Ever since Ivy was transferred to Gulbarga (now renamed as Kalaburagi), both of us have made a total of more than 20 train trips to and from Kalaburagi in the last 3 months.
I've been completely blown away by all aspects of the travel. From the booking of the tickets to the journey itself. The Indian Railways is one of the worlds largest employer with over 1.5 million employees. And they somehow manage to choreograph the complete operations with a high degree of efficiency.
It starts with the booking of tickets. IRCTC, a subsidiary company is responsible for this aspect. Their website is one of the most technologically advanced websites that I've come across. And this is true even when you compare it to some of the world's leading airline websites. Its not great looking and its UI is not the most intuitive. Nevertheless the features and functionality make up for all of that.
A simple example is their Captcha. The Captcha is an Ad. And you need to fill in the name of the brand. Simple. And brilliant. The advertisers must be thrilled. Wonder why others have not yet used this. And they have Tatkal, which is a premium service for people who want last minute tickets. Once again, this provides emergency travelers a cost-effective option at a reasonable premium. Win-Win for the traveller and for the Railways.
The actual journey is equally impressive. Of the 20 + trips, 100% of the journeys have started on time. And 100% of the journeys have ended within 30 minutes of the scheduled time. Considering that the journey is over 12 hours and there a myriad of technical issues, this is Super Impressive.
The journey in AC starts with an attendant providing a pillow, 2 bed-sheets and a blanket. Once again, its always been clean.
And then the food. The IRCTC has their catering service. Simple, functional meals. And extremely reasonably priced. And you also have the option of other vendors. Who offer local favorites. This time, reasonably priced and Tasty too.
I'm not at all suggesting that IRCTC and the Railways is perfect. Like all good things, there are several areas where improvements are possible. And am sure that the Amazing Teams at the Railways and IRCTC are evaluating and will introduce those which are practical and commercially viable.
What we need to take into account is the challenges and constraints faced by the Indian Railways and the IRCTC and how inspite of that they manage to turn in an extremely credible and impressive performance. Day after Day after Day.
(1 crore = 10 million)
The next time you are in India and have an opportunity, do travel on a long distance train.
And before leaving, enjoy a video on the Indian Railways
A SHORT HISTORY OF INDIAN RAILWAYS (HINDI)
And read:
Timeline: 165 years of history on Indian Railways
By Joe Baker
https://www.railway-technology.com/features/timeline-165-years-history-indian-railways/
I've been completely blown away by all aspects of the travel. From the booking of the tickets to the journey itself. The Indian Railways is one of the worlds largest employer with over 1.5 million employees. And they somehow manage to choreograph the complete operations with a high degree of efficiency.
It starts with the booking of tickets. IRCTC, a subsidiary company is responsible for this aspect. Their website is one of the most technologically advanced websites that I've come across. And this is true even when you compare it to some of the world's leading airline websites. Its not great looking and its UI is not the most intuitive. Nevertheless the features and functionality make up for all of that.
A simple example is their Captcha. The Captcha is an Ad. And you need to fill in the name of the brand. Simple. And brilliant. The advertisers must be thrilled. Wonder why others have not yet used this. And they have Tatkal, which is a premium service for people who want last minute tickets. Once again, this provides emergency travelers a cost-effective option at a reasonable premium. Win-Win for the traveller and for the Railways.
The actual journey is equally impressive. Of the 20 + trips, 100% of the journeys have started on time. And 100% of the journeys have ended within 30 minutes of the scheduled time. Considering that the journey is over 12 hours and there a myriad of technical issues, this is Super Impressive.
The journey in AC starts with an attendant providing a pillow, 2 bed-sheets and a blanket. Once again, its always been clean.
And then the food. The IRCTC has their catering service. Simple, functional meals. And extremely reasonably priced. And you also have the option of other vendors. Who offer local favorites. This time, reasonably priced and Tasty too.
I'm not at all suggesting that IRCTC and the Railways is perfect. Like all good things, there are several areas where improvements are possible. And am sure that the Amazing Teams at the Railways and IRCTC are evaluating and will introduce those which are practical and commercially viable.
What we need to take into account is the challenges and constraints faced by the Indian Railways and the IRCTC and how inspite of that they manage to turn in an extremely credible and impressive performance. Day after Day after Day.
The next time you are in India and have an opportunity, do travel on a long distance train.
And before leaving, enjoy a video on the Indian Railways
A SHORT HISTORY OF INDIAN RAILWAYS (HINDI)
And read:
Timeline: 165 years of history on Indian Railways
By Joe Baker
https://www.railway-technology.com/features/timeline-165-years-history-indian-railways/
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