Speed and strategy

Even as the memory of one of India’s worst train accidents in decades begins to fade, the headlines have been taken over by news of new Vande Bharat trains being launched with considerable fanfare. Questions of how and what the financial priorities will be for the Indian Railways, however, must not be allowed to fade. The government had taken an important step towards depoliticising major decisions concerning the Railways by ending the practice of having a separate Railway Budget prior to the Union Budget. This effort must be followed up on by ensuring greater transparency about financial decisions and strategic priorities. Old accusations that the Indian Railways is being treated as a vote-getter and not as a crucial infrastructure sector