There is a touch of wry irony in the fact that today most of the news about the Indian Railways concerns Vande Bharat trains, and more particularly the fact that every new Vande Bharat train is being personally flagged off by the Prime Minister. For, a little over four years ago, the launch of Train 18, the precursor to the Vande Bharat train, was heralded by the initiation of vigilance investigations against some of the top architects of the project on wholly specious grounds.
The Train 18 project was one that was wholly conceived, planned and executed with élan in record time, by a team of inspired, talented and committed Railway professionals of the Integral Coach Factory, Perambur, Chennai, with minimum official support. Thankfully, the witch hunt came to naught. Today it seems it is raining Vande Bharat trains all over the country, a unique example of the success of a purely local initiative driving policy at the highest level.
Amid the publicity blitz and euphoria surrounding the successive introduction of Vande Bharat trains, almost on a weekly basis in various parts of the country, it is easy to lose sight of the larger picture and the serious issues confronting the Indian Railways.
