Amrit Bharat Express: Easing Migration or Stopping It?
I can’t say it with absolute certainty, but I can say with confidence: Bihar has received more new trains in just these few election months than it did in the past eleven years combined.
Right now, India has nine Amrit Bharat Express trains running. Eight of them either start from Bihar or pass through it. And this has sparked a peculiar debate:
What happened to the promises of stopping migration?
Were these trains launched to ease migration—or to accelerate it?
Because the issue was never just about trains. The issue was always migration.
Trains and Bihar’s Politics
Trains have always been central to Bihar’s politics. Leaders like Ram Vilas Paswan, Nitish Kumar, and Lalu Prasad Yadav earned praise by introducing new trains. But post-2014, that political relationship faded. Slowly, the demand for new trains went silent.
And now, when there is no public outcry, Amrit Bharat Express trains are being launched one after another.
For a state like Bihar—where leaving and returning is a way of life—any new train feels like good news. But Amrit Bharat Express is not just any train. Its shiny new paint and redesigned coaches create a thrill, a sense that something new is on the rails.
But when politics starts selling you thrill in the name of progress, it’s important to unwrap the package. Because often you’ll find more salt than almonds.
“World Class”? Really?
We’re told these are world-class trains. But are they?
-
Delhi to Patna: Sampoorna Kranti Express → 13 hours
-
Delhi to Patna: Amrit Bharat Express → 15 hours 40 minutes
-
Mumbai to Saharsa: Humsafar Express → 36.5 hours
-
Mumbai to Saharsa: Amrit Bharat Express → 38 hours
If this is “world class,” then what were the older trains?
The government flaunts features: new seats, bio-toilets, LED lighting, charging ports. But are these really “world-class” in 2025? Even tea stalls have CCTV cameras today.
What matters to workers and migrants is speed. Time is money for those who travel home on short holidays, often losing daily wages. But Amrit Bharat takes longer, not shorter, to complete the same journeys.
The Politics of Stops and Speeds
Why are these trains not running daily? Why do they stop at exactly those constituencies that matter during elections?
Take the Gaya–Delhi Amrit Bharat Express:
-
Time: 19.5 hours
-
Fare: ₹560
Compare it with the Netaji Express:
-
Time: 15.5 hours (4 hours faster)
-
Fare: ₹520 (cheaper)
So what exactly makes Amrit Bharat “special”?
It seems less like a gift to workers and more like a pre-election spectacle.
The Irony of Comfort
In 2006, Lalu Yadav launched the Garib Rath—an AC train at lower fares, aimed at poor migrants. Nineteen years later, in 2025, the Modi government launches a non-AC Amrit Bharat Express from the same Saharsa.
Progress should have meant giving workers air-conditioned comfort at affordable rates. Instead, we have trains with non-AC general and sleeper coaches being dressed up as “world class.”
Is this development—or just clever branding?
Migration Made Convenient
Let’s face it: these trains are not stopping migration. They are making migration more convenient.
Because neither are jobs being created in Bihar, nor are wages improving in cities like Surat and Mumbai. The only thing ensured is that migrants can keep leaving and returning—without creating political unrest.
Amrit Bharat Express, then, is not a train against migration. It is a train for migration.
The Bigger Question
Why now? Why suddenly, in the months before elections, do Bihar’s tracks fill with new trains?
Why does a state with one-third of households earning less than ₹6,000 a month get new non-AC sleeper coaches instead of real job opportunities?
The truth is: these shiny trains are election promises on wheels. They give the appearance of development while keeping the structure of migration intact.
And Bihar knows this. Its people know the difference between a train that makes headlines and a train that makes their lives better.
So let us ask again:
Are these trains really for Bihar’s progress—or just for its votes?
No comments:
Post a Comment