In business, there are two very important concepts — Standardisation and Customisation. These two strategies, however, are not polar opposites; nor is one contrary to the other. Thus, it came as a welcome surprise to hear that the Indian Railways now intends to standardise the size of its trains, that is, standardise the number of coaches for each train.
Currently the size of our trains vary from 12 to 26 coaches, depending on simple economic factors like seasonal demand and popular routes. Of course, this comes with its own corresponding set of problems. One, of course, is the fact that each of these trains becomes irreplaceable!
What I mean is that in the event that a train is delayed, there is precious little the railway authorities can do. Thus, in the current scenario, a train’s departure is linked to its arrival. Not to mention, the railways also loses considerable time in prepping the train for its next departure. Thus, when a train gets delayed, it has a domino effect on its overall run-time. With a standardised train, however, such problems can be avoided; since any available train would be able to serve as replacement for any delayed train.
This is especially important since currently the railways is bound to return complete fare to its customers if the train is delayed by more than 3 hours. Imagine the financial loss that the Indian exchequer has to suffer! This of course is only the financial loss! I am not even referring to the inconvenience caused to passengers or the loss of goodwill suffered by the service provider.
Therefore, if we were to have standardised trains, these losses could be eliminated since any train that is ready and available would be able to function as a replacement train which will take the place of the train that has been delayed. This will not only translate into financial boon for the Indian railways, but will also save the traveller from a lot of troubles.
In fact, to be honest it was high time that the Indian railways got rid of its public-sector mindset and run the Indian Railways as we do any business. After all, if the Railways is able to clock in some profits, it will hopefully be able to pass on some of those benefits to its customers.
A good financial health also means that the railways will be able to improve its services; both in terms of punctuality as well as comfort. In addition, if it has money to spare, it will also be able to invest in passenger safety. Given the fact that the Indian Railways is the biggest employer of the country, better profits will also translate into improved services; which in turn will also push demand; which in turn will also create more employment opportunities for the country’s youth. [Note: And just in case the skeptic inside of you is going, ‘How can a small step towards standardisation, create jobs for the youth’? You simply have to turn to the butterfly effect in chaos theory. After all, a small change sets the ball in motion for a large change.
