India's wireless subscriber base stands at around 400 mn, whereas the number
of passengers who booked their railway tickets during July 1-10, 2009, was 211
mn. Overall, the number of train passengers is increasing despite poor services
being offered to travelers. But there is a 1.02% drop in suburban bookings,
showing that the middle class is looking for alternatives. One of the
inconveniences is the lack of proper mobile charging points in trains and call
drops during rail journeys.
In India, the premier class enjoys more facilities than their poor country
cousins. For instance, each first class compartment, which occupies roughly
seventy-two passengers, has thirty-six charging points (few of them may not be
working), whereas in the sleeper class, there are only four charging points and
one needs to stand in queue near stinking toilets to charge one's mobile. Four
mobile charging points for seventy-two passengers (assuming that the compartment
is not overcrowded) is, obviously, not enough.
If you are on a long journey, it is better you sleep late and charge your
phone to avoid the long queue. Some handsets take more than an hour to charge.
In that case, people will spend more time at the charging points. My experience
in Mangala Express, while on a journey to enjoy monsoon holidays in Kerala, was
not good. Most of my fellow passengers were marketing/sales professionals.
Spoiling their holiday mood, they got calls frequently from their customers and
bosses, and this forced them to charge their batteries regularly.
Call drops during train journeys are also rampant. The Indian Railway
Ministry and operators must work together to ensure quality of services. If
airlines are going to offer mobile connectivity in flights, why can't we enjoy
seamless connectivity in trains? Roaming charges are paid for by subscribers to
operators in order to enjoy quality services, and not to say “Poor network....I
will call you back later....”
If the train runs slow, or halts at stations, charging also slows down. The
Indian Railways will be setting up a 1,000 MW power plant, which will definitely
reduce the railway's dependence on power supply from other utilities. Hope that
passengers can get adequate power for charging their handsets. Announcement of
setting up a committee under the chairmanship of Sam Pitroda to commercialize
railway's optic fiber network will help the railways.
Let the Railway Minister start talking about seamless connectivity without
any power breaks in trains. We should not wait for the next Railway Budget to
take up the issue. We need services that can make the developed world envy us.
Baburajan K
baburajank@cybermedia.co.in