Its size makes it an easy target for inefficiency. Keeping track of such a large workforce and ensuring that it is being used optimally is hard. In 2003-04, for example, the Indian Railways had an operating ratio of 93 percent (Operating ratio is a measure of a company's efficiency. It compares operating expense to net sales. The smaller the ratio, the better an organization's ability to generate profits.). In railroading, an operating ratio of 80 or below is considered good.

"We were not using our crew optimally. There was a lot of wastage or over-usage of the crew. The first affects performance and the other safety," says R.B. Das, Group GM, FOIS, Center for Railway Information Systems (CRIS).

This state of affairs was due mainly to the fact that Indian Railways worked with chalk and a blackboard, figuratively speaking. Scheduling and assigning duties to a railway staffer everyday and for every single train was done manually by sending messengers or telephone messages to crew-members asking them to report to work. "After the delivery of the message, they would come and report. This was a painfully long process," says Deepak Ganju, GM, Project III, CRIS.

It was also inefficient. In addition, the odds of doing things like they have always been done were not in their favor. As the network added more trains, the time between each train shortened, exposing the drawbacks -- and dangers -- of a manual system. It was only a matter of time before the increased tempo climaxed in a terrible disaster.

Against the Rails