India’s Railway Man: A Biography of E. Sreedharan

by Rajendra B. Aklekar

his integrity, hard work, sincerity, professional competence, good values and most importantly, his attribute of remaining rooted to the ground while reaching for the sky, are indeed qualities to be emulated.

Did you know, for instance, that as Chairman-cum-Managing Director (CMD) of the Konkan Railway Corporation Limited (KRCL)—he was given an official appointment letter only two years after he joined the project, and that his take-home salary was just ₹1,080? The rationale was that Sreedharan had officially retired from the Railway Ministry and had been drawing pension at the time he took up this Project.

Yet, for the young generation I have the following message. You are very fortunate to be born as children of Bharat Mata. Our scriptures proclaim—Janani janma bhoomischa swargadapi gareeyasi (mother and motherland are superior to heaven). We have a duty to uphold Dharma, the value culture handed over to us from time immemorial by our ancestors.

two essential attributes one must cultivate: good character and good health. The crown and glory of life is character, and without good and robust health one cannot excel in this world. Whatever tasks are entrusted to us, we should carry them out to the best of our abilities, with total dedication and commitment, without expecting any rewards or recognition.

On 8 October 1971, Ganguli boarded an air-conditioned inspection saloon coach at Sarai Rohilla along with his wife and personal staff, to commence a scheduled a nine-day-long inspection tour of Gujarat. The coach was attached to a train that was to leave for Gujarat. Minutes before the train’s departure, station officials received a communication from the Minister’s office to detach the coach. An angry Ganguli called a press conference on the station platform and stayed in the coach in protest for six days. On 12 October 1971, the Government issued an order to forcibly retire Ganguli, and officials—in no mood to hand the note to their leader—tucked the note to the side of the coach in which he was protesting.7 It was sad to see how an officer of outstanding merit, with 34 years of glorious service, was dismissed overnight. It left the nation and the country’s bureaucracy in shock.

The construction of Kolkata Metro proved to be an unpleasant experience for the whole country because a 17-km line took 22 years to complete and the cost went up by 14 times! It was a learning experience for all and that is the reason when we took up the Delhi Metro project, we decided to do it in a very different fashion.

As Member Engineering I decided to discontinue the use of CST-9 or cast-iron sleepers on Indian Railway tracks, as they were a nuisance on the tracks.17

Such a gentleman was he that he refused to interfere.

Chithoni-Bogha link in Bihar crossing the formidable Gandak River.

Dr Bimal Jalan, then Chief Economic Adviser gave shape to the idea and suggested that Fernandes float a corporation under the Companies Act.

We were constructing a railway line for the next hundred years. So we planned it as a modern line, a high-speed route. We decided to have at least a minimal speed potential of 160km per hour. I said, the line itself should be capable of carrying trains at 160km per hour. In those days, there were no engines or coaches, which could run at that speed. But the country would definitely progress and the day would come when we would manufacture high-speed engines and high-speed coaches. So, the lines should be planned and constructed for a minimum speed of 160km. This was the first decision we took.

The second is metre gauge which is 1,000mm (3ft 3⅜in). This is said to have been introduced by Richard Southwell Bourke, the sixth Earl of Mayo, popular as Lord Mayo, the fourth Viceroy of India. Metre gauge is said to be based on calculations to allow four persons to sit comfortably abreast—it would have been 3ft 3in except that there was then a push to move to the metric system and so the gauge became 1m. The first metre gauge line was built in 1872 in Delhi.

Then, a bombshell was dropped by the Railway Board Chairman V.K. Agarwal. He said, ‘If you are going to have standard gauge then I must inform the honourable ministers that the Indian Railways would not be able to certify it because we have no experience with standard gauge.’ When Agarwal said this, Urban Development Minister Jagmohan was the first to say if that was the case there was no option and we must go for broad gauge. ‘If we cannot get safety certification from the railways for this, we are left with no choice, because according to the legal provisions in place, Indian Railways is supposed to give safety certification to the Metro Railway,’ he said. Then everybody decided to go for broad gauge. That is how the broad gauge issue was decided. This was against the earlier decision. It was a key decision

SHARAD PAWAR GETS RAILWAYS TO REVERSE DECISION ON BROAD GAUGE