Word: ir
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...Until the past few years, Indian Railways (IR) itself was sunk in a languorous snore. The state-owned company, the monopoly owner-operator of the country's rail system, runs 12,000 trains a day over 39,000 miles (62,750 km) of routes, making it the world's largest railroad under a single administration. It was also notorious for being slow, inefficient and requiring constant government bailouts. But over the past six years, India's most important form of transport - "the lifeline of the nation" as it is often called - has undergone a remarkable turnaround. In its fiscal year...
...reload a freight train in India was 7.1 days. Now it is just five days, which means that 800 trains leave on a new journey each day, rather than just 550. Given that an additional trip can earn up to $15 million, the improvement made an important contribution to IR's bottom line. IR also made sure each freight locomotive carries more cars, hence more cargo. That brings in an extra $1.5 billion a year, according to Kumar, who compares the railroads under old management practices to "a Jersey cow that we forgot to milk fully...
...Finally, passenger trains have also been increased in length. Until a few years ago a typical train had about 15 carriages. IR officials discovered that a passenger-train journey could earn a profit with 24 carriages, which became the target length. By pushing the "quicker, heavier, longer" mantra, rail bosses have also been able to improve services. For example, in 2006 IR began offering special express trains on certain routes such as the run between New Delhi and Agra, home of the Taj Mahal. Tourists making day trips to India's most popular tourist attraction now can book online...
...vilified by his many detractors who claim his term as Chief Minister of Bihar was characterized by mismanagement and corruption. When he became Rail Minister in 2004, Yadav asked Kumar and his team to run the system on sounder business principles, even as it stuck to what Kumar calls IR's "social obligations" to its passengers, its 1.4 million employees and 1.1 million pensioners. Yadav's standing has soared as a result. "A person who was considered a clown of Indian politics is now being seen as a professor of Harvard graduates," says Kumar...
...Greg Combet "We need as a nation to develop a new democratic consensus." Experience: Australian Council of Trade Unions secretary The modern face of Australian unionism has been an effective spearhead of the fight against the government's IR laws. Combet won the admiration of Labor's grassroots for his role in the 1998 docks dispute and in winning compensation for asbestosis sufferers from multinational James Hardie. He is making his political debut at this election, contesting a safe seat in New South Wales' Hunter Valley...