Standards and Specification for Time Tabling

Standards and Specification play a vital role in  improving performance with only one disadvantage that it binds the management limiting whimsical decisions. Railways had worked with a certain principle of standards in all fields of working except for the timetabling of catching trains. There is no directed policy and the impact made on the freight mobility is never evaluated when ever a new coaching train is added for most suitable time selection. With large scale computerization introduced called FOIS, COIS, CMS, Computerised Charting etc. and many software tools available, Railways shall work for fixing standards and specification for designing time table for coaching trains.

1. There are many types of train introduced during the period of many of Railway Ministers. The specification of those trains were given but not standardised such as

1. Rajdhani: Initially it was introduced with the concept to complete day time work in the Capital and return back the same day. Train arriving Capital at around 1000hrs and returning back at 1700 hrs. The definition is now misplaced. 
2. Shatabdi: Train leaving Major city in the morning and travelling for a time of 5-6 hrs or up to around 500 Km and returning back the same day depending upon the major city approach.
3. Jan-Shatabdi: Similar to Shatabdi but with 2nd Class sitting to meet the aspiration of day time travel of common man
4. Duranto: Non-stopping intercity travel
5. Garib Rath: Subsidized AC travel for common man
6. Yuva Express:
7. Jayanti Janta: Introduced on 2nd Oct, few pair of trains with 2nd class composition only
8. Janta Express: Only 2nd class express trains
9. Sampark Kranti Express: Train connecting State with Capital; i.e. stopping at important stations in the Originating State only

These trains has become synonymy with period of Railway Minister. Why not standardized these trains with specification ensuring no one tempers with the standard demanding stoppages later on or changing the logic behind those trains.

A simple logic is … If there is demand of 5000 seats per day from Mumbai to Delhi; why not run 4 non-stop trains in four different corridor

2. For more than 500 Km distance, the most preferred timings were overnight train. But with more and more demand, the start timings has gone upto 2330hrs and arriving timings even 0330hrs.

3. Speed differential results in precedence of one coaching train over another freight train. This is OK. But when it results precedence of one coaching train over another coaching train; the common man is irritated while waiting at platform and train in rear with black windows passes through. Why not avoid this?

4. Up and Down direction of travel was introduced during British period when Private Railways introduced there own system of direction of travel. Now with unification of operating system of Indian Railways, will it not be prudent to define up and down system by simple exercise of natural gravity flow of water from J&K to Kerala/Tamil Naidu.

Indian Railways shall act immediately to set Standards and Specification to facilitate Designing Time Table which benefits Railways as well as common passenger.