After a long buzz and several delays, something concrete has finally emerged from the Minister’s desk. The Howrah–Guwahati route will be the first to witness the introduction of the rake. In a way, this marks a new dawn for the North-East—quite literally, as this region is among the first in the country to see the break of day.
Moving beyond the initial excitement, the familiar problem of Indian Railways becomes evident once again: underutilisation of rolling stock. Large sections of the route do not support speeds beyond 130 kmph, and in some stretches the train will crawl at around 110 kmph. Given these constraints, deploying the rake on routes such as NDLS–CSMT or NDLS–HWH via Gaya might have made more operational sense. However, that option did not see the light of day.
Is this decision influenced by the prevailing political scenario? This is purely my own speculation—perhaps. Both termini fall in poll-bound states, and introducing a new rake in such regions does carry political significance. It can be read as a signal: we acknowledge you; you are not outside the scheme of things. My intuition comes from a recent precedent. When Bihar was approaching elections, the proposed route was NDLS–PNBE. Now that the polls are over, the narrative appears to have shifted—let’s use this for a “better” purpose.
That said, not all hope is lost. As stated by the Minister, six new services (twelve rakes) are planned. One can reasonably expect other sectors to benefit as well. My bet would be on routes such as NDLS–CSMT, NDLS–PNBE, NDLS–HWH, or perhaps MAS–CSMT or MAS–HWH. Time will tell what materialises.
After all, this is just the first day of the year. There is much more yet to unfold.
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