An Airport for everyone........
The current rush of private companies who are keen to enter the domestic as well as the international airline sectors has brought a new generation of commuters to the airports that are keen to take a flight. Perhaps this is due to the stiff competition faced by our traditional carriers and also, perhaps the workings of airlines has become cheaper, but no doubt, the benefits are reaped by both the people who are flying and the people who are flying them by way of cheaper airfares and improved services. It is no surprise then that an airline proudly proclaims to offer air tickets at the price of railway tickets.
I am also surprised(and glad) by the little or no protests held against these private companies. Traditionally in our country the private companies are viewed as entities that are here to devour our freedom and affordability. But in the case of air travel I must say that it has only increased both, freedom and affordability by many folds.
Which makes me wonder if the same experiment can be done with our other means of transport, viz., the railways and the buses?
Now let’s look at how the airlines work.
All the airports in India are under the control of the Indian Government. The runways and the space occupied by the airport fall directly under the purview of the Airports Authority of India (AAI). AAI in turn lease the premises on the airport to the different airlines for their check-in counters, booking counters, etc for a certain amount. The runways are paid for by the number of flights that a particular airlines uses for its flights. The overall control of the airports, the runways and the flights taking off and landing lays with the AAI and so does the security.
Now look at a typical passenger. Any passenger who wants to travel on a route has a variety of options to choose from. Right from the different airlines to the different fair options in a particular airline. So at any given point there are several permutations and combinations that can be made to decide your travel. Depending on the availability of seats, you can decide on the flight according to your preference of fares, food, time and the service. And herein comes the competition. All the airlines are vying for your seat and hence itÃ’s not just the fares that they are competing for, but they are also competing for the timings and the in-flight services, be it food or entertainment. In al this the person who is flying gains to a great extent.
Now just imagine if we could do the same thing to our public transports, both the railways and our road transport. We could have the railways taking an initiative here by opening up the tracks to private players as well. I am not talking about handing over the entire railways to the private companies but to devise a system where the public as well as private companies compete to get every passenger that wants to use the railways.
The Indian Railway Authority (IRA), an agency which would have to be created could be the owner/care taker of the railway tracks and portions of the railway stations which they lease to the companies (both Private & Public) on the basis of the number of trains are running on a particular track, for ticketing counters, waiting areas or any other service that they intend to use. IRA would coordinate the movement of the trains on their tracks. IRA would also be responsible for the security, maintenance and disaster management of the tracks and the Stations. In this way the core functioning is managed by a Public entity and other areas are open to all. The companies would be providing to the commuters a range of options to choose from which would depend on the stoppages at stations, the class they wish to travel, etc. In this way at any given point a commuter has various options to choose from.
If some company decides to provide an integrated transport facility, like giving you the choice to choose a package which would include commuting from your house to the closest station, from the station to the station closest to your work place and from there to your work place, your life would be way too easy and they wouldn't have to waste our time and energy trying to co-ordinate our daily travel.
I am also surprised(and glad) by the little or no protests held against these private companies. Traditionally in our country the private companies are viewed as entities that are here to devour our freedom and affordability. But in the case of air travel I must say that it has only increased both, freedom and affordability by many folds.
Which makes me wonder if the same experiment can be done with our other means of transport, viz., the railways and the buses?
Now let’s look at how the airlines work.
All the airports in India are under the control of the Indian Government. The runways and the space occupied by the airport fall directly under the purview of the Airports Authority of India (AAI). AAI in turn lease the premises on the airport to the different airlines for their check-in counters, booking counters, etc for a certain amount. The runways are paid for by the number of flights that a particular airlines uses for its flights. The overall control of the airports, the runways and the flights taking off and landing lays with the AAI and so does the security.
Now look at a typical passenger. Any passenger who wants to travel on a route has a variety of options to choose from. Right from the different airlines to the different fair options in a particular airline. So at any given point there are several permutations and combinations that can be made to decide your travel. Depending on the availability of seats, you can decide on the flight according to your preference of fares, food, time and the service. And herein comes the competition. All the airlines are vying for your seat and hence itÃ’s not just the fares that they are competing for, but they are also competing for the timings and the in-flight services, be it food or entertainment. In al this the person who is flying gains to a great extent.
Now just imagine if we could do the same thing to our public transports, both the railways and our road transport. We could have the railways taking an initiative here by opening up the tracks to private players as well. I am not talking about handing over the entire railways to the private companies but to devise a system where the public as well as private companies compete to get every passenger that wants to use the railways.
The Indian Railway Authority (IRA), an agency which would have to be created could be the owner/care taker of the railway tracks and portions of the railway stations which they lease to the companies (both Private & Public) on the basis of the number of trains are running on a particular track, for ticketing counters, waiting areas or any other service that they intend to use. IRA would coordinate the movement of the trains on their tracks. IRA would also be responsible for the security, maintenance and disaster management of the tracks and the Stations. In this way the core functioning is managed by a Public entity and other areas are open to all. The companies would be providing to the commuters a range of options to choose from which would depend on the stoppages at stations, the class they wish to travel, etc. In this way at any given point a commuter has various options to choose from.
If some company decides to provide an integrated transport facility, like giving you the choice to choose a package which would include commuting from your house to the closest station, from the station to the station closest to your work place and from there to your work place, your life would be way too easy and they wouldn't have to waste our time and energy trying to co-ordinate our daily travel.
posted by rahul at 11:25 PM
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