Railways are the main artery of inland transport in an economy. They are an energy-efficient mode of transportation, ideally suitable for large scale movement of manpower, bulk commodities and for long distance travel. They are the lifeline of the country and hold great importance in its socio-economic development. A well-established railway system brings together people from the farthest corners of the country and makes possible the conduct of business, sightseeing, pilgrimage and education. It improves the quality of life and thus helps to accelerate the growth of industry and agriculture. Indian Railway (IR) is the largest rail network in Asia as well as the world’s second largest under a single management. It has been a key component of India's transport sector for over 150 years. It is the world's largest employer with over 1.4 million employees. It plays an important role in not only meeting the infrastructural needs of the country, but also in binding together the dispersed areas and promoting national integration. During national emergency, IRs have been in the forefront in rushing relief material to disaster stricken regions.
From a very modest beginning in 1853, when the first train steamed off from Mumbai to Thane (distance of 34 Km), Indian Railways have grown into a vast network of 7,133 stations spread over a route-length of 63,465 Km. They own a fleet of 7,910 locomotives; 42,441 passenger service vehicles; 5,822 other coaching vehicles and 2,22,379 wagons (as on 31 March 2005). IR is a multi-gauge system comprising of:- broad gauge (1.676 mm); metre gauge (1.000 mm); and narrow gauge (762 mm and 610 mm). Their track length is 89,771 km; 15,684 km and 3,350 km respectively. While, the gauge wise route length is 47,749 km; 12, 662 km and 3,054 km respectively. The total running track length is 84,260 km, of which 67,932 km is broad gauge; 13,271 km is metre gauge; and 3,057 km is narrow gauge. About 28 per cent of route-kilometre, 39 per cent of running track and 40 per cent of total track have been electrified.
Freight and passenger are the two main segments of the Indian Railways. The freight segment brings about two-thirds of revenues, while the rest comes from the passenger traffic. Within the freight segment, bulk traffic accounts for nearly 95 percent, of which more than 44 percent is contributed by coal. In the process of rationalizing passenger and freight tariff structures since 2002-03, the relative index of AC First Class has been reduced from 1400 to 1150 and AC 2-Tier from 720 to 650. There has been a reduction of about 18 per cent in the fares of AC First Class and 10 per cent in that of AC 2-Tier. The number of commodities in goods tariff has been reduced from 4,000 commodities to 80 main commodity groups in 2005-06, and further to 27 groups in 2006-07. The total number of classes for charging freight has been reduced from 59 to 17.
The Indian Railway network is controlled by its 16 zonal offices. These are:- Northern Railway, New Delhi; North Central Railway, Allahabad; North Western Railway, Jaipur; Northeast Frontier Railway, Maligaon (Guwahati); North Eastern Railway, Gorakhpur; Central Railway, Mumbai CST; South Central Railway, Secunderabad; East Central Railway, Hajipur; South East Central Railway, Bilaspur; West Central Railway, Jabalpur; Eastern Railway, Kolkata; East Coast Railway, Bhubaneswar; Southern Railway, Chennai; South Western Railway, Hubli; South Eastern Railway, Kolkata; and Western Railway, Mumbai (Church Gate).
In India, the Ministry of Railways is the nodal authority for the development and maintenance of rail transport. It is actively engaged in formulation of various policies and looking after the overall functioning of the railway system. In order to deal with different aspects of operations of IRs, it has set up several public sector undertakings:-
Besides, the 'Research, Design and Standards Organisation (RDSO)' at Lucknow is the research and development (R&D) wing of the Indian Railways. It functions as a consultant to the Ministry in technical matters. It also provides consultancy to other organisations connected with railway manufacture and design. There is also a 'Centre for Railway Information System (CRIS)' , which has been set up in order to design and implement various railway computerisation projects. Along with these, there are six production units which are engaged in manufacturing rolling stocks, wheels, axles and other ancillary components of railways, namely, Chittaranjan Loco Works; Diesel-Loco Modernisation Works; Diesel Locomotive Works; Integral Coach Factory; Rail Coach Factory; and Rail Wheel Factory.
Rapid progress in industrial and agricultural sectors of the country has generated a higher level of demand for rail transport, particularly in core sectors like coal, iron and steel ores, petroleum products and essential commodities such as food grains, fertilisers, cement, sugar, salt, edible oils, etc. Accordingly, IR has made several attempts to absorb the advances in railway technology and has become self-sufficient in production of many rail equipments like rolling stocks. It is in the process of inducting new designs of fuel-efficient locomotives of higher horse power, high-speed coaches and modern bogies for freight traffic. Modern signalling like panel inter-locking; route relay inter-locking; centralised traffic control; automatic signalling; and multi-aspect colour light signalling are also being introduced.
In order to strengthen, modernise and expand such a network, the Government of India seeks to attract private capital as well as State funding in several categories of rail projects, like projects for port connectivity, gauge conversion, connectivity to remote/backward areas, laying new lines, electrification, suburban transportation, etc. Besides, the Government has introduced Rail-based mass rapid transit system (MRTS) projects in the metropolitan cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Kolkata. The project aims to provide reliable, safe and pollution-free rail journey for the commuters of the cities. It ensures fastest means of transportation, saves time and reduces the incidence of accidents. This project has made considerable progress, especially the performance of Delhi Metro Rail project is notable. The phase I of the Delhi metro is fully operational and it is extending its network outside the capital city.
The private sector participation in developing rail infrastructure in India is gradually widening, both in scale and scope. For instance, Pipavav Railway Corporation Ltd. (PRCL) is the first infrastructure model of public-private partnership in rail transportation. It is the joint venture company of Indian Railways and the Gujarat Pipavav Port Ltd (GPPL), set up to construct, maintain and operate 271 km long broad gauge railway line, connecting Port of Pipavav to Surendranagar Junction of Western Railway in the State of Gujarat.
Moreover, the budgetary support to the railways has been increasing from year to year. As per the railway budget of 2007-08, the railways have shown a record breaking performance during the first nine months of the year 2006-07. The passenger earnings have increased by 14 per cent and other coaching earnings by 48 per cent during the same period. A historic increase of 17 per cent has been registered in both freight earnings and gross traffic earnings. Gross Traffic Revenues, projected at Rs 63,120 crore, are 16% higher than the previous year and 5.5% higher than the budget estimates.
The Ministry has undertaken several reform measures and initiatives to improve traffic condition, safety as well as introduce high technology, that is, to develop a world-class rail infrastructure in the country. Accordingly, in the budget, a new profile for railways have been designed for 11th five-year plan. This include:-
- Target of 1,100 Million Tonnes (MT) freight loading and 840 crore passengers in the terminal year of 11th Plan.
- Focus on doubling transport capacity and reducing unit cost of transportation by increasing volumes.
- Short-term strategy- investing in low cost high return projects for eliminating bottlenecks and ensuring intensive asset utilization;
- Mid and long-term strategy – twin pronged approach of network expansion and modernization as well as technical upgradation;
- Public-private partnership projects to play a more important role.
- Construction of Eastern and Western Dedicated Freight Corridors, at a cost of Rs 30,000 crore, to commence from 2007-08 and its completion during the 11th plan.
- Pre-feasibility surveys for East-West, East-South, North-South and South-South Corridors.
- Most of the metre-gauge lines to be converted into broad-gauge by the end of this five-year plan.
- High speed Passenger Corridors to be constructed to run trains at more than 300 km/hr speed.
- Efforts to provide air-conditioned suburban trains in Chennai, Kolkata and Mumbai and escalators at important stations.
- Production of rolling stock to be doubled compared with previous plan.
- Increase production of high-horse power and energy efficient locos.
Other initiatives taken for improvement in freight business are:-
- Target for freight loading kept at 785 Million Tonnes (MT) in 2007-08
- Mission 200 MT - Railways target higher share of 200 MT in transportation of cement and steel by 2011-12
- Mission 100 MT - container traffic target of 100 MT by 2011-12.
- Planning for triple-stack container trains on diesel route and double-stack container trains on electrified route.
- Upgradation of freight terminals handling more than 15 rakes per month.
- 22.9 tonnes and 25 tonnes axle-load freight trains to run on more routes.
- Wagon manufacturers to be encouraged to design wagons with higher payload and new technology.
- Zonal Railway to engage independent marketing agencies for exploring further possibilities in freight business.
While, the initiatives in passenger business involves:-
- 800 more coaches to be attached in popular trains.
- Plan to provide cushioned seats in unreserved second class coaches.
- Increase in unreserved second class coaches from four to six in every new train.
- Facility for reservation of lower berths for senior citizens and women above 45 years travelling alone.
- Increase in provision of special coaches for physically challenged passengers.
- More convenient, comfortable and high capacity new design passenger coaches to be manufactured.
- 300 more stations to be developed as modern stations.
- Year 2007 declared 'Cleanliness Year’ - Special campaign to ensure cleanliness in station complexes, passenger trains, railway lines, waiting rooms, etc.
