Story of Indian Railways!

When the country became independent in 1947, the railway was not a "developed system", but the half-incomplete structure of the British, the purpose of loot, not service. After the real work began, and no need to tell who was in power at that time. Chittaranjan Locomotive Works was parked in 1950 during the Jawaharlal Nehru, where the first engine named "Deshbandhu". It was not just a factory, it was a message that India will no longer run on others engine, it will make its own engine. In the same era, Railways was nationalized in 1951, an "Indian Railways" was created by connecting more than 40 different networks, think about it, doing such a big operation in that era means connecting the country with no mobile, no computer, just mind and intention. When Lal Bahadur Shastri became Railway Minister, he didn't just sign files, a major rail accident happened in 1956, and he resigned taking moral responsibility. If you tell this story to today's leaders, maybe they will search on Google what is "resignation". Babu Jagjivan Ram surveyed thousands of kilometers of new lines in the 1950-60s, laying the foundation for transporting railways to villages. Indira Gandhi's era has promoted railways electrification and heavy industry since 1969. Shift on diesel and electric engines faster, increasing speed and decreasing costs. This was the time when the country was battling war, poverty and oil crisis, but the expansion of railways did not stop. Thousands of new coaches formed, new lines added, and the network continued to expand in the 1970s–80s. Rajiv Gandhi started computerized reservation system in 1986. Those who book tickets on mobile today don't get pushed in queue, their real game is this system. That time, this move was so big that it was discussed all over Asia that India is making railways digital. Madhavrao Scindia launched Shatabdi Express in 1988, giving a new face to Indian Railways. Speed, cleaning and time value all came in the same phase. After that, the railway network crossed 60,000 kilometers in the 1990s and 2000s, and the train reached every corner of the country. Lalu Prasad Yadav came again. In 2004-2009, railway was brought out from loss and brought into profit, and that too without increasing the fare. Started "Poor Chariot", so that sitting in AC is not the right of only rich. That time case study was taught to Harvard and IIM on how the railways were turnedarounded. After 2014, new trains came, names changed, like "Vande Bharat" before, but the question is who laid the foundation? The 65,000+ kilometers network was already standing, it was shining. This is the same as telling yourself the architect by painting on someone else's house. Rent increased slowly, common man's pocket loose in the name of reducing the burden of subsidy. Where the poor man used to make a 2-3-day journey cheaply, he is now trapped in the trap of reservation, dynamic pricing and "convenience fees". The railway which was the "lifeline of the public" was slowly turned into a "tool of earning". Large contracts given in the name of station redevelopment, sounds good to increase private entry, but the real question is whether railways become easier for the public or beneficial for the corporate? The answer appears everyday when booking tickets. This is what people say everything "first time". They think that trains did not run in India before 2014, people used to go to Delhi by bullock cart. Reading history is not in their list, just forward messages and slogans are the source of knowledge. Development does not mean that standing in front of camera and showing green flag to the train. Development means creating the system, running it and reaching the public and when that work happened, who did it, it is written in record, not in any speech. Those who are still clapping at everything with their eyes closed, are either running from the truth or they don't care what is actually happening in the country. There has been a lot of attempt to erase history, but the train running on the tracks testifies every day who started this journey and who bought the bus ticket and took the photo.