Railway fares were hiked last week amidst protests by passengers. However, there appear to be varying opinions on the sudden decision to increase fares of the relatively cheaper mode of public transport in the country.
While the department of railways and economists claim railway fares must be hiked, politicians on the other hand are of the opinion that the department is suffering losses due to its inefficiency and the millions spent on paying overtime payments of the staff. Meanwhile, passengers claim despite the increased fares trains are habitually late and the service provided is not of good quality.
Unions have continuously blamed governments and their failures. On the other hand, the management has pointed out that the trade unions are interfering with the administration and are only looking for rights instead of running the service efficiently.
While all parties appear to bear some of the responsibility, the passengers have merely one need. That is a quality train service. The treasury meanwhile wishes for a service that is not a burden on the state’s coffers. But undoubtedly this is a difficult task.
But how feasible is it to cover the service’s cost without burdening the passengers any further during this crisis? Below is a look into the railway fare increases and their related causes.
The most common complaint is that certain railway ticket fares have been increased by over 100 percent.
Percentage
How in fact does the railway increase fares? This happens according to a standardised method existing since the country’s British era. Accordingly, when the percentage of railway fare increase is decided, the fare will be increased by increasing the amount charged per passenger kilometre by the relevant percentage, not by increasing the current fare by the relevant percentage.
Similar to that of the electricity bill the railway fares are also divided into five zones and the fares will be revised accordingly. The difference is that the higher the number of electricity bill units, the higher the amount charged per unit. But when it comes to railway fares, the longer the distance of the train ticket, the lower the amount charged per passenger kilometre in each zone.
The zones are divided into 5 zones, the first 10 km from any station as zone 1, 11 to 50 km as zone 2, 51 to 100 as zone 3, 101 to 200 as zone 4 and above 201 as zone 5.
The current fares were fares imposed on October 1, 2018. Accordingly, as of today, a passenger is charged an amount of 1.30 rupees for traveling a kilometre. The fares were increased by 15 percent in 2018. A fare of Rs. 25, therefore, was increased to Rs. 40. On the face of it, it appears to be an increase of 60 percent. But this is the correct fare increase according to the price revision formula in place.
This time the increase in train fares will be Rs 2.60 per km for a 3rd class passenger for the first 10 km, Rs 2.40 per km from 10 to 50 km, Rs 1.70 per km from 50 to 100 km, Rs 1.40 per km from 100 to 200 km and Rs. 1.10 per km for a distance above 200 km.
Accordingly, for a distance of 15.41 kilometres from Colombo Fort to Ragama, the fare for the first 10 kilometers is 2.60 rupees per kilometer (2.60 * 10 = 26.00) and for the second 5.41 kilometers, 2.40 rupees per kilometer (2.40 * 5.41 = 12.98). ) Accordingly there fare up to Ragama,( Rs.26.00 + 12.98 = 38.98) is Rs. 38.98 which was rounded to Rs.40.00.
Second class fares have been increased by 5.20 rupees per the first kilometre and first class fares have been increased by 10.40 rupees per first kilometre.
According to the General Manager of Railways, the fares were increased to almost half of the bus fares. “But as the increase in railway fares is done according to the distance and the respective regions, there will be some changes in it,” he said. He also pointed out that when a litre of diesel was priced at 400 rupees, the rates were adjusted taking that amount into consideration.
‘‘When the train fares are increased, the amounts may increase depending on the distance. For example, the distance of the train to Ragama is less than the distance of the bus. Due to this, the increased percentage is about 60 percent if we look at the previous fee. But the distance to Avissawella is more by train than by bus. Therefore, if you look at the previous fare, it may appear to the passenger that the percentage has increased by 100 percent. But it should be understood that we increase the fares by calculating the distance and the relevant percentage according to the zones as mentioned earlier.” he explained.
High cost
According to him, the fares must be increased due to the high cost of the railway service. Diesel alone costs Rs. 45 million per day while the daily income is only about Rs. 20 million. “By increasing the fares, another Rs. 14 to 15 million can be collected. But even after that increase we still need another Rs. 6 million more for fuel.” he said.
He also noted the department spends a significant sum on salaries and overtime payments.
“Those overtime methods have been around for a long time. Also, overtime has increased due to the lack of employees. The number of approved railway staff is 20590, but currently, there are only about 12,000. Because of this, especially the drivers, controllers and station masters get significant overtime payments” he said. According to him though new stations and routes keep getting added the staff numbers remain the same. “Therefore it is difficult to get rid of the overtime payments,” he added.
According to Prof. Amal Kumarage of the University of Moratuwa, public transport is vital in a fuel crisis. “There has been an increase in railway passengers as just a week ago the cost was far lower than for the bus. Over time this could lead to the collapse of the bus industry while the train service becomes overwhelmed by increasing passenger numbers” he said.
“Today, most focus is only on profit and loss. Looking at it that way, is the Road Development Authority profiting? Here the focus should be on maintaining the relevant service. There, the cost should be considered along with the consideration of the service.” Prof. Kumarage said.
“There is no train service anywhere in the world that makes a profit from passenger train tickets. All these must be managed. Special attention should be paid to those who should be given some kind of relief. For example, like school students.” he said.
“Here increasing the fare is only one option. It is not possible to maintain a transport service that does not increase the fare. The only thing is that the decisions taken in relation to transportation should be correct and they should not be political decisions” he further said.
According to transport expert Lalithasiri Gunaruwan, Senior Professor of the Department of Economics at the University of Colombo, it is the public that owns the railway service. He pointed out that no one has the right to harm the rights of the public.
‘‘If the cost of an organisation increases then the fees must be increased in comparison to that cost. For example, we cannot control the rise in the price of crude oil in the world market, and we cannot control the rise in spare parts due to the rise in the price of the dollar. If correct plans are not applied there, those institutions will collapse.” he said.
“If a public institution collapses like this, the management, as well as those making decisions, are responsible in this regard. If more overtime is being paid, they are responsible for making that decision. What has happened today is efficiency, over time, the host of issues are only remembered by those responsible when they must increase the fares. Why can’t these issues be addressed in advance?” he asked. “Raising the fare is a one-sided solution and shows the failure of the manager,” he added.
Reimbursed
“Also, if railway concessions are provided for school students or for other social welfare activities in rural areas, the expenses must be reimbursed to the department at the end of the month. If not at the end of the year, when you look at the numbers you will see significant losses. Organisations then are named White elephants making it an excuse for those who want to privatize these institutions” he said.
Commenting on this, Railway Station Master’s Association Secretary Kasun Chamara says that his association does not agree to the increase in railway fares. He also pointed out that he does not approve of making the passenger more destitute when the department has other means to earn an income.
“For example, the Bandarawela Pradeshiya Sabha has proposed to give an amount of Rs. 200 Million for the use of land belonging to the Bandarawela railway station. But that process is stagnant due to someone’s negligence. There are other ways to earn income such as this. It is really disheartening for us as employees that the department is not paying attention to this. We are the first point of contact for members of the public so they often have arguments with us over fares. We have tried to highlight the problems faced by them” he said.
“If the railway department is an institution of the people, it should be a service provider to the people. Tens of thousands of acres of land in the department, which owns the majority of urban land including Colombo are being neglected. If these lands are leased to institutions, the department can earn a significant income.” he said.
The other issue stems from the massive overtime payments being made to staff including engine drivers and guards.
An average of Rs 2.5 billion is spent on overtime payments per year. More than Rs. 1 billion is spent on both salaries and overtime monthly. But the average monthly income is about Rs. 220 million. In reality, the revenue of the railways is not sufficient to cover the diesel cost of the service.
The unions have been accused of setting up shifts to earn significant overtime payments while executive grade officers who are not entitled to overtime payments, claim overtime payments through various methods. It is the responsibility of the Secretary of the Ministry of Transport as well as the General Manager of Railways to look into these matters properly. If not, the adage that Sri Lanka railways is yet another white elephant will continue for decades to come.
This article is an English translation of Tharaka Wickremasekara