the other hand, if the goal is
to be socially conscious, lines could be electrified but at a steep cost and consistent losses.

Increased axle loading

After a brief visit by Lalu Prasad and based on his comments to milk the cow in full, a
decision was made to increase the capacity of BOXN wagons by 4 tons per axle. By doing
this IR was trying to bring in more revenues from the cash cow, freight transport.
Yuthish Prabakar R
19478
By increasing the number of wagons in a rake and providing discounts to large
customers (FCI, Coal India) if they booked freight for a whole rake, IR was catering to larger
players while turning a blind eye to the smaller customers.

In the mid-2000s, when there was a lot of spending on Roadway infrastructure compare to
Railways, there was a boom in the number and reach of logistics suppliers. This brought
down the cost of logistics via road and ultimately led to smaller logistics customers to switch
permanently to roads for transportation of goods. As an added inference, the rise of airline
companies during the same period could have given another option for these customers, air
cargo.

While the intention was to milk the cow more, it alienated a sub-segment and near
permanently ended their relationship with IR for logistics.

Role of ICT in driverless, automated railway operations:

Automation is the new normal everywhere, and for IR, it could have a plethora of benefits –
Improved speed, minimization of accidents/faults due to human error, better maintenance and
overall efficiency.

Punctuality: Signalling principles currently in use favour longer head time for trains. With
the use of automation – sensors and AI – headway can be decreased significantly thereby
improving punctuality and train speed.

More efficiency: As a continuation to the above point, faster trains and lower headways
mean improved capacity utilization of the whole network.

Improved Safety: Most accidents are due to human error and automation in this section can
eliminate accidents and increase the safety record of the railways.

Better Maintenance: With the use of intelligent sensors and IT, repairs can be scheduled to
minimize breakdown time. Proper forecasting can also help with predictive maintenance of
the rolling stock.

Costs: The one-time costs to implement ICT for the railway network will be high.

Inference and Opinion: Considering the benefits that ICT provides, in terms of safety,
reliability and better resource utilization, the costs involved should be overweighed by the
benefits.