Railways’ priorities

Apropos, ‘Can Railways change track in 2024’, (December 29), Railways are called the country’s lifeline as it bind the country’s economic life. It is also the principal mode of transportation for freight and passengers.

The roll out of Vande Bharat trains known for their semi-high speed capabilities is a major boost. But, the train crash in Odisha has highlighted the concerns not only about passenger safety, but also other problems plaguing the Indian Railways.

But the focus has more been on rolling out Vande Bharat trains and not addressing long-term problems. Thus, safety is more critical than the augmentation of new trains on the existing tracks.

N Sadhasiva Reddy,

Bengaluru

It refers to ‘Can Railways change track in 2024?’. There is no doubt that a lot of good work has taken place in 2023 but a lot still needs to be done.

The dedicated freight corridors, once ready, will improve freight trains’ frequency and also productivity of passenger trains.

Vande Bharat must only be rolled out on newer routes after thorough viability survey as suggested. But all good work is undone after the tragic accidents at Balasore and Andhra Pradesh.

The turtle-like pace of the Automatic Railway Protection system implementation is one of the main reasons for these accidents. Railways are our lifeline and the government cannot compromise the safety of passengers at any cost.

Bal Govind

Noida

Banks in robust health

Apropos the article ‘Banks up against challenges in coming years’ (December 29), inspite of increase in the share of term deposits, banks have performed well and their health is sound. NPAs have been coming down and the focus of the banks is on improving the business with more focus on technology.

The recent global financial and banking crisis has had minimal impact on Indian banks and this trend is likely to continue in 2024.

Indian banks are well positioned to face the emerging geopolitical challenges and recessionary trends in the coming year given the strong regulatory framework.

Kosaraju Chandramouli

Hyderabad

Small cap bubble

The Editorial ‘Bubble trap’ (December 29) is timely. However, several sound measures are in place by SEBI and the exchanges for close surveillance. Given this, the edit seems over cautious and credits the market participants with less intelligence than due; as if they were not aware of the high risks in some stocks. The fact that such stocks are listed enables trading.

Moreover, speculation or day trading is not illegal. Surely most participants have a core portfolio as long-term investments, and a short-term trading portfolio.

The call for the regulator ‘to act against this runaway speculation’ is unwarranted. Instead there could have been a call to plug any gaps in regulation/surveillance.

V Vijaykumar

Pune

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