A 5-point reform template for Indian Railways

Five years ago, the railway budget was unified with the Union budget, ending a separation that went back to 1924. Indian Railways (IR) has prepared a National Railway Plan for 2030, which will take IR forward to 2050. Prior to that, there was a reform document in 2017 and this stated the challenges of under-investment in infrastructure, lack of customer focus, low generation of internal resources and organisational rigidity. This was against the background of competition from both road transport and civil aviation.