THE TALE OF TRAIN-18
Train-18 or the Vande Bharat Express, the first 'Make in India' semi high-speed train is poised to revolutionise rail travel in the country. EPISODE #113
Dear Reader,
A very Happy Monday to you
Last week India celebrated a very important anniversary on 15 February.
Since it did not get the due attention from mainstream media the moment may have escaped notice. It was the third anniversary of the launch of Train-18 or the Vande Bharat.
India’s first indigenous semi high-speed train has become a crowd favourite since its launch—this despite the fact that only eight have been rolled out so far. Last year’s Union Budget promised 400 more by 2025—at that time only two were operating.
So this week I put the spotlight on another amazing New India story.
It is a story of grit and determination. The odds the project had to overcome included the dreaded bureaucratic hoops, import lobbies and an eroded sense of self-belief. Yet, in 18 months the Integrated Coach Factory, Chennai achieved what critics believed was impossible. Do read and share your feedback.
The fun cover picture on Vande Bharat is sourced from twitter via Amul.
A big shoutout to Atul, Gautam, Premasundaran, Deepak, Vandana and Aashish for your informed responses, kind appreciation and amplification of last week’s column. Once again, grateful for the conversation initiated by readers. Gratitude also to all those who responded on Twitter and Linkedin. Reader participation and amplification is key to growing this newsletter community. And, many thanks to readers who hit the like button😊
VANDE BHARAT @3
Last week India celebrated a very special anniversary: the third birthday of Vande Bharat Express—the first made in India semi high-speed train.
On 15 February 2019, the train rolled out from New Delhi station for Varanasi. Since then seven more trains have been added to the fleet. The union government has promised to roll out 400 more by 2025.
So far, the operating trains have ferried 40 lakh passengers and logged 23 lakh km. Needless to say, Vande Bharat is poised to revolutionise train travel in the country. Not only is it transforming consumer experience, it is also improving efficiency in the Indian Railways by substantially reducing turnaround time and reducing energy consumption.
However, there is subtext to this accomplishment, which in my view is equally significant.
The project overcame decades old bureaucratic lethargy, hostile lobbies which backed imports and the lack of self belief—which meant that for most of the last seven decades the Indian Railways, overwhelmed by status quo, just believed in doing more of the same thing, rarely willing to push the envelope.
It is not that India lacked talent. But decades of neglect had made status quo the preferred option, killing self-belief among its personnel. This is what the Vande Bharat project revisited with aplomb.
As the former project head, Sudhanshu Mani, told me in an interview (to air next Thursday on StratNews):
“The pool of engineers, managers (in the Indian Railways) is very, very competent.
Over the years, their technical competence and excitement to do something starts getting killed because they are not encouraged to do something out of the box for the country. But it is there to be tapped.
I and my team members realized this; so all we did was to channelize their energy towards delivering this train.”
The Make in India Idea
Conventionally, a train is pulled by a locomotive—making it the sole power behind the train. However, modern technology soon realised that you achieve greater efficiencies by modularly redistributing this power among the coaches—creating an engine-less train as it were.
This idea of decentralised traction enabled greater efficiencies, especially with respect to energy consumed—it is estimated that the new model reduces consumption anywhere between 20-30%. At the same time it also improved the braking system of the train as it was redistributed. And of course turnaround time.
Not surprisingly, the locomotive was abandoned and the idea of train sets (the official nomenclature to distinguish it from the train hauled by the locomotive) were introduced over two decades ago. In the rest of the world that is.
In India the debate was still about import or manufacture of locomotives. That is till the Integrated Coach Factory (ICF) in Chennai got possessed with the idea of indigenously manufacturing a train set in 2017. Vande Bharat is a tale of inspired audacity.
The leadership of Sudanshu Mani combined with the enthusiasm of the skilled personnel at ICF created the enabling environment for the Indian Railways to ink a dream script. The project had an internal clock with Mani due to retire in December 2018—the red tape within the Railways, inspired by vested lobbies, would inevitably have buried the idea soon after.
Effectively, the ICF team had about 18 months to pull off this audacious project. They did even better. By October of 2018 the proof of concept was ready and field tested. Mani hung up his boots a few months later, but by then the project was all set for an official rollout.
The rest, as they say, is history.
The UX Overhaul
The measure of any product is inevitably its User Experience (UX). And, in this passengers have given a wholesome ‘Thumbs-Up’. Check out the tweet below from one of the most astute observers of New India. It says it all.
Personally, I can imagine the UX makeover and the crowd’s response.
As a migrant family in Delhi, inevitably the summer holidays were spent travelling back home in Kerala. My memories are from the late 1960s. The journey would take nearly four days to accomplish, given the limited connectivity and the state of the railway equipment.
The train used to be pulled by a steam engine and each coach was an island. Catering was self-service—with my mother packing three meals for four days for the entire family (no clue how she managed this Herculean task. Salute!).
Using the toilets, dirty and overflowing, was a fearful experience. The worst period of travel was during the day when the summer heat was at its peak—there was no air conditioning and essentially open windows and a ceiling fan, which was essentially an improvised exhaust fan, were the only source of relief.
But as kids we only saw the romance and adventure of a train ride pulled by a steam engine spewing coal dust and smoke. I am sure accompanying adults would disagree.
Decades later, there were changes: locomotives replaced the steam engine, coaches got vestibuled, a dining car was introduced and travel time to Kerala was reduced to little under two days. Nothing changed structurally though.
One significance of Vande Bharat is the unprecedented transformation in UX. Sharing a few examples:
Reduced journey time by 25-45%;
Fully sealed gangways and interconnecting doors ensure a dust free environment;
Provides for people with special abilities.
All toilets are bio-vacuum;
The lighting is dual mode—diffused for general illumination and personal for every seat;
Every coach is equipped with a pantry and can serve hot meals, hot and cold beverages.
Each coach is insulated, such that exposure to the vagaries of the weather and external noise is minimised;
It has 16 air-conditioned coaches of which two are executive class;
The total seating capacity is 1,128 passengers;
It is then clear that India’s first indigenously manufactured semi high-speed train is off to a terrific start. Undoubtedly, UX and passenger comfort has touched an unprecedented high.
In my view, the more compelling takeaway though, is the mindset reset that Vande Bharat inspired in one of the most bureaucratic institutions in the country. A ‘Yes we can’ moment that will endure and manifest in many, many more victories for the Indian Railways and of course India.
What do you think?
Recommended Viewing
Sharing the latest post of Capital Calculus on StratNews Global. This time I put the spotlight on this fascinating project to push financial services inclusion.
The India Posts joined this exercise, to reach the unbanked and underbanked, with the launch of the India Post and Payments Bank (IPPB) in 2018. The idea was to leverage the huge network of the India Post, consisting of 1.55 lakh post offices and around 3 lakh postal employees. Central to this operation is the postman/postwoman—or the Dakia.
They figured that the outcome was below expectations. Accordingly, the IPPB recruited the services of the Centre for Social and Behaviour Change at Ashoka University. They deployed the use of WhatsApp as a communication tool, to explain the challenges as well as enable peer motivation.
I spoke to Pooja Haldea—a behavioural scientist and the project lead—at the Centre for Social and Behaviour Change.
In an amazing conversation Pooja laid out the productive use of WhatsApp as a tool to enable efficient and effective peer-to-peer communication. Do watch and share your thoughts.
Sharing the link below:
Till we meet again next week, stay safe.
Great and informative as always. Continue the good work.
Very interesting article on Vande bharat. It is another feather in the cap of India's National Railway network, which is fourth largest in the world. These trains are equipped with world class passenger amenities and better energy efficiency. It is a major step forward in the modernization of our economy!!