18 July Gonda, 19 July Valsad, 20 July Amroha, 21 July Alwar, 21 July Nadia, 26 July Bhubaneswar, 30 July Chakradharpur Mumbai Howrah Express, in last 13 days, 7 trains were derailed in different places. And this is not just about July. In February, there was the Jamtara accident, in March, the Palghar Goods Carrier derailment, in June, the Sirhind Freight and Kanchjunga Express, and then in July, these 7 incident. In just six months, we’ve seen one train accident after another in the news – many people lost their lives, and many were injured in these rail accidents in India. However, while we say rails derailing, railway stocks were booming.
But during this time, Railway stocks have been making waves in the market –
IRFC (Indian Rail Finance Corporation) is still up today and has grown by 413.74% in the past year and around 17% in the last six months.
IRCON International showed over 200% growth in one year and over 26% in the last six months. RailTel Corporation of India has seen similar growth.
RVNL (Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd) has done amazingly well… It’s up by 11 points today, has grown by 108% in the last six months, and by 397% in the past year. Over five years, RVNL has grown by more than 2400%.
Amazing, right?
But sadly, while railway stocks have surged over the past year and five years, we can’t say the same about the state of the Railways. The condition of the Railways has worsened over the past year and five years.
Even newly launched so-called modern trains are failing with several viral clips going viral.
AC compartments without failed AC midjourney, poor conditions in general coaches, and other railway shortcomings have become common topics on social media.
Besides, you might remember how the senior citizen concession was also canceled by the railways since Covid, and both normal and tatkal fares have been significantly increased.
So, the question is,
When rail stocks are hitting new highs every day, investors in rail stocks are happy, and the government has raised rail fares while cutting concessions, what’s the problem? Why is the condition of the railways so bad that Indian trains derail somewhere every month?
2024 Rail Accidents in India: Indian Railways Needs to Address Several Problems
Such as –
- Unfilled vacancies at lower levels – track men, line men, and technicians,
- Large-scale staff shortages, with 3.12 lakh non-gazetted railway posts vacant across the country,
- Recruitment freeze,
- Full bureaucratic culture where progress is slow, and there’s no roadmap,
- And less clarity on how the railways will move forward.
Moreover,
Impact of Non-Continuance of Railway Budget
The merger of the Railway Budget with the Union Budget in 2017 has led to a lack of accountability from the Railway Ministry, causing inconvenience to millions of passengers traveling daily. Key concerns include:
- Lack of Transparency: No separate railway budget means less transparency in allocation and utilization of funds.
- Reduced Accountability: The Railway Ministry is no longer directly accountable for its financial management and performance.
- Inadequate Funding: Insufficient funding for critical projects and maintenance, leading to delays and cancellations.
- Passenger Inconvenience: Millions of passengers face delays, cancellations, and inadequate amenities due to underfunding and poor management.
- Lack of Focus on Railways: The merger has diluted the focus on railway-specific issues, leading to neglect of critical safety and operational concerns.
- No Clear Vision: Absence of a separate railway budget has resulted in a lack of clear vision and direction for the railway sector.
Rising Rail Accidents in India: What’s the Solution?
Imagine if Indian Railways worked like ISRO. Indian Railways should learn from ISRO in target-driven goals, team spirit, Research and Development, transparency, speed, and active collaboration with the private sector. ISRO focuses on problem-solving from day one and only takes up challenges that it confidently tackles in the medium term.
Imagine if Indian Railways started using LHB (Linke Hofmann Busch) coaches instead of ICF (Integral Coach Factory) bogies, like Japan’s Shinkansen in large scale. LHB coaches don’t derail or mount on each other.
Indian Railways can achieve a lot, but currently, it’s not doing what it should. There was a time when a Railway minister would resign after a train accident, but now, all we see is a blame game…The current Railway minister‘s twitter account doesn’t show any disappointment, remorse, action steps of any of the rail accidents that happened in 2024. (If you find, please comment with screenshot!)
In this state of affairs, if investors and traders are investing in railway stocks, it is alarming. Mainly because, we are not holding responsible – the promoters that is GOI unlike it is normally done with other share. Secondly, everything seems like sab changa si when it is not. Only if we become aware and trade these stocks based on the performance of railways, we can put a pressure on them to perform.
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Don’t you think there’s a need for more market awareness here?
After all, whether the rail speeds up or not, railway stocks are on the rise. Hence, it’s high time investors study every industry and sector thoroughly, understand the actual condition and reality, and then invest. Only then will we be able to put a stop to this speculative market… Otherwise, we’ll just be living in one bubble after another, with something bursting every now and then… People are already fed up with startup IPOs, but there’s still hope for PSUs…
Therefore, Now is the time for traders and investors to study every market, sector, and industry, understand the actual condition and reality – only then will the market grow, the industry grow, stocks grow, and the investors in them grow, like you and me…
Yes, only then apna time aayega…
