Mock Group Discussion: Should Indian Railways be privatized?
This document outlines the script for a mock group discussion. This mock group is planned to have 5 participants – Priyanka, Nitin, Lalit, Sonia and Meenu. The group will be moderated by Rajkumar.
Rajkumar: Good morning everyone. I, Rajkumar, am the moderator for this session titled – “Should Indian Railways be privatized? You all will be judged based upon your involvement in the discussion and expression of thoughts. Please refrain yourself from commenting dark and loose to other members.
With this, I welcome you all and all the best to all members. Let’s start with introduction from all you members present here!
Priyanka: Good morning Rajkumar and hello everyone! My name is Priyanka and I am a freelance writer with a knack to research. With this discussion, I aspire to
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Am a graduate and am working with a private firm. I enjoy analyzing numbers and drawing inferences from the available stats.
Lalit: Good everyone. My-self Lalit – am an experienced professional working as Manager in a private firm. I am a people’s person and I have an eye to details which has always brought me laurels.
Sonia: Hello all. I am Sonia and am a home-maker. Today, I am the face of every single family which travels through Indian Railways. I hope to have an enjoyable ride with you all today!
Meenu. Hey folks! I am Meenu – a student studying in Delhi University. I will be representing the today’s youth. (-- removed HTML --) >.
Priyanka: Though, the Railway Minister Mr. Mahesh Prabhu has been constantly ruling out the prospects of Indian Railways privatization; in my opinion, this is one such possibility which needs to be dig deeper and analyzed further for practically understanding the possible avenues for its growth.
Lalit: Priyanka, I think more than about the growth of the railway sector its more about the redevelopment of the existing infrastructure of Indian
The revised business plan issued in 2009 used the same CSI methodology but tested slightly higher fares. That plan estimated that train fares set at 83 % of airfare would generate the greatest operating profit. At 83 % it can attract just over 40 million annual passengers whereas at 50 % it would attract 54 million.
Rail industry is profitable and growing industry. In North America, five companies are dominant and
Network Rail is also planning to have a large programme of investment for the London 2012 Olympic Games. By raising the fares on train tickets Network rail have the potential to have an increased net profit at the end of 2008. If the company figures show more profit than the previous this means the company has more money to invest into the railways.
The railway station is recognised as a fundamental part of the railway network in any location. This research will focus on the unique case study of St Pancras International Railway Station (SPIRS) which is a major international multi modal transport hub and termini in London. The Government over the next three decades is investing heavily in a modernisation programme of the aging railway infrastructure in England. This has been established in the investment in prominent and high value developments such as the London and South East projects, Thameslink, Crossrail and the national High Speed Rail 2 (HS2)
During the early 19th century rail industry was one of the big, successful and lucrative business sector. Despite growth in passenger and freight transportation (cars, trucks, airplanes), rail industry failed to grow. Their revenue over the years steadily declined. Consumer’s needs were filled by another transportation sectors. The main reason for their downfall as rightly pointed out by the author, they never thought that they were in a transportation industry. They thought competition would be from another rail company rather than other modes. Similar to rail industry Hollywood too had a misconception on their business model. Ultimately TV industry became so big that it ate all the market share of the movie industry.
The railway industry has been a major player in the transportation industry since the 1850s. During the 1870s the industry experienced a lot of consolidation as companies made acquisitions in an attempt to lower costs. Fast forward to the 1940s, trucking became a much cheaper alternative to railways and the industry started seeing declining profits. Many companies tried to mitigate the declining profits by closing unprofitable routes, merge with other railroads, and lower costs. However, these efforts were stopped by U.S. regulators.
"Because the online system for reserved tickets was so slow, during peak times, people used to have to go to stations, wait in long lines and book tickets at railway counters. But now, more bookings are being done on the Internet than in person and there are hardly any lines at the counters."
To develop a national railway system effectively, it is essential to establish what it was intended to achieve as a basis for investment and management (Bolden & Harman, 2013). The program was initiated for the main purpose of providing rail link between Britain and continental Europe for the purpose of enabling travel to more distant destinations.HS1 was defined by the technology and business problem it aimed to solve.
It is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of high-speed trains, electrical and diesel trains, metros and tramways, power supply systems, information systems, traction systems and track work. It also operates in the rail infrastructure market. It produces, designs and installs infrastructure for the rail network. These include information solutions, communication systems, track laying, station utilities, electrification as well as workshops and depots. It also provides maintenance, rebuilding and renovation services.
Knowledge of the market is of paramount importance to enable any solution to the issue facing the organisation to be successful. There is very little existing knowledge of the UK rail industry within the Pfisterer UK set up, hence the appointment of myself to the team. However, my knowledge of the industry does not include a detailed knowledge of the Pfisterer product, which I have no previous experience of, and so knowledge management is an issue that must be resolved within the organisation to enable skill sets to be shared for any solution to be successful.
After completing the group task of preparing a presentation on, transferring individual facilitation skills into a group work setting I will critically reflect upon my own participation. I will evaluate my self-awareness while working in the group, as well as those around me. The way that I personally dealt with any issues that arose within the group and how that affected the group dynamics. I will also briefly discuss the roles in which each member of the group took and how role allocation affected, the group dynamics and the working relationships. Finally I will evaluate my work having discussed it with my fellow group members.
In recent times, the government has made various attempts to make general aviation viable and to reassess the rules governing air charter operators in India. Recently, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation considered a proposal allowing air charter firms to convert to scheduled operators to fly on hitherto-uncommon routes in an aim to improve air connectivity.
India had been experiencing a series of scandals breaking almost daily. Each and every decisions being taken by the government were being slippery and giving rise to many controversies. It lead to indecisive bureaucracy. According to many it was a state of “Policy Paralysis”.
This mode of transport is reliable and fast and one of the most important ways by which people and goods are transported. (Train History , 2017) Rail transportation is referred to as ‘movement of on guideways’ and rails are the most common guideways. However technological progress made monorails and magnetic levitation trains now available and although railways are a result of the industrial revolution, they have been affected by continuous innovations, technical, regulatory and commercial changes which have enhanced their capacity and efficiency. Therefore railway transport is important now as it was in the late 19th century. One innovation pertains to the quality of the rail infrastructure, particularly rail tracks (e.g. better steel, concrete ties), which regulates the operational characteristics of their use such as speed, permitted weight, maintenance and immunity towards the environment.
India’s large urban population has left our systems of public transport is extremely overwhelmed, demands far exceeding the limited supply of transport infrastructure and services, absconding most buses and trains services as overcrowded, undependable and dangerous. Our cities desperately need improved and expanded public transport services. However “With 23 percent of its urban population living in poverty, India has been forced to keep its public transport fares extremely low. Making it difficult to afford even routine maintenance and vehicle replacement, let alone system modernization and expansion.” (Pucher, John)