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Indian Railways Essay | Essay on Indian Railways for Students and Children in English

February 14, 2024 by sastry

Indian Railways Essay: Indian Railways is one of the largest railway networks operated by the Government of India. Railways was first introduced in India in 1853. Today, its operations cover 29 states and 7 union territories, and also provides international services to its neighbours, Nepal, Bangladesh and Pakistan. It is also one of the busiest rail networks in the world, carrying about 18 million passengers daily. Moreover it is the world’s largest employer, providing jobs to millions.

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Short Essay on Indian Railways 200 Words in English

Below we have given a short essay on Indian Railways is for Classes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6. This short essay on the topic is suitable for students of class 6 and below.

For a country so reliant on its trains, Indian Railways Vision 2020 envisages introduction of bullet trains. It will be a massive addition to its route network, with segregation of passenger and freight services into separate double-line corridors, raising the speeds of passenger trains from the current 130 kmph to 160-200 kmph on some routes, zero accidents and equipment failures and setting up of high-speed passenger corridors.

However, this vision would remain a difficult one to achieve, looking at the past and current situation of the railways. Inspite of being the largest and the busiest network, Indian Railways was never a sector to give good returns to the economy, (barring the time of Lalu Prasad Yadav). It faces a lot of problems, sometimes proving even a burden to the Indian Government. The age-old and crumbling infrastructure, low fares, lack of maintenance, mismanagement, lack of quality service deliverance etc are all the major issues with the railways. A sharp decline in the earnings and serious escalation in expenditure has posed even more problems for Indian Railways. Additionally, the ever increasing prices of fuel, coal, the number of accidents, cost of maintenance etc further increases the problems.

A significant change in the Indian Railways came after the year 2004. The 156 years old Indian Railways was regarded as a hopeless, loss making organisation, with too little revenue, too many problems. Steps were taken to increase the demand rather than the price. A team of experts proposed and applied some simple techniques effectively on a per train basis. Subsequently, fares were increased in line with the demand, giving the railways the much needed cash flow to improve its services. Thus with these efforts, Indian Railways was able to book profits. After 2010, the railways went back into problematic phase. The funds started shrinking, therefore improvement in passenger amenities could not be carried out.

However, the recently elected government has again brought in a ray of hope for the good days for ‘Indian Railways’. Surprisingly, Indian train fares are among the cheapest in the world. With such fares, Railways paced its steps well with the technological advancement. The e-ticketing for making reservations and mobile app system to track train schedule are some major breakthroughs.

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Essay on Indian Railways

Students are often asked to write an essay on Indian Railways in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Indian Railways

Introduction.

Indian Railways, a significant part of India’s transport system, is the world’s fourth-largest railway network. It is a primary mode of transport for millions of Indians daily.

Indian Railways started in 1853, during British rule. The first train ran between Bombay and Thane. Today, it has grown immensely, connecting different parts of the country.

Significance

Indian Railways plays a vital role in India’s economy. It transports goods and passengers across the nation, contributing significantly to India’s growth and development.

Indian Railways is a lifeline for many, providing affordable travel. It is a symbol of India’s progress and unity.

250 Words Essay on Indian Railways

Indian Railways, a state-owned national transporter, is among the world’s largest railway networks. It’s not just a mode of transportation, but a lifeline that connects the diverse geographical, cultural, and socio-economic regions of India.

Historical Overview

Established during the British Raj in 1853, Indian Railways has evolved into a robust network. Starting with 34 kilometers of line between Bombay and Thane, it now spans over 67,000 kilometers, encompassing around 7,300 stations across the country.

Significance and Impact

Indian Railways plays a pivotal role in India’s socio-economic development. It transports over 22 million passengers daily, facilitating commerce, tourism, and cultural exchange. It also provides employment to millions, directly and indirectly, thus contributing to poverty reduction.

Challenges and Opportunities

Despite its importance, Indian Railways faces challenges like overcapacity, outdated infrastructure, and financial sustainability. However, these challenges also present opportunities for innovation and modernization. Privatization and digitalization are potential avenues for improving efficiency, service quality, and financial health.

Indian Railways is more than a transportation network; it’s a symbol of India’s unity in diversity and progress. With strategic reforms and investments, it can overcome its challenges and continue to play a vital role in India’s development.

500 Words Essay on Indian Railways

Historical perspective.

The inception of Indian Railways dates back to 1853 during the British Raj, with the first passenger train running from Bombay to Thane. Since then, it has evolved into a vast network, connecting even the remotest corners of the country. This expansion symbolizes India’s journey from a colonial past to a technology-driven future.

Organizational Structure

Indian Railways is a government-owned entity, operating under the Ministry of Railways. It is divided into several zones for efficient management. Each zone is further divided into divisions, each headed by a Divisional Railway Manager. This hierarchical structure ensures smooth operations across the vast network.

Role in Economic Development

Technological advancements.

In the digital era, Indian Railways has embraced technology to enhance its operations and passenger experience. Online ticket booking through the IRCTC website, real-time tracking of trains, and digital payment options are a few examples. The introduction of high-speed trains like Vande Bharat Express signifies the railways’ commitment to modernization.

Despite its achievements, Indian Railways faces challenges like inadequate infrastructure, over-crowding, and financial sustainability. However, these challenges also present opportunities. The proposed introduction of private players could lead to competition, improving services and efficiency. Moreover, projects like Dedicated Freight Corridors (DFCs) and bullet trains promise to revolutionize Indian Railways.

Sustainability Efforts

Indian Railways, with its extensive reach and impact, is more than just a transport network. It is a symbol of India’s unity in diversity, connecting people and places, cultures and traditions. As it navigates the challenges of the 21st century, Indian Railways continues to play a crucial role in shaping the country’s future. Through constant innovation and modernization, it strives to provide efficient, safe, and sustainable transport, embodying the spirit of a progressive India.

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Here is a compilation of essays on the ‘Indian Railways’ for class 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12. Find paragraphs, long and short essays on the ‘Indian Railways’ especially written for school and college students.

Essay on the Indian Railways

Essay Contents:

• Essay on the Major Recommendations of Expert Group on Indian Railways

1. Essay on the Introduction to Indian Railways:

Among all the transport systems of the country, Railways occupy the most important position as it carry nearly 80 per cent of total goods traffic and 70 per cent of the passenger traffic. Indian Railways had started its operation on April 16, 1853 with its first route of 22 miles (34 kms). But with the passage of time, the Indian Railway System has grown into such a big organisation that it has become Asia’s largest and World’s second largest organisation in terms of its route length.

Total route length of Indian Railways which was 53,600 kms in 1950-51, gradually rose to 65,800 kms in 2013-2014 out of which only 21,600 kms of route length is electrified. Out of the total route length, Broad Gauge covers 48,186 kms, Meter Gauge covers 13,290 kms and Narrow Gauge covers 3,124 kms.

Indian Railways completed Gauge Conversion works to the extent of 1,351 kms in 1992-93 and 1,619 kms in 1993-94, 1,805 kms in 1994-95, 1,000 kms in 1995-96, 1,364 kms in 1996-97, 847 kms in 1997-98 and 693 kms in 1998-99. It runs nearly 11,500 trains a day connecting 7,093 stations throughout the country. It is the largest single undertaking of the country with a capital investment of Rs 25,320 crores as on March 31, 1998.

With a staff strength of nearly 15.50 lakhs regular employees and nearly 3 lakh of casual employees, it carried nearly 839 crore of passengers andvl058 million tonnes of freight traffic during 2013-14. It is better to have some idea about the vastness of Indian Railways from the fact that it owns nearly 7,739 locomotives; 44,063 coaches and over 2.2 lakh wagons during 2002-03.

During the period covering from 1951 to 2002, Indian Railways have recorded a growth rate of 3.9 per cent per annum in respect of passenger traffic and 4.5 per cent per annum in respect of freight traffic. The railways employ about 16 lakh workers—the largest number of any undertaking in the country.

2. Essay on the Railway Development under the Five Year Plans :

Among all the modes of transport in India Railway transport is the most important one. Considering its importance the Government laid greatest emphasis on the development of Railways in the successive Five Year Plans of the country.

The main objective of the planning for the development of Railway Transport system in India was to expand Railway traffic in such a manner so as to avoid bottleneck in the entire production process and also to ensure an efficient and well developed rail transport system. In first six Five Year Plans, total outlay of Rs 12,000 crore was earmarked for the development of Railways.

Each Five Year Plan had finalised an outlay and special objective for the development of Railways in the following manner:

(a) First Plan:

Total outlay 217 crore; Special objective—rehabilitation, replacement and modernisation of over aged assets.

(b) Second Plan:

Total outlay Rs 723 crore; Special objective—to augment the line capacity and rolling stock through the preparation of Railways for carrying traffic generated by the new steel plants in India and increased volume of production of coal.

(c) Third Plan:

Total outlay Rs 1,763.6 crore; Special objective—to build up additional capacity for meeting additional traffic demand and to prevent bottlenecks.

(d) Fourth Plan:

Total outlay. Rs 1,420 crore; Special objective—Modernisation of rail transport system for improving its efficiency of operation.

(e) Fifth Plan:

Total outlay: Rs 2,350 crore; Special objective—Improvement of the existing transport capacity and to maximise the operational efficiency of Railways.

(f) Sixth Plan:

Total outlay—Rs 5,370 crore; Special objectives—To augment passenger and freight traffic capacity, modernisation of the system and to promote better utilisation of existing capacity.

(g) Seventh plan:

Total outlay- Rs 12,2212 dm, Special objective—Modernisation and technological up gradation; replacement of over-aged assets, development of rapid handling terminals and traction policy for the conversion from steam to diesel and electric traction by the year 2000.

(h) Eighth Plan:

Total outlay—Rs 55,926 crore; Special objectives—strengthening of rail transport system to support the growth process, modernisation and technical upgradation, conversion from steam to Diesel and electric traction by the year 2000 and conversion of metre gauge lines into broad gauge lines under the uni-gauge scheme.

Thus the thrust areas identified for the Eighth Plan period include replacement and renewal of over aged assets; augmentation of terminal and rolling stock capacities; gauge conversion and electrification. Indian Railways completed gauge conversion of 1,351 kms in 1992-93, 1,619 kms in 1993-94, 1,805 kms in 1994-95, 1,000 kms in 1995-96 and 1,364 kms in 1996-97.

Railway Development under Tenth Plan :

Tenth Plan emphasised on strengthening the capacity of the Railway system so as to develop it as a prime carrier of long distance bulk freight and passenger traffic. In order to achieve such strength railways during the Tenth Plan mostly concentrated on multiplexing and electrification of dense corridors, improving the reliability of its routine operations, containerization and optimisation of its entire operation systems.

In order to reverse the situation in favour of railways, Tenth Plan proposed certain effective steps for influencing the model choice through relative pricing mostly based on social costs and augmenting the capacity and improving the productivity of the entire railway system.

Investment strategy followed during the Tenth Plan were:

(i) Speedy completion of on-going projects to avoid time and cost over-runs;

(ii) Highest priority is given to multiplexing and electrification of the system related to its new projects;

(iii) Increasing productivity through improvements in its utilisation of assets;

(iv) Adopting overall cost control measures including employment restraint, inventory management etc.

(v) Upgrading safety infrastructure by infusing new technology, and

(vi) Speedy continuation of private sector participation by giving supports and offering projects such as gauge conversion, electrification, supply of rolling stock, doubling the single track, telecom and signal projects etc.

Railway Projects under Eleventh Plan and Dedicated Freight Corridors (DFCs) :

During the Eleventh Plan, Railways is planning to undertake some important projects for building higher capacity and realising greater volume of traffic. The high-density network connecting the four metropolitan cities of Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata and Mumbai, including its diagonal popularly called the Golden Quadrilateral has got saturated at most of its locations.

Considering the present growth scenario, the Railways expect to carry 95 million tonnes incremental traffic per year and about 1,100 million tonnes revenue earning freight traffic by the end of Eleventh Plan. This requires large investment for capacity augmentation. Under this situation, development of Dedicated Freight Corridors (DFCs) for carrying additional traffic is very much essential considering the high growth in its demand. Therefore, under the Eleventh Plan, the Railways have proposed a 2,700 kilometre long railway line project.

This includes:

(i) Eastern Corridor from Ludhiana to Dankuni near Kolkata as Phase-I covering 1,839 kms and

(ii) Western Corridor from Jawaharlal Nehru-Port near Mumbai to Dadri/Tughlakabad covering 1,499 kms.

These DFCs along with the feed routes of Indian Railways will ensure availability of sufficient capacity in the face of rising demand for transport. This plan also proposed that the Eastern Corridor will be extended to the proposed Deep Sea Water Port near Kolkata as and when traffic builds up. Both the Eastern and Western Corridors will be made suitable for running of longer and heavier trains of 25 tonne axle load.

While the Eastern Corridor will be electrified, the Western Corridor will operate on diesel traction so as to permit Double Stack Container operation. Moreover, logistics parks are proposed to be developed on DFC. An SPV called Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Limited (DFC-CIL) has also been formed for implementing this project.

Apart from Eastern and Western DFCs, a feasibility study has also been undertaken on four future freight corridors, viz., East-West Corridor (Kolkata-Mumbai), North-South Corridor (Delhi-Chennai), East Coast Corridor (Kharagpur-Vijayawada) and Southern Corridor (Goa-Chennai). A pre-feasibility study of the Chennai-Bangalore Freight Corridor is also being proposed.

After Commissioning of the Eastern and Western DFCs, it is planned to increase the speed of passenger trains to 160-200 kmph on the existing routes. A feasibility study for up-gradation of speed of passenger trains to 160-200 kmph on the existing Delhi-Mumbai route has been undertaken with the co-operation from the Government of Japan in 2012-13. Thus it is expected that after the implementation of DFCs projects, the quality of train services in terms of its speed is likely to improve considerably.

After completion of eleven full-term plans, Indian Railways has improved its condition both in terms of its assets and services rendered. Table 10.5 reveals some important fact regarding the development of Railways from 1950-51 to 2010-11.

Table 10.8 reveals that Indian Railways has achieved a good deal of modernisation since 1951. Although total route length has increased only from 53,600 kms in 1950-51 to 62,370 kms in 1990-91 but total electrified route length has increased substantially from 390 kms to 9,970 kms. Again in 2013-14 the total route length and electrified route length further rose to 65,800 kms and 21,680 kms respectively.

The steam engines are gradually being replaced by diesel and electric locomotives and their numbers have increased from 17 and 72 in 1951 to 4,800 and 3,065 respectively in 2005-06. Total numbers of coaches and wagons have also increased from 19,630 and 206 thousand in 1950-51 to 47,950 and 222 thousand in 2005-06 respectively. Diesel and electric locomotives are now carrying nearly 98 per cent of total goods traffic but in terms of their numbers, only 56 per cent of all locomotives are under operation.

Moreover, in respect of signaling and telecommunication, a good deal of modernisation and improvement programmes is gradually being undertaken. Due to all these efforts, passenger traffic has increased from 1,290 million in 1950-51 to 8,397 million in 2013- 14 and freight traffic has also increased from 93 million tonnes in 1950-51 to 1058 million tonnes in 2013-14.

3. Essay on the Beneficial Effects of Railways on Indian Economy:

Construction and expansion of a huge network of Railways in India has been creating a number of beneficial effects on the economy of the country.

Following are some of the beneficial effects of Railways on Indian economy:

(i) Benefit to Agriculture:

Indian agriculture is getting a lot of benefits from Indian Railways. In the absence of Railways, markets for agricultural commodities would have been restricted only to local areas. But the expansion of Railway network has made it possible to extend the area of the market for our agricultural products to the extreme corners of the country. Moreover, railways supplies basic inputs to agriculture in time. Railways has helped to maintain a better distribution of agricultural produce and bring about uniform prices of these goods throughout the country.

(ii) Benefit to Industry:

Railways transport is considered as an important factor behind the industrialization of a particular region. Indian railways have made valuable contributions towards the establishment of some important industries in India. Indian Railways provide easy and cheap transportation facilities for carrying fuels and raw materials to the industrial units and also to distribute their finished products into various distant markets.

Expansion of railways has resulted in the development of cotton textiles industry of Bombay, jute industry of Bengal, tea industry in Assam and Bengal etc.

(iii) Benefit to Trade:

A well developed network of railways has resulted in the expansion of trade in India particularly of bulky and perishable commodities. The markets for fruits, egg, fish, milk, vegetables etc. have expanded due to railway traffic. Moreover, Railways has also expanded external trade multiplying the volume of both exports and imports.

(iv) Social Benefits:

Indian railways have also contributed towards development of Indian society by reducing the isolation between villages, regions and also between various communities. Railways have removed the caste prejudices and have broken up the joint family system. Railways has united the country into a big one by raising the geographical mobility.

(v) Political and Administrative Benefits:

Indian railways are regularly rendering a lot of political and administrative benefits to a vast country like India. For maintaining internal security and external safety, quicker movement of police and army from one region to another region of the country has become possible through its well-developed network of railways. Railways are thus very much useful for maintaining sound administration in a vast country like India.

4. Essay on the Problems of Railway Transport in India:

Indian railways have been suffering from number of problems in recent years and this has resulted in persistent loss in this undertaking over the years.

Following are some of the important problems faced by Indian Railways in recent years:

(i) Impact of Inflation:

Continuous inflation at a higher rate created a serious impact on the financial condition of Indian Railways. While the prices of the inputs purchased by Railways (viz. Coal, Diesel, Iron and Steel, Cement etc.) are increasing at a very steeper rate due to inflation but fares and freight rates could not be increased to that proportion. This has led to a huge loss of this undertaking.

(ii) Social Responsibilities:

Being a public utility undertaking, Indian railways have to bear a huge social responsibility in the form of maintaining unremynerative lines, sub-urban and other traffic, low rated freight cargo for the transfer of essential commodities. All these have resulted in a huge loss of revenue to Indian Railways. In 1998-99 the estimated social burden on Indian railways was to the extent of Rs 2,500 crore.

(iii) Increasing Inefficiency:

Another factor which are also responsible for such a huge loss to Indian Railways is the increasing inefficiency of this undertaking. With the passage of time, problems like irregularity regarding passenger and freight traffic, non-availability of wagons corruption in respect of allocation of wagons, loss of goods in transit, claims, collection of fares of running trains etc. sporadic and wild-cat strike by railways staff, inefficient and corrupt practices by management have badly affected the operation of Indian Railways. Deterioration in passenger services, loss of railways property are common features.

All these have led to a huge loss of revenue to Indian Railways in different years. The budgetary support to the Railways declined continuously from 75 per cent of the Railways Plan Outlay during the Fifth Plan to 42 per cent of outlay in the Seventh Plan and further to 23 per cent of the outlay during the last four years of the Eighth Plan. The declining budgetary support has adversely affected the Railway’s plan for acquisition of locomotives, coaches and wagons.

The alternative source for financing the Railway plans, including market borrowings, has also become uncertain and expensive. The Railways, therefore, have been forced to rely more on internal generation, which is estimated to be around 55 per cent in 1995-96.

Moreover, the administrative cost of the Indian Railways has been increasing rapidly. With nearly 1.55 million employees, the Indian Railways are the largest employer among public sector undertakings in the country. There is also a considerable burden of pension liabilities. The Railways have, therefore, drawn out an elaborate plan for right-sizing the manpower.

5. Essay on the Suggestions for the Improvement of Indian Railways:

In order to improve the quality of railway transport in India and to make it more efficient and useful, following suggestions are worth mentioning:

(i) Increase in Operational Efficiency:

The operational efficiency of Indian Railways should be improved by developing modern signaling and telecommunication devices along-with rational track management.

(ii) Improving Maintenance Activities:

The maintenance activities of railways should be improved. This includes the maintenance of track and bridges, maintenance of railway engines, wagons and passenger compartments. Maintenance workers engaged for these works should be motivated and activated to deliver the best services to the customers.

(iii) Avoiding Delay:

Railway services in India are subjected to unnecessary delay in its operations. Steps should be taken to avoid delay in forwarding goods by rail and also in implementing new schemes. Orthodox rules and procedures should be simplified to make it more transparent so that private sector can depend more on railway services.

(iv) Attaining Financial Viability:

Railway should try to attain financial viability by adopting a rational tariff structure. Rail fares and freight charges should be at least equal to its operational cost. Leakages of revenue in passenger traffic and claims as a result of corrupt practices adopted by some unscrupulous employees should be checked immediately for attaining revenue efficiency.

(v) Providing Door to Door Services:

Railways are recently utilizing the services of public sector enterprise like the Container Corporation of India for providing door to door services to its customers. Considering the inadequacy in its services, the services of private sector enterprises should be allowed to expand such door to door facilities in carrying containers.

Accordingly, the private entrepreneurs may be allowed purchase their own wagons for carrying their containers to the godowns of their customers in trucks.

(vi) Attaining Punctuality in Time Schedule:

Attaining punctuality in time schedule both for running passenger trains and container or goods trains is very important. Arrival and departure time of trains should be kept strictly on schedule and the same should be adhered to strictly.

In the busy railway tracks, provision be made for double tracking system and number of excess track in the stations for crossing, passing and smooth running of the important trains be made extensively.

(vii) Differentiated Railway Services:

In order to attain its commercial viability and also to maintain its Social Commitment, Railways should provide differentiated railway services to different categories of passengers. Accordingly, special services with rich amenities be provided to rich and executive class passenger at higher rate to augment sufficient revenue.

Moreover, to maintain its social commitments, passengers of lower income group should be provided the passenger services in ordinary class at a concessional rates in its fare.

(viii) Long Term Fund:

In order to attain capacity addition in its services, Railways should set up long term fund. For this purpose additional cess on higher class fare may be imposed for crediting the amount to such fund.

(ix) Commercial Lease of Land and Checking its Illegal Possession:

Railways should impose complete check on illegal possession of railway vacant land and maintain those land for future purposes. Commercial lands under the possession of railway may be leased out at rational rates for a specified period of time. The revenue so collected may be utilised for the expansion of railway traffic in the country.

(x) Attaining Commercial Viability of Railway Workshops:

Commercial viability of a number of railway workshops is being eroded which must be restored at any cost. Steps be taken to utilise the fullest capacity of these workshops. Workforce engaged in this workshop should be utilised to the fullest extent and if necessary the surplus work force should be restructured for its rational uses.

6. Essay on the Recent Strategy Adopted by Indian Railways for Meeting Challenges Posed by Economic Liberalisation:

Indian Railways is now facing challenges posed by economic liberalisation, rising staff costs, resource constraints for investment and also from stiff competition from other modes of transport. In order to meet those challenges, Railways has adopted some new strategies in recent years.

With over 15,50,000 employees, Railways is the largest employer among public sector undertakings in the country. Accordingly, a substantial portion of their gross expenditure is spent in staff costs for making payment of salaries and allowances including pension liabilities.

This liability has risen appreciably recently due to the recommendations of Sixth Central Pay Commission. With a view to reducing the impact of rising staff costs, Railways have developed a two-pronged strategy.

A 10-year perspective plan for manpower planning has been drawn. Simultaneously, a large number of initiatives have been taken to improve staff productivity with a view to providing cost-effective services to customers.

Measures towards modernization of infrastructure and rolling stock, induction of computerization and information technology at an accelerated pace, enhanced manpower productivity and a significant improvement in work culture at all levels, are being adopted progressively for meeting the challenges posed by economic liberalisation and stiff competition from other modes of transport.

The Railways have been performing a unique and challenging role of functioning both as a commercial undertaking as well as provider of public utility service. The latter involves a measure of cross-subsidization of passenger service by freight revenues as well as operating certain uneconomic services like those in certain suburban sections and branch lines in order to provide cheap and affordable transport to the public at large.

Again, in order to face the resource constraints, the Railways have launched a number of schemes to mobilise extra-budgetary resources to meet the needs of growth and development. In order to supplement investment, partnerships with private sector and State Governments for specific projects are being forged.

In addition to Build-Own-Lease Transfer (BOLT) and Own Your Wagon Scheme (OYWS), other initiatives to attract private participation include setting up a private terminal and public-private partnership to provide railway connectivity to new upcoming ports.

Joint ventures with some State Governments for executing projects have also been envisaged. Two separate Memoranda of Understanding were signed with Government of Karnataka and Government of Andhra Pradesh to formalize their financial participation in certain railway projects in their respective states.

The MOU between Government of Karnataka and Ministry of Railways envisages formation of a joint-venture company, funded by the Central Government, the State Government, financial institutions and others. This company will be under-written by Government of Karnataka and will raise resources for early completion of certain identified railway projects.

Similarly, the MOU with Government of Andhra Pradesh envisages formation of a joint-venture company to plan and implement a model scheme of seamless Multi-modal Urban Transport System involving both rail and road.

An SPV with equity participation of Ministry of Railways and M/s. Gujarat Pipavav Port Ltd. (GPPL) has been planned to provide Broad Gauge connectivity to the port of Pipavav on the West Coast of India by conversion of Surinderanagar—Rajula City (250 km) meter gauge line and a new line from Rajula City to the port of Pipavav.

Proposals to connect Mundra Port on the West Coast and Dharma Port on the East Coast to the Broad Gauge network of Indian Railways through a suitable framework are also under active consideration of the Ministry of Railways.

The Railways also expect to augment considerable amount of revenues from non-traditional sources, such as commercial publicity, commercial use of land and air space and utilisation of ‘right of way’ of optic fibre cable network. Parcel services of Indian Railways are also being improved with leasing of space in brake vans of passenger trains.

With fast growth in Cargo in private sector, it has become possible to offer better quality of service by guaranteed clearance of Cargo through regular train services.

Moreover, the government is seriously considering the entry of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into railways. Accordingly, the government is likely to FDI in high speed trains and other projects including development of rail lines between project sites and existing network.

However, the FDI will not be allowed in train operations and safety. As per the new proposal, foreign investment would also be allowed in sub­urban corridor, high-speed train systems and dedicated freight line projects implemented in PPP mode. It has also suggested widening the definition of ‘infrastructure’ by including railway line and railway sidings.

As per the new proposal, foreign investment would be allowed to pick-up 100 per cent stake in the special purpose vehicle (SPV) that will construct and maintain rail lines connecting ports mines and industrial hubs with the existing rail network.

Thus, the present move will help the railway in attracting more and more FDI which will assist in the development of infrastructure for industrial purposes and also help in smooth movement of raw materials from mines to ports or mines to new industrial projects.

7. Essay on the Major Recommendations of Expert Group on Indian Railways:

Indian Railways are facing the problem of upgradation and expansion of services. Accordingly, the Ministry of Railways.

Railway Board, had constituted an Expert Group on December 31, 1998 to study the railway sector in order to estimate the financing requirements of an expansion and upgrading programme for Indian Railways, to identify sources of funding of estimated investments over 15-year period, to study models of structure and ownership of rail transport facilities in developed countries and to recommend suitable regulatory arrangements that would facilitate orderly expansion of the system, promote the desired degree of competition and protect the users right to quality service. The Report of the Study Group is under examination.

Following are some of the key recommendations of the Expert Group:

1. The root cause of financial problem confronting the Indian Railways is found in lack of adequate productivity increases that are commensurate with real wages over time.

2. Indian Railways has to modernize and expand its capacity to serve the emerging needs of the growing economy.

3. Indian Railways has to adopt a “strategic perspective” to achieve high growth in both the passenger and freight segments.

4. Along with achievement of higher growth the Indian Railways will have to explore every avenue of reduction in costs,

5. The Expert Group has made detailed projections for the potential of passenger traffic and revenue growth. Among the possible investment strategies the panel has favored a “High Growth Strategy” which will require focused remunerative investment and corresponding organizational restructuring of Indian Railway internally and in relationship with government, including corporatization.

6. Higher profitability in freight segment through a long term Strategy of improved Speed of freight trains, up-gradation of rolling stock, specific commodity related investment, improved signaling and communication, setting up additional container depots, rationalization of the freight rates structure to remove distortions.

7. Un-remunerative investments must be stopped.

8. Key challenge for Indian Railways in the passenger traffic segments is to maintain its obligations on low price services while at the same time increasing both capacity and utilization in upper classes, through a strategy for higher growth in traffic as well as appropriate tariff rebalancing.

9. The Government of India should be in charge of setting policy direction. Indian Rail Regulatory Authority (IRRA) should be set up to regulate tariffs, Indian Railways must eventually be corporatized into “Indian Railways Corporation” (IRC).

10. Indian Railways Corporation (IRC) would be governed by a reconstituted Indian Railways Executive Board (IREB).

11. Restructuring of Indian Railways will require massive investment.

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Essay , Geography , India , Trasportation , Modes , Railways , Essay on the Indian Railways

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History of Indian Railways

Last updated on June 23, 2024 by ClearIAS Team

Indian Railways is the fourth largest national railway system in the world by size and total route length. The history of Indian railways is more than 150 years old. Read here to learn about the history, present, and future of the Indian Railways.

The Indian government owns and operates Indian Railways . A monopoly on the nation’s rail transportation was held by Indian Railways until relatively recently.

Around 750 million tonnes of freight are transported on one of the world’s busiest and biggest rail networks each year, carrying little over six billion people.

Indian Railways employs more than 1.6 million people worldwide, making it the largest commercial or utility employer.

Table of Contents

1832-1837: In Madras, India’s initial railway ideas were made in 1832. Between 1836 and 1837, Arthur Cotton’s Red Hill Railway, which was designed to transport granite for road construction, went from Red Hills to Madras’s Chintadripet Bridge.

The first railway on the Indian sub-continent ran throughout 21 miles from Bombay to Thane.

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1843: The idea of a railway to connect Bombay with Thane, Kalyan, and with the Thal and Bhore Ghats inclines first occurred to Mr. George Clark, the Chief Engineer of the Bombay Government, during a visit to Bhandup in 1843.

1853: The formal inauguration ceremony was performed on 16th April 1853, when 14 railway carriages carrying about 400 guests left Bori Bunder at 3.30 pm “amidst the loud applause of a vast multitude and to the salute of 21 guns.”

1854: The first passenger train steamed out of Howrah station destined for Hooghly, a distance of 24 miles, on 15th August 1854.

Thus, the first section of the East Indian Railway was opened to public traffic, inaugurating the beginning of railway transport on the Eastern side of the sub-continent.

1856: In the south, the first line was opened on 1st July 1856 by the Madras Railway Company. It ran between Vyasarpadi Jeeva Nilayam (Veyasarpandy) and Walajah Road (Arcot), a distance of 63 miles.

1859: In the North, a length of 119 miles of line was laid from Allahabad to Kanpur on 3rd March 1859.

1862: The first Railway Workshop was established at Jamalpur, near Munger, Bihar, in 1862. It gradually became one of the major industrial units of India, with iron and steel foundries, rolling mills, and more.

1864: The north got its first station – the Delhi Junction. The oldest one of the cities, it was a major station and junction and remains so to date.

It was first established near Chandni Chowk in 1864 when trains from Howrah/Calcutta started operating up to Delhi. The current building was made operational in 1903.

1875: The first section from Hathras Road to Mathura Cantonment was opened to traffic on 19th October 1875.

These were the small beginnings that in due course developed into a network of railway lines all over the country.

By 1880 the Indian Railway system had a route mileage of about 9000 miles.

1880: The Darjeeling Steam Tramway (later the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway) started its first section between Siliguri and Kurseong. The line was extended to Darjeeling in 1881.

This Line operated on Narrow Gauge and was accorded World Heritage Status in 1999, the first Railway in Asia to get such a standing.

1895: After four decades of importing ready-made British locomotive parts for assembly, in 1895 the first steam locomotive was manufactured completely in India at the Ajmer Workshop.

1899: The Nilgiri Mountain Railway is among the first, and still outstanding, examples of a Hill Passenger Railway. Opened in 1899, it was extended up to Ooty in 1903. It was a bold and ingenious engineering initiative to establish a rail link across a mountainous terrain of great beauty.

The “engineering marvel” still stands a testimony to the skills of Railway Engineering. It was accorded World Heritage Status in 2005.

1903: The Kalka Shimla Narrow Gauge Railway opened for traffic in November 1903. This line was accorded World Heritage status in 2008.

Indian Railways, the premier transport organization of the country is the largest rail network in Asia and the world’s second-largest under one management.

1914-20: The railroads were employed to suit British demands outside of India as the First World War broke out. The railways had seen great losses and were in disrepair after World War One. In 1920, the government assumed control of the Railways and severed the connection between their funding and other state resources, a practice that is still in place today with a distinct railway budget.

1945-47: Trains were redirected to the Middle East during the Second World War , and railway workshops were turned into weapons factories, severely crippling the railroads. A sizable chunk of the railways was allocated to the then-recently created Pakistan at the time of independence in 1947.

A total of 42 different railway networks, including 32 lines held by the former Indian princely states, were combined to establish the Indian Railways, a unified organization.

1951: The organization of Indian railways into regional zones began in 1951, when the Southern (14 April 1951), Central (5 November 1951), and Western (5 November 1951) zones were created.

National Rail Museum, the first rail museum in India, was established in 1977 at Chanakyapuri, New Delhi. The Indian Railways now have 33 Museums, Heritage Parks and Galleries spread all across the country.

The railways became popular at an unprecedented speed. The frequency and the number of trains were increasing as more and more people became dependent on its services.

At the same time, there was a need to enhance the safety of the passengers and the number of trains on the track increased. Many instruments were thus developed for better management of railway sections.

Railway Infrastructure

Pamban Bridge is the railway bridge that connects Rameswaram on Pamban Island to mainland India.

• Opened on 24 February 1914, it was India’s first sea bridge.
• The rail bridge is, for the most part, a conventional bridge resting on concrete piers, but has a double-leaf bascule section midway, which can be raised to let ships and barges pass through.

One of the latest challenges undertaken by the Indian Railways is the building of the steel arch bridge over the Chenab in Jammu.

The history of Indian Railways spans over 160 years since its existence, the Railways in India have grown and expanded by leaps and bounds, yet there are still unchartered territories to cover. Slowly but steadily the railways are connecting every part of India, which with the constant innovations in technology is much easier to do today than it was before.

Though the newer generation is more used to air travel and automobiles, the railways must continue to grow; because even with all the other options available, the experience of an Indian train ride will remain unparalleled and continue to enthrall people for generations to come.

Today, Indian Railways manages the fourth-largest rail network in the world, with tracks spanning more than 120,000km of the country.

The railway is preparing for the future with several initiatives. Free WiFi services were envisaged to be provided at more than 7,000 stations by 2019, and Railways has invested in greener technologies in a bid to meet 25% of its power demand with renewables, primarily solar, by 2025.

Related article: 

• Socio-economic effects of Railways worldwide
• Railway Safety in India

­ -Article written by Swathi Satish

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Essay on Indian Railways

Indian Railways   (IR)  is  India 's national railway system operated by the  Ministry of Railways . It manages the  fourth-largest railway network in the world  by size, with 121,407 kilometres (75,439 mi) of total track over a 67,368-kilometre (41,861 mi) route  Forty nine percent of the routes are electrified with  25 KV AC  electric traction while thirty three percent of them are double or multi-tracked. [3] [4]

IR runs more than 13,000 passenger trains daily, on both  long-distance  and  suburban routes , from 7,349 stations across India. The trains have a five-digit numbering system. Mail or express trains, the most common types, run at an average speed of 50.6 kilometres per hour (31.4 mph) . In the freight segment, IR runs more than 9,200 trains daily. The average speed of freight trains is around 24 kilometres per hour (15 mph).

In the year ending March 2018, IR is projected to carry 8.26 billion passengers and transport 1.16 billion tons of freight.  In the fiscal year 2017-18, IR is projected to have earnings of â?¹1.874 trillion (US$29 billion), consisting of â?¹1.175 trillion (US$18 billion) in freight revenue and â?¹501.25 billion(US$7.7 billion) in passenger revenue, with an  operating ratio  of 96.0 percent.

The first railway proposals for India were made in  Madras  in 1832. [  The country's first train,  Red Hill Railway  (built by  Arthur Cotton  to transport granite for road-building), ran from  Red Hills  to the  Chintadripet  bridge in Madras in 1837. India's first passenger train, hauled by three steam locomotives ( Sahib ,  Sindh  and  Sultan ), ran for 34 kilometres (21 mi) with 400 people in 14 carriages on  1,676 mm  (5 ft 6 in)  broad gauge  track between  Bori Bunder  ( Mumbai ) and  Thane  on 16 April 1853.  The Dapoorie viaduct, India's first  railway bridge , was built over the  Ulhas River  when the Mumbai-Thane line was extended to  Kalyan  in May 1854. Eastern India's first passenger train ran 24 miles (39 km) from  Howrah , near  Kolkata , to  Hoogly  on 15 August 1854. [1]  The first passenger train in  South India  ran 60 miles (97 km) from  Royapuram - Veyasarapady ( Madras ) to Wallajah Road ( Arcot ) on 1 July 1856.

On 24 February 1873, a  horse-drawn  3.8-kilometre (2.4 mi)  tram  opened in Calcutta between  Sealdah  and Armenian Ghat Street. In 1897, lighting in passenger coaches was introduced by many railway companies. On 3 February 1925, the first electric passenger train in India ran between  Victoria Terminus  and  Kurla .

The organisation of Indian railways into regional zones began in 1951, [14]  when the  Southern  (14 April 1951),  Central  (5 November 1951) and  Western  (5 November 1951) zones were created. Fans and lights were mandated for all compartments in all passenger classes in 1951, and sleeping accommodations were introduced in coaches. In 1956, the first fully air-conditioned train was introduced between Howrah and Delhi. Ten years later, the first containerized freight service began between Mumbai and Ahmedabad. In 1986, computerized ticketing and reservations were introduced in New Delhi.

In 1988, the first  Shatabdi Express  was introduced between New Delhi and Jhansi; it was later extended to  Bhopal . Two years later, the first self-printing ticket machine (SPTM) was introduced in New Delhi. In 1993, air-conditioned three-tier coaches and a sleeper class (separate from second class) were introduced on IR. The CONCERT system of computerized reservations was deployed in New Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai in September 1996. In 1998, coupon validating machines (CVMs) were introduced at Mumbai Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus. The nationwide Concierge system began operation on 18 April 1999. In February 2000, the Indian Railways website went online. On 3 August 2002, IR began online train reservations and ticketing. [20]  Indian Railways announced on 31 March 2017 that the country's entire rail network would be electrified by 2022.

. IR is divided into 17 zones, headed by general managers who report to the Railway Board. The zones are further subdivided into 68 operating  divisions , headed by divisional railway managers (DRM). [24]  The divisional officers of the engineering, mechanical, electrical, signal and telecommunication, stores, accounts, personnel, operating, commercial, security and safety branches report to their respective DRMs and are tasked with the operation and maintenance of assets. Station masters control individual stations and train movements through their stations' territory. In addition, there are a number of Production Units, Training Establishments, Public Sector Enterprises and other Offices working under the control of Railway Board.

Goods wagons

As of March 2017, IR fleet consisted of 277,987  goods wagons . They carried 1,110 million tonnes of freight in Fiscal Year 2016-17.  Wagon types used by IR  include BCACBM, BCCN, BCNA, BCNHL, BOBRN, BOBYN, BOXN (BOXN-HL, BOXN-HS, BOXN-HL, BOXN-CR, BOXN-LW, BOXN-AL, BOXN-EL), BRH, BTPGLN, BTPN and VVN.

IR’s bulk requirement of wagons is met by wagon manufacturing units both in public and private sectors as well as other Public Sector Units under the administrative control of Ministry of Railways.

Passenger coaches

On long distance routes and also on some shorter routes, IR uses 2 primary types of coach design types.  ICF coaches , in production from 1955 until Jan 2018, ]  constitute the bulk of the current stock. These coaches, considered to be having inadequate safety features, are slowly being phased out. As of September 2017, around 40,000 coaches are still in operation. The older coaches are being replaced with  LHB coaches . Introduced in mid '90s, these coaches are lighter, safer and are capable of speeds up to 160 kilometres per hour (99 mph).

IR has announced that two new self-propelled train set designs will be introduced starting from mid 2018. These two train types, termed as Train-18 and Train-20, are expected to replace locomotive-hauled trains on long distance routes.

On regional short distance routes, IR runs  Mainline Electrical Multiple Unit (MEMU)  or  Diesel Electrical Multiple Unit (DEMU) trains, depending on the traction available. These train sets are self-propelled with capability for faster acceleration or deceleration and are expected to reduce congestion on dense routes. Passenger locomotive-hauled trains, having frequent stops are slowly being replaced with train sets across India.

On suburban commuter routes around the large urban centers, IR runs trains with  Electric Multiple Unit (EMU)  coaches. As of March 2017, about 9100 coaches are in operation.

Manufacturing

Indian Railways is a  vertically-integrated  organization that produces majority of its rolling stock at in-house production units, with a few recent exceptions.

The  Chittaranjan Locomotive Works  in  Chittaranjan  manufactures electric locomotives, and the  Diesel Locomotive Works  in  Varanasi  makes Diesel and Electric locomotives. The  Diesel-Loco Modernisation Works  in  Patiala upgrades the WDM-2 locomotive from 2,600 to 3,100 hp. Some electric locomotives have been supplied by  Bharat Heavy Electricals , and locomotive components are manufactured in other plants around the country. Coaches are produced at  Integral Coach Factory ,  Rail Coach Factory  and  Modern Coach Factory  located in different parts of the country. The  Rail Wheel Factory  at  Yelahanka ,  Bangalore  and the  Rail Wheel Plant, Bela  in  Chhapra , Bihar manufactures wheels and axles.The repair and maintenance of this vast fleet of rolling stock is carried out at 44 loco sheds, 212 carriage & wagon repair units and 45 periodic overhaul workshops located across various zones of IR. In November 2015, IR awarded USD 2.6bn locomotive supply and maintenance contract to  General Electric . The contract stipulates that GE will import 40 locomotives and will produce another 960 over a period of 11 years in a new  Diesel Locomotive Factory at Marhowra  in  Bihar . On the same day, another USD 3bn contract has been awarded to  Alstom SA  to manufacture 800 high power electric locomotives (12000 HP) over 11 yeas in a new  Electric Locomotive Factory at Madhepura .

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Essay on “160 Glorious years of Indian Railways” for School, College Students, Long and Short English Essay, Speech for Class 9, 10 and 12 students.

160 Glorious years of Indian Railways

In the year 2013, the Indian Railways completed 160 years. Since its beginning in 1853, Indian railways have grown as the second largest network in the world, after Russian Railways.

To improve the transport system in South India, the idea of railways in India was first imagined in 1832 in Madras. Due to many administrative and technical problems, this idea could not succeed. However, on 1st July 1856, the first railway line was opened between Veyasarpady and Walajah Road. It was opened under the name of Madras Railway Company.

In 1850, the newly formed Great Indian Peninsular Railway Company started the work of constructing the Bombay-Kalyan line. In February 1852, the first locomotive was seen shunting in Bombay.

The official inaugural ceremony of the first train in India took place in 1853. Fourteen railway carriages, carrying about four hundred guests left from Bori Sunder with the salute of twenty-one guns. The train reached Thana in about seventy-five minutes. The train crossed a distance of about 34 kilometers. The train was pulled by three locomotives named Sultan, Sindh and Sahib. Today the Indian Railways have grown into a network with 63,000 kilometers route length. It covers a vast distance from the Himalayan foothills in the North to Cape Comorin in the South.

The Indian Railway system is divided into sixteen zones. Each zone has various powers differing between certain thousand kilometers. Some of the zones are Central Railway, Eastern Railway, and East Central Railway. East Coast Railway, Northern Railway, North Central Railway and North Eastern Railway. The zonal railways take care of the railway business in their respective areas. They are responsible for management and planning of works.

Indian Railways have six production units. Some of them are Rail Couch Factory at Kapurthala, Rail Wheel Factory at Bangalore and Diesel Locomotive Factory at Varanasi. These units manufacture locomotives, coaches. diesel components. wheels, etc. Indian Railways have also established the National Rail Museum at New Delhi. The museum has a wonderful collection of old steam locomotives, tracks, equipment, coaches and other items.

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Essay on Railways in India

Essay on Railways in India!

Essay Contents:

• Essay on the Railway Finances in India

Essay # 1. Railways under the Plans:

On the eve of India’s First Five Year Plan, Indian railways were in a state of serious disrepair. This may be seen from the fact that 1640 locomotives, 5120 coaches, and 25,000 wagons were due for replacement. There were also large arrears of renewals of track while speed restrictions were in force over large parts.

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The main task of the First Plan, therefore, was “the rehabilitation of the railways which had been subjected to severe strain on account of the war and the Partition.” In order to fulfill this and other tasks, the railways spent about Rs. 423 crores during the plan of which rolling stock alone accounted for Rs. 242 crores.

While meeting the large requirements of repair and renewals with imported equipment, steps were also taken to make the railways self-sufficient in respect of even larger requirements during the subsequent plans. Towards this end, a locomotive factory at Chittaranjan and a coach-building factory at Madras were set up in the public sector.

Along with the programme of rehabilitation for which major portion of allotment was utilised, a number of works including doubling of track, yard modeling’s, new crossing stations, additional loops, improved sig­nalling devices and increased repair facilities were also undertaken to cater to increased traffic demands.

The main objectives of the Railway’s Second Plan, during which an expenditure of Rs. 1043.69 crores, was made, were:

(1) To continue the rehabilitation of track, bridges, and rolling stock;

(2) To create adequate capacity to suit the planned requirements of heavy industries like coal, steel, cement, and other com­modities.

The three steel plants set up and those whose capacity had been expanded, had to be regularly supplied with their raw material requirements, including coal, all by rail route. For this purpose, it was necessary to create large additional capacity in the eastern region.

Accordingly, all the loops on the trunk route were brought up to the standard length and heavier freight trains hauled by double-headed diesel or electric locomotives were introduced. In addition to about 1512 kms of doublings, about 1311 kms of new lines, mainly confined to the requirements of coal and steel, were also completed and opened during the plan.

Railway’s Third Plan was framed to meet an estimated freight traffic of 245 million tons and 15% increase in passenger traffic over the level of the Second Plan. Even though initially allotted 1325 crores which was later raised, actual expenditure during the plan came to Rs. 1685.8 crores.

The increase was largely due to rise in prices of materials of construction, government levies, increase in the cost of labour etc., and the additional construction undertaken in the Assam region to meet strategic needs.

Apart from opening 1801 kms of new lines and doubling of 3228 kms of the track, expansion of yards, introduction of modern signalling techniques, all of which went into creating additional capacity, the main task of the railways during the Third Plan was the modernisation of traction, including a switchover from steam to diesel and electric traction.

This was necessary in view of the rapid industrialisation of the country with higher production targets in basic industries.

From a modest beginning made in the Second Plan, when only 5.3% of traffic was carried on diesel and 3.6% on electric traction, modernisation made rapid strides so that by the end of 1965-66, 20.6% of the traffic was carried on diesel and 12.4% on electric traction.

And with a view to providing for even larger requirement of diesel and electric traction in the future, a diesel locomotive factory was set up at Varanasi, while Chittaranjan works were equipped for the manufacture of electric locomotives also.

Taking the three plans as a whole, railways made significant progress in several directions. The capital at large increased more than three times from Rs. 832.2 crores to Rs. 2680.3 crores; freight traffic rose by more than 2 times from 93 million tons to 204 million tons and passengers originating increased by 60% from Rs. 1307.8 million to 2104 million.

Gross traffic receipts went up from Rs. 263 crores to Rs. 733.6 crores —an increase of 179%.

Significantly, the route kilometers increased by a bare 6% from 54932 in 1950-51 to 58399 in 1965- 66 and this despite investment of over Rs. 3000 crores. Of course, it can be argued that most of the required railway network had already been laid by the time the British left and that, therefore, the problem was one of carrying more of passengers and goods over the same route net work rather than expanding the mileage.

There is certainly force in the argument but it may be pointed out that large areas of the country in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Maharashtra, and Andhra Pradesh were still without the necessary railway facilities. Also, the railways were still characterised by a variety of gauges which enormously added to the cost of railway transport.

Essay # 2. Effects of Railway Development:

The Railway Development had far-reaching effects on the life and economy of the Indian people. In the official view, “the benefits conferred by railways were at all time great” and that they were “an all powerful agent in the promotion of the material and social advancement of the people.”

Indian leaders, on the other hand, holding that railways had proved detrimental to India’s industrial activity, condemned them ‘as a many—sides evil’ which prevented “a healthy material advance along normal lines.” Let us consider the facts.

ADVERTISEMENTS: (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Essay # 3. Economic Benefits of Railways :

The value of railways was best appreciated in times of famines. The major cause of famines in the past was the absence of an easy and quick means of transporting food from the surplus to the scarcity areas. Railways changed the entire picture.

Being quick, food could now be transported from one part to another and relief operations conducted with greater efficiency. That is why the Famine Commission of 1880 found the highest famine-mortality in areas where transport facilities were most scanty. It, therefore, pleaded for the immediate construction of new lines including 3000 miles for ‘protective purposes.’

The railways greatly facilitated the commercialisation of agriculture. They broke the traditional self-sufficiency of the Indian village and brought it face to face with markets inside and outside the country. It remained no more necessary for the cultivator to meet his varied needs from his own land.

Instead, he began to specialise in particular crops and turned to the newly developed markets for the disposal of his produce and purchase of his requirements.

Railways brought about the expansion of the trade of Indian —internal as well as external. Rice and wheat, especially wheat, began to be exported in larger quantities while the exports of tea, coffee, Hides and skins, oil-seeds, raw-jute, and raw cotton grew rapidly. At the same time, railways helped foreign machine- made goods to penetrate into the interior of the country.

As a result, the total value of India’s foreign trade, which amounted to a bare Rs. 32 crores in 1851-52, rose to Rs. 180.43 crores in 1900-1 —an increase of more than 5.5 times. Railways gave a large impetus to internal trade as well. A network of markets grew up all over the country and minor food grains like millets and pulses began to emerge as important commodities in the internal trade of the country.

Railways also helped in the process of industrialisation of the country. The plantation industries, the coal industry, the cotton and jute mill Industries developed, Pari Passu, with the construction of railways. Coal industry actually began with railway development. The railways not only created a demand for Indian coal but also made coal available in the far flung parts of the country.

Similarly, railways helped in the rise of the cotton mill industry at Bombay by bringing quick and cheap supplies of raw-cotton from the interior. The Iron and steel industry received a great stimulus as railways began to purchase rails and other railway material in India.

The railways benefitted the government, both directly as well as indirectly. With the beginning of the 20th century, railways began to yield profits and were able to directly contribute to the revenues of the government.

Indirectly, the ex­pansion of railways and the consequent development of trade and industry lent buoyancy to government revenues. The gross revenues of India increased from Rs. 61.97 crores in 1877-78 to Rs. 114.51 crores in 1901-1902.

Railways were instrumental in the leveling of prices, especially of food grains, throughout India. Before the commencement of the railways, areas of acute scarcity and plenty co-existed side by side with the result that prices varied and fluctuated widely.

According to Prof. Brij Narain, in 1860, barley was sold in Panipat (Haryana) at 18 seers a rupee but, about 150 miles away, in Mamdot (Punjab) it sold at 101 seers a rupee.Railways abolished the distance barrier and transformed the country into one big market. It became possible now to move supplies quickly from one to another place thereby reducing wide price-disparities and violent fluctuations.

Another very significant effect of railway development was the creation of employment opportunities, especially for the agricultural labourers and the poorer classes of cultivators who were able to supplement their earnings in the off-season by working on railway construction. “Acute immobility of labour and serfdom wire now partially broken and a sense of dignity in employment was brought to railway workers.”

Apart from employment offered in construction, railways directly engaged lakhs of people as clerks, accountants, firemen, and subsequently, even in senior capacities. In 1965-66, 13,52,302 persons were employed by the railways in various capacities.

Political Effects :

Railway converted India from ‘a mere geographical expression’ to a ‘well-knit and consolidated political unit.’ Very long distances and the absence of transport facilities had been the major impediments in the growth of cultural and political cohesion in the country.

By removing these obstacles, railways led to the establishment of a modern central administration. Travel, being cheap, became frequent. This, in turn, promoted a sense of national unity.

The efficiency of the civil administration improved immensely for now it became possible for the government to watch development in different parts of the country and take prompt appropriate measures to deal with them.

Railways gave valuable assistance in transporting men and material in the First and Second World Wars. The Kashmir and Hyderabad operations, after Independence, once again emphasised the important role of railways in the scheme of national defence.

Social Effects :

Railways were, so to say, the evangelists of a new social order in India. They carried new light to the superstitious, custom-bound, conservative villages.

Frequent travelling and inter-mixing, which became unavoidable in railway travel, broke the caste barriers or at least created a greater tolerance of lower castes. In the words of Sanyal , “Social relationships between persons living widely apart multiplied, and parents had no hesitation in marrying their children at distant places.”

Adverse Effects :

However, railways were not an unmixed blessing. As Thorner explains, they were built for strategic and commercial reasons and had no organic relation­ship with the growth-needs of India. By enabling the cheap machine-made products of England to undersell in India, railways brought about the decline of the in­digenous handicraft industries ‘in an astonishingly short space of time’.

According to G.S.Iyer, “every additional mile of railway constructed in this country drove a fresh nail into the coffin of one industry or another.”

One can’t accept Dr. Ansteys assertion that “railways can’t, by themselves, be held responsible for the destruction of these industries — the indigenous in­dustries suffered the most during the first three quarters of the 19th century —that is before the railway network had opened up India.”

While it is true that the decline of cottage industries had started before the railway era began, but this process was slow, confined to certain industries only and had not spread to the interior of the country. Railways, by opening up the country- side to foreign manufac­turers, hastened the final eclipse of certain industries and directly killed the Iron smelting, Glass, and paper industries.

While the railways enabled the cheap machine-made goods of England to undersell and thus destroy the indigenous handicraft industries, they did not usher in the Industrial Revolution experienced by Japan, the United States of America and Western Europe. These countries could develop their Iron and steel and other basic industries because railway construction generated the demand for their products.

In India, however, railways failed to bring about the ‘Take-off’ despite the fact that their construction, involving enormous investment in a relatively short period of time, was in the nature of a ‘Big push.’ There are several reasons for it.

The first and fore-most was that complementary investments in coal, Iron and steel, machinery manufacture, which Marx thought would follow railway development, were extremely slow or were not allowed to proceed at all.

Railway development combined with the growth of the jute industry did promote a slow development of a coal mining industry. But that was about all. No effort was made to encourage the steel industry.

Even attempts made by Indians were outright discouraged. Nor was any progress made towards the manufacture of locomotives and other basic railway equipment except the partial fabrication of wagons and coaches for nearly a century after the establishment of the railway system. The authorities, instead, preferred to import all their requirements from England.

Only a fraction of expenditure was spent in India, and the firms, which benefitted, were almost always controlled by Europeans. In the words of Beumont, “Next to Australia, India was the largest customer we (England) had for locomotives. We supplied all the material and all the equipment and built the railways—.”

Therefore, the Multiplier Effects of railway investments in terms of income, employ­ment, technical knowledge, and growth of external economies were largely exported back to England. That is the reason why rail building in India failed to give birth to a flood of ‘satellite innovations’ and destroyed more occupational opportunities than it opened up.

Fearing that railways might after all encourage Indian industries, a complex system of rates and fares was introduced which stimulated goods traffic from sea-ports into the interior but hampered internal trade and industry.

Rates were lower on goods to and from the ports and high on goods traffic inside the country. Even as late as 1918, the Indian Industrial Commission quoted the case of hides: the port rate was 50% less than internal rates which discouraged Indian Tanning industry.

Thirdly, the trunk lines ran from the big sea-ports to regions rich in raw-materials which also became markets for Britain’s manufactured goods. Built to exploit the country’s natural resources, such railway construction “aided Europe in becoming the manufacturer of India rather than India in becoming the manufac­turer for her self. ”

The fourth was the multi-gauge railway system which impeded traffic between the provinces. The trunk lines were often of one standard gauge while branch lines were of another.

A commodity, moving from one part of the country to another, had to be transferred several times, and each transfer involved the payment of a high tariff. It was often cheaper, as a result, to import coal from Britain than to bring it from a neighbouring province.

The decline and decay of cottage industries rendered a large mass of people unemployed who shifted to agriculture, thereby leading to increased ruralisation of the country.

Famines, therefore, brought hunger and suffering to ever increasing numbers which necessitated larger expenditure on famine relief. Thus, railways, though helpful in preventing the occurrence of famines, were also responsible for increasing the volume and expense of the famine-relief work.

Railways encouraged the export of food-grains from the country. The old practice of storing grains as insurance against future calamities was given up. Also, by encouraging the cultivation and export of commercial crops, railways were responsible for diverting land from food to cash crops thereby causing shortage of food in the country.

A major point of criticism against Indian railways was that they were in­strumental in draining wealth out of India. They were built with foreign capital and administered by a host of foreign employees. This involved remittance of large funds in the form of interest, salaries, profits, payments for the important materials and railway stores.

Payments on account of interest were common to other countries also but extra charges were peculiar to India alone. According to Tiwari, total loss borne by the state, on account of the old guaranteed com­panies at 4% per annum compound interest amounted to Rs. 300 crores up to 1919-1920.

One dangerous political consequence of railway construction was the crea­tion of a powerful foreign aristocracy of shareholders whose interest conflicted with those of the Indian nation. In this sense, Railways added to the already powerful foreign vested interests which often operated to the disadvantage of India.

Railway construction led to the depletion of the meagre forest resources of the country. Trees were recklessly cut denuding large areas of all vegetation. This created the problem of soil erosion.

The railway tracks, at places, were built at a higher level which obstructed the free flow of water. This caused floods at certain places. The construction of railways aggravated malaria in certain districts, although there is a difference of opinion regarding its cause. Popular view is that pits dug for embankment purposes later got filled with rain water.

These small pools of stagnant water fostered the breeding of mosquitoes. Dr. Anstey, however, believes that collies, employed for railway construction, brought new strains of malaria to which the local popula­tion was less immune.

Railways, by encouraging the import of cheap luxury articles, greatly changed the spending habits of the Indian peasants. Their expenditure increased beyond their earning capacity with the result that savings disappeared and many got involved in debt.

By opening up new employment opportunities at far off places and by facilitat­ing mobility of labour, railways dealt a severe blow to the joint family system which had held together the Hindu Society for a long time. People were no longer inclined to stay together and railways enabled them to move out easily and quickly, to wherever employment was available.

According to Gadgil, “one of the most important factors determining the growth of towns in India was railway construction,” While they created new centres of trade as well as enhanced the importance of the old once, railways at certain places bypassed the old towns whose importance declined.

The advent of the railways dealt a severe below to inland navigation also. Even the Industrial Commission was forced to admit that “the vested interests of the railways — prevented water-ways in India from receiving the attention that has been given to them in other countries with such satisfactory results.” The importance of the once famous river port of Broach declined as a result of railway development.

Perhaps, some of the adverse consequence were the ‘inevitable price’ of railway development. They could not have been avoided although their injurious effects could have been minimised by a suitable policy. And it is here that the foreign government totally failed the country.

Essay # 4. Railway Rates in India :

The rates and fares which the railways charge have a vital bearings on the overall economic development of the country as well as their own financial position. Un-reasonably high rates discourage traffic and divert it to other modes of transport, raise costs of production, check development, and distort the location as well as the pattern of industries.

It is, therefore, necessary that the rates and fares are carefully designed so as to ensure a sound financial position for the railways and rapid economic development of the country. The structure of railway rates in India before 1948 did not satisfy this criterion and, therefore, was subjected to severe criticism.

The most striking feature of the railway rates was their ‘individualistic’ char­acter. Each railway operated as an independent commercial unit guided solely by its own individual interests. Accordingly, each railway company fixed its charges according to its own convenience without any consideration for the economic interests of the country as a whole.

Even those lines, which were directly managed by the Railway Board, were treated, in matters of rate-making, as separate systems. For example, the G.I.P. railway rate on cotton from Pachora to Bombay, a distance of 232 miles, was about 0.95 rupee per maund whereas the B.B.C.I. railway rate from Itola to Bombay, 234 miles, was only about 0.44 rupee per maund.

Such a policy might have had some justification when the Indian railways were owned and managed by companies, and the government could not exercise adequate control over their rates policy. Its continuance, however, after the railways had come under the control and management of the State, was hardly defensible.

This policy affected internal trade in particular because while the ports were linked with the inland trade centres by direct lines of usually the same company, the long distance internal traffic as a rule had to pass over more than one railway and was, therefore, made a victim of the ‘complicated and irrational’ rate structure of different railway companies.

This discouraged the setting up of industries away from the sources of raw materials even if other factors favoured it.

What is more, the rating system was very complicated and irrational. Statistical data was often not available and, therefore, no railway ever made an attempt to scientifically group the commodities into different classes and simplify the rate structure.

Every railway had its own schedule with the result that the same com­modity found itself placed in a different schedule on different railway systems. Grains and pulses were, for example, placed in different schedules and had to pay different rates in different parts of the country.

Another complaint was that the rates fixed were very high. The companies never cared to create or attract traffic as was done in America; instead, they tried to earn maximum return “with the minimum of carriage and effort, conveying a small volume of high class traffic at high rates.” Several committees highlighted this fact.

As early as 1856-57, Col Pears strongly refuting the arguments of the railway companies who were trying to raise their charges, held that the main reason for the disappointing traffic on the railways was that the charges were not sufficiently attractive. In 1872, Mr. Randal attributed the failure of traffic to rise up to expectations to the heavy fares.

To many, the rates charged by the Indian railways did not seem high. The Government, in fact, claimed that they were the lowest in the world. Even Mr. Robertson, reporting in 1903, found that, “in money terms, rates in India were lower than in England.”

However, considering the actual circumstances of the two countries, the low value of the commodities, long distance over which they were conveyed and the general poverty prevailing in the country, even he felt compelled to recommend a 30-60% reduction in goods-rates and 18-40% in passenger fares. It need not be emphasised that high rates imposed an undue strain on costs of production.

The Government, under pressure from England, did periodically demand a reduction in rates and freights. In the 40’s and 50’s of the last century, England was crying aloud for the cotton of India. In the 70’s and 80’s, the demand was made for the cheap supply of India wheat for the markets of Europe.

The American railway rates were much cheaper and, consequently, those interested in the export of Indian wheat raised a demand for special wheat rates. The railways obliged by lowering their freight charges in respect of agricultural commodities such as rice, wheat, oil-seeds, raw cotton and jute.

The British manufacturer, who needed cheap supplies of raw materials, benefitted but at the expense of a lop sided development of the Indian economy. As Anstey explains, India became “an exporter of food stuffs, raw materials and plantation products, when she depended upon imports for a large part of her clothing and for an immense range of misce­llaneous manufactures.”

The most serious objection was that the rates were ‘inequitable’ unfair and unjust.’ As the Fiscal Commission (1921 — 1922) pointed out, they were framed to encourage traffic to and from the ports at the expense of internal traffic. This, in effect, meant an encouragement to the export of raw-materials from India and the import of foreign manufactured goods.

Indian industries suffered the double handicap of having to pay more for the transport of raw-materials obtained from various parts of India and also for the distribution of their finished goods in various inland markets. Foreign manufacturers, using Indian raw-materials and selling in Indian markets, enjoyed an advantage in so far as they had to pay less for transportation charges.

It, in effect, “amounted to Indian manufacturers subsidizing their foreign competitors.” To take an example from the cotton trade, the rate charged from Multan to Karachi, a distance of 576 miles, was Rs. 1.05 per maund while from Multan to Delhi, a distance of 454 miles, a higher rate of Rs. 1.19 per maund was charged.

In sugar, special rates were quoted for imported sugar from ports, irrespective of weight and at railway risk. Distance for distance, these rates were, in many cases, lower than the rates even for wagon loads of indigenous sugar carried at owners’ risk.

Mr. Ghosh rightly says that by charging lower rates on imported sugar, railways not merely reduced their own earnings but also added to the profits of the foreign manufacturers.

Similarly, for Delhi, lower rates were quoted on imported matches from Bombay and higher rates from Ahmedabad even though Ahmedabad is about 300 miles nearer. In the case of leather, “the grant of port rates nearly 50% less than the internal rates —discouraged Indian Tanning industry.”

Despite the recommendation of the Industrial Commission that “internal traffic should be rated as nearly as possible on an equality with traffic of the same class and over similar distances to and from ports,” the railways continued to persist with their policy of discriminatory rates.

A consequence of these preferential rates was to encourage the establishment of industries in the port towns of Calcutta, Bombay, and Madras. This led to the present day con­gestion and over-crowding in these cities and their problems of housing, labour, and sanitation.

Yet another objectionable feature of the rates policy was the use of the ‘Block- rates’. The object of Block rates was to retain traffic on the line on which it originated and block it from passing, after a short lead, on to a rival route.

For this purpose, higher mileage charges for short lengths were imposed on traffic moving from the one railway system to another. In some case, this method was ruthlessly used in killing competition of other means of communications, e.g.. the B.B.C.I. used these rates to kill the shipping industry at Broach.

Even when using ‘Scale’ or ‘Tapering Rates’ which involved a progressive reduction of fares with the length of the distance travelled, each railway company treated the length on its own system as the sole basis for its charges, irrespective of the total distance which the consignment covered.

The result was that a con­signment, which divided a journey of 300 miles between three railways, only obtains the milage rate applicable to a journey of 100 miles. Terminal charges were also sometimes used to extract as much as possible from the traffic which, it was feared, might travel a greater distance over a rival line.

In addition, there were the transshipment and Ghat charges, adjusted class rates, short distance charges which every railway company levied. The multiplicity of these charges and variations in their rates on different systems made the railway rate structure so very com­plicated that even experienced members of the railway staff found it difficult to calculate them.

Whatever their justification, these rates often affected traffic undesirably, increased inequalities and, on the whole, tended to operate to the disadvantage of internal traffic and Indian industries.

As T.R. Sharma explains, these rates meant discrimination even between different regions of the interior and led to concentration of industries in a comparatively small number of towns and cities, e.g. Kanpur and Nagpur, which happened to be important inland transport centres.

Unfortunately, there was no active and alert authority to regulate and control the rates policy in the public interest. The Railway Board was reluctant to modify the rate structure built upon the basis of separate organisations.

Notwithstanding the public demand and the recommendation of the Acworth Committee for the appointment of a Railway Rates Tribunal, the government only set up the Railway Rates Advisory Committee in April 1926.

The Committee did some useful work but failed to go far enough. It was, what Mr. R.D. Tiwari likes to call, a compromise, halfway measure and, as such, its powers and functions were seriously limited. The members lacked judicial powers while the fear that the government might not accept their recommendations failed to create confidence in commercial circles.

Some of these defects in the railway rates structure were removed when a new system of telescopic class rates on a continuous mileage basis was introduced in 1948. Further changes were introduced in 1952 when the practice of charging rates on the basis of inflated mileage was given up; the concessional rates on the transport of sugar to the South and special rates for Iron and Steel were withdrawn.

The telescopic class rates were further modified in 1955 when class rates for the first 300 miles were increased; for 301-600 miles were left undisturbed, while those beyond 600 miles were reduced. The Railway Freight Structure Enquiry Committee of 1957, which investigated the question again, found that the 1948 rating scheme was no more useful.

With a view to enabling the railways to maintain their financial stability and also carry the additional traffic generated during the Second Plan, the committee recommended a regular and progressive increase in rates.

In the committee’s opinion, the most satisfactory method of achieving this increase was to have a standard rate called class 100 rate, and to express all other rates as a percentage of this rate so as to form an integrated scale covering the rates both by class of goods and by wagon loads.

In addition, the committee recommended the abolition of the terminal charges, the transshipment and Ghat charges, and of additional short-distance charge.

The proposed structure had one main defect in that it favoured long distance goods traffic while penalizing the short distance one. Therefore, while introducing a new freight structure towards the end of 1958, government modified the recom­mendations of the committee and introduced two norms, instead of one recom­mended by the Freight Committee, for the percentage system of increase.

Passenger fares were also changed and revised. In 1948, passenger fares were standardised on a uniform mileage basis. After seven years, the authorities, however, realised that the changes adversely affected long distance passengers. Consequently, passenger fares were also fixed on the basis of telescopic fare structure.

With this, many of the anomalies, which characterised the rate structure before Independence, were removed. Export and import traffic was treated at par with internal traffic; classification of goods and freight rates was simplified; coordination between the railway and roads was secured; and con­centration of industries near the sources of raw materials was prevented.

The greatest achievement, however, was that the railway rates were now so designed as to help in the industrialisation of the country and serve the overall needs of the economy.

Essay # 5. Railway Finances in India:

Before April 1925, railway finances were a part of the general finances of the government. Any surplus earned by the railways was transferred to the govern­ment, and deficit, if any, was met out of the government’s general revenues. This mixing of the finances made the railways entirely dependent on the government for all their financial requirements.

Availability of funds depended upon the ex­igencies of the time. Schemes of urgent repairs and improvements and even ‘works in the process of execution’ had to wait because the government, having more pressing things on hand, could not spare the necessary funds. Even otherwise, the financial methods of the government were not suited to the requirements of a commercial undertaking like the railways.

The control of the Finance Member, who is always constrained to economise, could not make for any bold policy. The system of ‘allotments’ which could be suddenly increased or suspended, together with the system of ‘lapse’ at the end of the financial year, often led to extravagance, and never secured steady and economical working.

The way in which each railway administration submitted its ‘programme’ of both capital and special revenue expenditure, the various stages through which the estimates had to pass, and the manner in which the final grant was received, not only sapped all initiative to careful estimate in the construction of projects, but also caused a great deal of delay.

No provision existed for depreciation or a replacement reserve. The result was a terrible underfeeding of the railways. There were numerous complaints of drawbacks and lack of capacity the inevitable result of a ‘paralyzing’ system which was not adapted and developed to meet the requirements of commercial service.

The AcWorth Committee found that the government could neither attain the standard of expenditure of Rs. 18.75 crores recommended by the Mackay Com­mittee nor could adhere, over a period of time, to any uniform rate. Between 1908-1909 to 1919-1920, a maximum of Rs. 18 crores was reached only once against the annual average of Rs. 11.2 crores.

The climax was reached during the First World War when all expenditure, including that for maintenance and repairs, was deliberately kept down. But, instead of carrying the money so underspent to a reserve for future renewals, it was treated as part of the increased revenues to the government.

Thus, while the net profits to the State from railways increased from 4.5% in 1914 to a little over 7% in 1918-19, the maintenance of railway property was sadly neglected. “The financial system which produced such results stood self condemned.”

A point worthy of note is that this arrangement conferred no benefit on the government either. She could not be sure about railway profitability or loss in a particular year and, even in years of profits, she could never correctly anticipate the surplus with any measure of confidence. This imparted uncertainty to govern­ment finances which made proper budgeting difficult.

This problem of railway finance had been noticed at a fairly early stage. Major Conway-Gordon had proposed, as a remedy, the separation of the railway finances from the general revenues of the country to the Parliamentary Select Committee of 1884. In 1900, Lord Curzon wrote a Minute on this question generally favouring the separation.

In 1906, the commerce member of the Viceroy’s Council raised the question again but the Mackay Committee gave their opinion against it.

It was the AcWorth Committee which examined this question in detail and having been impressed by the ‘remarkable results’ of the separation in such countries as France, Italy, Belgium, and Japan , firmly and finally concluded that Indian railways could not be “modernized, improved and enlarged so as to give India the service of which it was in crying need at that time nor could the railways yield to the Indian Public the financial return which they were entitled to — until the whole financial methods were radically reformed.”

The Committee, therefore, recommended two major reforms:

(a) “The complete separation of the railway budget from the general budget of the country” and

(b) “The eman­cipation of the railway management for the control of the Finance Department.”

The terms on which railway budget was separated from the general budget rested upon a convention agreed to by the Central Assembly in September, 1924.

The provisions of the Railway Finance Separation Convention were:

1. That railway finances would be separated from the general finances;

2. In addition to the interest on the capital-at-charge, the railways would contribute one per cent on the capital on commercial lines (excluding capital contributed by companies and Indian States) at the end of the financial year plus 1/5 of surplus profits.

3. That the interest on capital-at-charge of strategic lines and loss in their working would be borne by the Government;

4. That, if after payment of this contribution, the amount available for transfer to Railway Reserve Fund exceeded Rs. 3 crores, 1/3 of the excess over Rs. 3 crores would be paid to the government revenues;

5. That this Reserve Fund would be used to secure the payment of the annual contribution, to provide for areas of depreciation and generally to strengthen the financial position of the railway;

6. That, a standing Finance Committee consisting of members of the Assembly, would be constituted to consider the estimates of railway expenditure;

7. That the Railway Budget would be presented to the Assembly in advance of the General Budget, and that the Member-in-charge of railways and not finance, would present the same.

The convention also provided for the setting up of a Depreciation Fund based on the cost and estimated life of the assets. This Fund was to finance the replacement of worn-out rolling stock and lines.

The separation of the Railway Budget was “the most important reform in­troduced during the present century in connection with the administration of Indian Railways.” It made railways independent of the vagaries of the annual general budget. It now became possible for the railways to build adequate reserves for the further and also plan and undertake schemes of development without any let or hindrance.

However, as Tiwari explains, the value of this salutory change was impaired by the rigid provision for contribution of 1% to the general finance even for years when railways experienced loss. It prevented the railways from giving any relief to the public by way of lower rates and fares or better facilities.

The six years following the adoption of the convention in 1924, were very satisfactory from the point of view of railway finances. They accumulated Rs. 41.5 crores in their Depreciation fund and also contributed Rs. 42 crores to the general revenues. The picture, however, changed with the onset of the depression and the decline in trade, both internal and external.

The situation was further aggravated by disturbed political conditions, increasing competition from road and river transport and falling wheat exports. As a consequence, surpluses turned into deficits and railways not only did not make any contribution to general revenues, but, apart from withdrawing Rs. 31.34 crores from the depreciation fund, practically finished their Reserve Fund also.

Conditions started improving after 1936-37 though real prosperity came only during the Second world war. The unprecedented increase in traffic, goods as well as passenger, led to an enormous rise in railway earnings so that the railway were able to replenish their Reserve Fund and also repay all arrears of contributions to the general revenues.

The war also imposed a heavy strain on the government’s finances which, apart from being stretched to the maximum, were too meagre to meet the demand made upon them. It was accordingly decided to revise the 1924 convention. By a resolution passed by the Central Assembly in March 1943, the convention of 1924 became inoperative from 1 April, 1943.

The most important provisions of the new convention were:

(a) That, after repaying any outstanding loan from the Depreciation Fund, any surplus on commercial lines was to be shared with the government in the ratio of three to one, i.e., 75% to the government and 25% to the railways;

(b) That further surplus on commercial lines were to be shared between the railways and the general revenues according to the needs of each. Following the adoption of this convention, railway earnings were shared according to adhoc agreements reached between the government and the railways.

The attainment of independence changed the entire picture and priorities in the country.

Accordingly, the Railway convention was revised in December, 1949, by a Resolution of the Constituent Assembly which provided:

1. That general and railway finances would continue to be separated;

2. That, from 1950-51, general revenues would receive, for five years, a fixed 4% on the capital invested in railways provided that no dividend was payable on the capital invested out of general revenues in unremunerative strategic lines;

3. That this arrangement would be reviewed, at the expiry of 5 years, by a committee of Parliament which would also suggest any adjustment in the rate of dividend;

4. That a Railway Development Fund would be constituted for financing expenditure on employees’ welfare, necessary but non- paying projects, and provisions of amenities to passengers ;

5. That, for the next five years, a fixed sum of Rs. 15 crores a years would be transferred to the Depreciation Fund;

6. That a standing Finance Committee and a Central Advisory Council for railways would be constituted so as to associate the public with railway administration.

With the adoption of the new formula, the old complicated arrangement was discarded. Rules for allocation of funds to the capital and revenue account were simplified, thereby raising the standards of efficiency and amenities. Likewise, allocation to the Depreciation Fund enabled the railways to quickly replace worn- out equipment. The exemption of payment of dividend on strategic lines was another welcome relief to the railways.

The quantum of contribution by railways to the general revenues was again reviewed by Parliamentary convention committees in 1954, 1960 and 1965 when the rate of dividend payable was suitable revised.

According to the recommen­dations of the Railway Convention Committee, 1965 and approved by the Parlia­ment, the rate of dividend on capital invested up to 31 March, 1964 was increased to 5.5% and on capital invested after that date to 6%. The new rates came into force from April, 1966.

It may, however, he noted that the separation of railway finance from general finance is a hangover from Pre-Independence days when the motives of the separa­tion were not strictly economic but political. It had no relevance in the Post-Independence period when the railways, though still worked as a commercial enterprise, were, in-fact, run as a government department.

The railways themselves did not generate sufficient savings to meet what the Planning Commission called “the minimum obligation of the railways as a public utility concern.” Rather, the bulk of the expenditure was met from out of the general revenues.

This may be seen from the fact that the railways provided, from their own resources, only Rs. 1286 crores —a bare 40.7% out of the total outlay of Rs. 3153 crores incurred on the railways during the first three plans.

While railways thus became de­pendent, their revenue and expenditure were often adjusted to meet the needs of the government. It happened, for example, in 1951 when railway fares were increased to provide ‘assistance’ to the general budget.

This made a farce of the so-called Railway convention. A separate budget for railways, therefore, was no more justified than for the river-valley projects or the public sector steel undertakings.

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Indian railways: development; factors; distribution and improvement of indian railways.

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Indian Railways: Development; Factors Distribution and Improvement of Indian Railways!

Indian railway system is the main artery of the country’s inland transport. Railways virtually form the life-line of the Country, catering to its needs for large scale movement of traffic, both freight and passenger, thereby contributing to economic growth and also promoting national integration. In fact, railways constitute the backbone of surface transport system in India.

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Development and Growth of Indian Railways :

The first railway line in India was opened for public traffic on 16 April, 1853 between Mumbai and Thane over a distance of 34 km. This line was extended to Kalyan on 1 May, 1854 and to Khopoli on 12 May, 1856. The Khandala-Pune section was opened to traffic on 14 June, 1858.

Meanwhile, the construction of the railway lines was going on in eastern part of the country and the first section of the East Indian Railway, from Haora to Hugli, a distance of 37 km was inaugurated on 15 August, 1854. The Haora-Hugli section was extended to Pundooah on 1 Sept, 1854 and to Raniganj Coal Mines on 3 Feb, 1855.

The line from Kanpur to Allahabad was opened in 1859 and the Haora-Khana-Rajmahal section was completed in 1860. Mughal Sarai also appeared on the railway’ map of India in 1862. In 1860, the Kanpur-Etawah section was opened to traffic and between 1862 and 1866 all the gaps between Howrah and Delhi were filled.

The southern part of the country did not lag behind and got its first 105 km long railway line from Royapuram to Arcot in 1856. This line was extended to Kadalundi (near Calicut) on the west coast in 1861. The Jolar Pettai-Bangalore Cantonment section was opened in 1864.

In 1870, the all-rail route between Kolkata and Mumbai started functioning and the main line from Mughal Sarai to Lahore (now in Pakistan) was completed. In 1871, the Mumbai-Chennai route was also opened. Thus within a short span of 18 years from 1853 to 1871, most of the important cities of India were connected by rail.

The total route kilometreage in 1870 was 7,680 km which rose to 39,834 km by the turn of 19th century and to 66,234 by 31 March, 1940. As on 15 August 1947, Indian Railways consisted of 65,217 km out of which 10,523 km went to Pakistan, leaving India with 54,694 km.

Phenomenal growth of Indian Railways has taken place in the post-Independence era as is clear from table 28.1.

TABLE 28.1 Progress of Railways in India:

1950-51 388 53,208 53,596 12,840 930 8,120 17 72 19,628 2,05,596 1960-61 748 55,499 56,247 15,940 1,562 10,312 181 131 28,439 3,07,907 1970-71 3,706 56,084 59,790 24,311 1,965 9,387 1,169 602 35,145 3,83,990 1980-81 5,345 55,895 61,240 36,125 2,200 7,469 2,403 1,036 38,333 4,00,946 1990-91 9,968 52,399 62,367 38,576 3,414 2,915 3,759 1,743 38,511 3,46,103 2000-01 14,856 48,172 63,028 48,327 5,042 54 4,702 2,810 42,657 2,22,193 2001-02 15,994 47,146 63,140 50,927 5,222 53 4,815 2,871 44,069 2,16,717 2002-03 16,272 46,850 63,122 49,708 5,187 52 4,699 2,930 44,756 2,14,760 At present India has the second largest railway network in Asia and the fourth largest in the world after the USA (2, 27,736 km), Russia (2, 22,293 km), and China (87,157 km). But India tops world’s leading countries with regard to passenger/ kilometre earned. It is the largest public sector undertaking of the country comprising a vast network of 6,906 stations spread over a route length of 63,122 km with a fleet of 7,681 locomotives, 39,852 passenger service vehicles, 4,904 other coaching vehicles and 2,14,760 wagons as on 31 March 2003. The growth of Indian Railways has been phenomenal indeed. Another 55 km long rail route-length between Jammu and Udhampur was added to the existing route-length on 13 April, 2005. Built at the cost of Rs. 600 crore, this is an important part of the Rs. 3,500 crore project of 344 km rail line connecting Jammu Tawi to Baramulla via Katra, Qazigund and Srinagar. Length of 62,915 km with a fleet of 6,909 locomotives, 39,114 coaches, 3,444 electric multiple units and 2, 80,791 wagons. Another 837 km route length is added with the completion of the Konkan railway route. About 13 thousand trains cover a distance of about 14 lakh kilometres and carry over 11 million passengers and one million tonnes of freight per day. These facts make Indian railways a vital transport system in the country. Of the total freight, over 85 per cent comprises of coal, ores, food grains, cement and petroleum. A huge army of 15 lakh permanent and 2.5 lakh temporary employees is ceaselessly active in running and maintaining the railways, making it the largest employer of man­power in India. Indian railways are always functioning, be it day or night, winter or summer, peace or war, flood or famine, fair weather or foul. To think of India without the railways conjures the bleak vision of a nation that is stagnant and immobile. Factors affecting Railways : The pattern of Indian railway network has been influenced by geographical, economic and political factors. 1. Geographical factors: The North Indian plain with its level land, high density of population and rich agriculture presents the most favourable conditions for the development of railways. However, the presence of large number of rivers makes it necessary to construct bridges which involve heavy expenditure. There are practically no railways in the flood plains of many rivers in Bihar and Assam. The plateau region of south India is not as much suitable for railways as the North Plain area. The Himalayan region in the north is almost entirely devoid of railways due to its rugged topography. Some railway terminals such as Jammu Tawi, Kotdwar, Dehra Dun, Kathgodam, etc. are found on the foothills. Some narrow gauge railway tracks are found in the Himalayan region. A railway link between Jammu and Kashmir valley is being planned at a very high cost. The sandy areas of Rajasthan are also not much favourable for railways. There was no railway line between Jodhpur and Jaisalmer till 1966. Similarly, forested areas of Madhya Pradesh and Orissa, deltaic swamps of West Bengal, marshy areas of Rann of Kachchh and hilly tract of Sahyadri are also unfavourable for the development of railways. Sahyadri can only be crossed through gaps like Thalghat, Bhorghat and Palghat to reach coastal trail heads like Mumbai, Vasco-de-Gama, Mangalore and Kochi. Obviously, the railways tend to follow the path of least resistance. 2. Economic factors: Railways develop more in the economically advanced areas where the need for railway network is felt more. Conversely, railways bring economic prosperity to the areas through which they pass. This is because of the economic linkages that we find the highest density of railways near big urban and industrial centres and in areas which are rich in mineral and agricultural resources. 3. Political and Administrative factors: The present railway system in India is the legacy of the British rule. The British administration planned the direction and pattern of the railway lines in such a way that they could exploit the valuable raw materials of India for the benefit of their industries and flood the Indian markets with the finished goods from Britain. Besides, the Britishers wanted to maintain their military supremacy, for which quick movement of troops and arms was necessary and construction of railways became unavoidable. Thus, top priority was given to the big ports of Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai. These ports were connected with their hinterlands by railway lines to facilitate imports and exports. It is from the ports that the railway network spread to the other parts of the country. Distribution of Indian Railways : Fig. 28.1 shows the following distribution pattern of Indian railways: 1. The North Indian Plain: This region has a dense network of railways from Amritsar to Haora. This is a plain area which is very much suitable for the construction of railways. This densely populated region has highly developed agriculture and industry. Large scale urbanisation has also helped in the development of the railways. The density of railway network is closely related to the agricultural and industrial development. There are a few focal points such as Delhi, Kanpur, Mughal Sarai, Lucknow, Agra and Patna. However, Delhi is the main point from where railway lines radiate in all directions. For political, administrative and economic reasons, Delhi is connected with major ports like Mumbai, Kolkata, Haora and Chennai through superfast trains. 2. The Peninsular Plateau: The whole of peninsular plateau has hilly and plateau terrain which hinders the development of railways. The population density is also moderate. For such reasons, excepting, Saurashtra and Tamil Nadu, a relatively open and more loose network has developed here. However, some trunk routes cross the peninsula and provide efficient rail service between Mumbai- Chennai,’ Chennai-Kochi, Chennai-Delhi, Mumbai-Kolkata, Chennai-Hyderabad and Mumbai- Thiruvananthapuram. 3. The Himalayan Region: Railways are conspicuous by their absence in the Himalayan region. The rugged terrain, hill and valley topography, backward economy and sparse population are the factors responsible for the sparse rail network in this region. There are only three narrow gauge railway lines in the Himalayan region. These are Kalka-Shimla, Pathankot-Kangra and Siliguri-Darjeeling. The Kalka-Shimla Railway built in 1903 winds itself through picturesque country from Kalka to Shimfa over a distance of 96.6 km. It has 103 tunnels, totalling 8 km in length; the longest tunnel is 1,144 – metre. The railway track from Kalka to Shimla passes over 869 bridges. The Siliguri-Darjeeling Railway is 82 km long and was constructed in 1878. There is practically no railway line in the north­eastern states of Meghalaya, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Manipur and Nagaland. These areas have rough terrain covered with thick forests. The population is sparse and the economy is in a backward state. Construction of railways under these conditions is a difficult and costly affair. However, plans are afoot to provide rail links to Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh and Tripura, although at a very heavy cost. The recently constructed 55 km long Jammu Tawi-Udhampur railway line is the first segment of an ambitious and most challenging programme of connecting Baramula with Jammu, thereby providing rail services to areas of rough mountainous terrain of Jammu and Kashmir. Although the work on Jammu Tawi-Udhampur railway line was started in 1984, it took 21 years to construct 55 km long railway line and the first railway service on this line started on 13 April 2005 only. This rail line runs through a difficult hilly terrain and unstable geological formation. It has 21 tunnels, the largest being 2.4 km across the Shiwalik Range. The Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramula rail line will have 80 tunnels measuring 90 km in length. The highest and the longest tunnel will pass through Pir Panjal range and would be of 14.5 km length. Another tunnel of 1 km will pass through Patnitop. 4. The Coastal Plains: There is a distinct contrast in the rail network between eastern coastal plains and western coastal plains. The eastern coastal plain is quite wide and permits the construction of railways, as a result of which, there is a long trunk route along the east coast from Kolkata to Chennai. But such a route has been eluding the western coastal plain since long. This is due to the structure and relief of the area. The outcrops of the Western Ghats are very close to the coast, especially near Goa and make the construction of railway lines a difficult task. However, the completion of Konkan Railway Line from Roha to Mangalore is a dream comes true. It passes through several tunnels and over numerous bridges. This line has the longest tunnel in the country 6.5 km long, about 23 km south of Ratnagiri. It has become the life line of the western coastal plain. The total saving in travel distance is Mangalore-Mumbai (1,050 km), Mangalore-Ahmedabad (1,218 km), Mangalore-Delhi (707 km) and Kochi-Mumbai (437 km). The above description leads us to the conclusion that railway services are unevenly distributed in India. The maximum concentration of railway network is found in the Indo-Gangetic plain followed by the peninsular plateau. The railways are practically absent from the Himalayan region. Such a lop­sided railway development has kept many areas away from the railway routes. Railway Zones : At the time of Independence, there were as many as 42 different railway systems administered by 37 different companies. Immediately after the Independence, the Railway Board prepared a plan in 1950 for regrouping the Indian Railways into six zones, namely the Southern Zone (9,654 route km), Central Zone (8,689 route km), Western Zone (9,122 route km), North Zone (9,667 route km), North-Eastern Zone (7,726 route km) and Eastern Zone (9,109 route km). These zones were formed between 14 April 1951 and 14 April 1952. The Eastern railway was split into two zones viz., Eastern Railway (3,735 route km) and South-Eastern Railway (5,374 route km). The North-Eastern Railway was also bifurcated on 15 January 1958 and new zones were inaugurated. They were North-east Frontier Railway (2,797 route km) and the North-Eastern Railway (4,929 route km). Another zone known as the South-Central Railway zone (6,072 route km) was carved out of Southern and Central railways on 2 Oct., 1966. These nine railway zones remained operative for about three decades and proved very effective in administrating the railway system. The administrative requirements of the railways became more pressing with the passage of time. Consequently, the railway network has further been divided into 16 zones (Table 28.2). Table 28.2 India: Railway Zones and their Headquarters: Central Railway Mumbai CST Eastern Railway Kolkata Northern Railway New Delhi North Eastern Railway Gorakhpur Northeast Frontier Railway Maligaqn (Guwahati) Southern Railway Chennai South Central Railway Secunderabad South Eastern Railway Kolkata Western Railway Church Gate, Mumbai East Central Railway Hajipur East Coast Railway Bhubaneshwar North Central Railway Allahabad North Western Railway Jaipur South East Central Railway Bilaspur South Western Railway Hubli West Central Railway Jabalpur Two new Railway zones, viz., East Central Railway, Hajipur and North Western Railway, Jaipur became functional on 1 October 2002. Five more new zones viz., East Coast Railway, Bhubaneswar, North Central Railway, Allahabad, South East Central Railway, Bilaspur, South Western Railway, Hubli and West Central Railway, Jabalpur became functional on 1 April 2003. Along with the reorganisation of the zones, eight new Railway Divisions viz., Agra on North Central Railway Ahemdabad on Western Railway, Guntur and Nanded on South Central Railway, Pune on Central Railway, Raipur on South East Central Railway, Ranchi on south Eastern Railway and Rangiya on Northeast Frontier Railway became operational on 1 April 2003. Qualitative Improvements : In addition to the quantitative expansion, Indian railways have an impressive record of qualitative improvements. The major areas of qualitative improvement during the recent years are gauge conversion, rolling stock, track electrification, automatic signalling, introduction of fast trams and amenities and facilities for rail users. 1. Gauge Conversion: ‘Gauge’ is the name given to the distance between the inner faces of the pair of rails in the track. Indian railways comprise three gauges viz., broad gauge (1.675 metre), metre gauge (1.000 metre), and narrow gauge (0.762 metre and 0.610 metre). Different gauges had been the legacy of the British rulers. They constructed broad gauge railways on trunk routes connecting the port cities of Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai and some other major cities. In areas lying beyond the frame work of trunk routes, only metre gauge lines were constructed. Thus, the area lying north of the Ghagra-Ganga alignment, whole of Rajasthan and Gujarat as well as large parts of the peninsular India were covered by metre gauge. Different gauges create serious hindrance in the smooth flow of traffic. Passengers have to change trains at the break of gauge station and are put to great inconvenience. Goods have to be transhipped which results in loss of time, increased cost of transportation, pilferage and damage to consignments. The Government of India has, therefore, adopted a policy of gauge conversion, mainly from metre gauge to broad gauge. The unigauge system of railways assures larger capacity, higher speed and cheaper transportation. The process of gauge conversion was initiated immediately after Independence but significant achievement has been recorded in recent years (Table 28.3). Table 28.3 Gaugewise Route Length of Railway in India: 1991-92 35,109 56.21 23,283 37.28 4,066 6.51 62,458 (100) 1996-97 41,971 66.91 17,044 27.12 3,710 5.92 62,725 (100) 1997-98 43,083 68.94 15,804 25.29 3,608 5.77 62,495 (100) 1998-99 44,216 70.39 15,178 24.17 3,415 5.44 62,809 (100) 1999-00 44,383 70.72 15,013 23.92 3,363 5.36 62,759 (100) 2000-01 44.776 71.04 14,987 23.78 3,265 5.18 63,028 (100) 2001-02 45,099 71.43 14,776 23.40 3,265 5.17 63,140 (100) 2002-03 45,622 72.28 14.364 22.75 3,136 4.97 63,122 (100) The length of broad gauge railway lines increased from 35,109 km (56.21 per cent of the total) in 1991-92 to 45,622 km (72.28 per cent of the total) in 2002-03. Thus within a short span of about a decade, more than ten thousand kilometre broad rail route length was added to the existing length. In other words, broads gauge route length registered an increase of about 30 per cent between 1991-92 and 2002-03. In contrast to this, the length of metre gauge decreased from 23,283 km (37.28 per cent of the total) in 1991-92 to 14,364 km (22.75 per cent of the total) in 2002-03. Thus in about decade’s duration from 1991-92 to 2002-03, the total length of the metre gauge route length decreased by 8,919 km thereby recording a 38.3 per cent decrease. Similarly, the length of narrow gauge decreased from 4,066 km (6.51 per cent of the total) in 1991-92 to 3,136 km (4.97 per cent of the total) in 2002-03. The whole of metre gauge system in Rajasthan, Gujarat, northern part of the Great Plain and in several areas of the Peninsular India is at various stages of conversion. Such a large scale gauge conversion is rightly called the Operation Gauge Conversion or Operation Uni-Gauge. 2. Rolling Stock: A perceptible improvement in rolling stock, both locomotives and coaches, has been noticed. Upto 1950s and 1960s most of the trains were run by steam engines using coal as the source of energy. These engines had less traction power and caused environmental pollution by emitting smoke. An urgent need was felt to replace these engines by diesel and electric locomotives which are more powerful and their operation is more economical. On the Indian railways, introduction of diesel traction on a single line route can increase the capacity by 30 to 45 per cent and electrification by nearly 100 per cent. Moreover, diesel engines cause less environmental pollution as compared to coal engines, and electric engines do not cause any pollution. Therefore, the steam engines have been phased out and their production has been stopped in India. In 1960-61, there were as many as 10,312 steam locomotives against only 181 diesel and 131 electric locomotives (Table 28.1). The number of steam engines decreased gradually for two decades upto 1980-81 but their number fell drastically to 2,915 in 1990-91. By 2002-03 only 52 steam engines were left with the Indian Railways. On the other hand, the number of diesel locomotives increased from a miserable 17 in 1950-51 to gigantic number of 4,699 in 2002-03. The corresponding figures for electric vehicles were 72 and 2,930 for these years. The percentage of steam, diesel and electric locomotives to the total number of locomotives in 1950-51 was 98.92, 0.21 and 0.87 respectively which showed a complete reversal of 0.68, 61.18 and 38.14 per cent in 2002-03. This trend is likely to continue till all the steam engines are completely taken off the rails. Further, production of 5000 HP electric locomotives and fuel efficient diesel locomotives has also commenced at Chittaranjan Locomotive Works and Diesel Locomotive Works at Varanasi respectively. Coaching vehicles and wagons have also been improved to make the transportation of passengers and goods more comfortable and economical. Cushioned seats, toilets, pantry cars, etc. are provided in almost all the important trains. Earlier, many of such facilities were conspicuous by their absence. Till the beginning of the 20th century, third class passengers were almost uncared for, although they formed 97 per cent of the coaching receipts. Third class travel has now been replaced by second class travel. A.C. 3-Tier coach has been introduced to make AC travel cheaper and comfortable. 3. Track Electrification: As mentioned earlier, use of electric locomotives increases the capacity by as much as 100 per cent. But the use of electric locomotives is possible only if the railway tracks are electrified. Track electrification is a major thrust area by virtue of which efficiency of the railways can be increased considerably. Track electrification was introduced in early 1920s and the first two sections from Victoria Terminus to Kurla and from Victoria Terminus to Bandra, totalling 16 route km were electrified in 1925. Thus the Indian railways entered the push button era. In the first four decades from’1920-21 to 1960-61, the process of track electrification was rather slow and the length of electrified track stood at 388 km in 1950-51 and 748 km in 1960-61. After that the electrification of railway tracks picked up and the length of electrified track increased to 3,706 km in 1970-71, 5,345 km in 1980 81 9 968 km in 1990-91 and 16,272 km in 2002-03 (Table 28.1). The percentage of electrified track increased from a meagre 1.33 in 1960-61 to 6.20 in 1970-71, 8.94 in 1980-81 15.98 in 1990-91 and 25 78 in 2002-03. Much has been done but much more is yet to be done. Though capital intensive, electrification is unavoidable keeping in view the increasing pressure of passengers and freight on the railways. 4. Other improvements: Automatic signals have been introduced on the trunk routes. For heavy traffic track structure has been strengthened by providing heavier and stronger rails and concrete sleepers. For fast and comfortable journey several new trains including Rajdhani and Shatabdi trains have been introduced. Public amenities at the railway stations have been diversified and improved. Related Articles: Forests in India: Short Paragraphs on Indian Forest Railways: Characteristics, Suitability and Other Details No comments yet. Leave a reply click here to cancel reply.. You must be logged in to post a comment. Answer Writing Practice Indian railways has been the lifeline of India’s growth story. Analyze the challenges, advantages and disadvantages of its privatization. IAS 2024 - Your dream can come true! Download the ultimate guide to upsc cse preparation. History of Railway Development in India Read this article to learn about the history of railway development in India. History of Railway Development # The Old Guarantee System (1844-69) : The railway construction received “the first decisive stimulus” during Dalhousie’s administration. When Lord Dalhousie anchored in India in 1847, he recommended the policy of constructing trunk lines connecting the interior of each of the three Presidencies instead of the previous policy of constructing experimental lines. He also recommended that railway construction should be entrusted to private companies “under the supervision and control of the Government” . He flatly rejected the idea of Government constructing the railways. ADVERTISEMENTS: Accordingly, two contracts were made—one with the East India Railway Company in 1849 to open an experimental line from Calcutta to Rajmahal, with a branch going to Ranigunj, and another with the Great India Peninsular Company in the same year. As a result of these contracts, the first passenger train ran between Bombay and Thane in April, 1853 and the second one from Howrah to Panduah in July 1854. Several arguments were advanced in favour of the construction of railway lines by the joint stock companies incorporated in England. Firstly, pressure from Lancashire manufacturing interests who argued that a larger supply of clean raw cotton could be drawn from India so that the English cotton industry could flourish. This could be strengthened by the development of a railway network and railways were to be floated on a commercial basis. As the operation of a commercial undertaking did not fall within the proper functions of the government, railways were to be built by private companies. Secondly, the habit of dependence of people on government for anything smacked of a bad practice of Indian people. To discourage this tendency, railway construction should be thrown open to English merchants. Of course, at that time private companies showed indubitable credibility in the supply of huge capital. In accordance with Dalhousie’s plan, contracts were made with eight companies for the construction and management of 5,000 miles of railway line between 1854 and 1860 under terms that came to be known as the Old Guarantee System (OGS). The system intended to assure a minimum rate of return on the capital to be invested. It was in the form of a system of subsidies. British investors promptly responded and put their capital to the private railway companies — this was indeed a veritable bonanza for British business. Features of the OGS : (i) Free gift of land by the State to the private companies on a lease for 99 years; (ii) Guaranteed interest at rates varying between 5 p.c. and 4.5 p.c. on the capital outlay payable at the fixed rate of exchange of 22 pence per rupee for a period of 99 years on the capital raised by the companies; (iii) Surplus profits over this 5 p.c., if any, were to be shared equally with the Government; (iv) Reservation of powers of supervision and control of the construction and the working of the railways including rates and fares by the Government; (v) Reservation of the right of purchase of lines after 25 years by the State; (vi) Surrender of the railroads at 6 months’ notice by the companies and get back the actual capital spent by them, if they wished. These extremely favourable terms of contract, made for a period of 25 years (1844-69), came to be known as the OGS of railway construction. Because of the indulgence made in the contracts, there had been voluminous export of British capital to India for investment in railways. Not only this, railway equipment supplied by the British firms also flowed to India considerably. Criticisms : Although assistance in the form of a system of subsidies known as the ‘guarantee’ might be partially justified for Indian railway construction, the OGS, in the ultimate analysis, was found to be unnecessary and wasteful. It was agreed by the architect of the system that capital would not be forthcoming to India for railway construction without a guaranteed interest. Against this premise, critics like William Thornton and Macpherson argued that even unguaranteed capital would have gone into India since England at that time was desperately seeking the outlet of surplus capital. Thus, the OGS yearned at ‘promoting personal interest at public expenses.’ It was wasteful as the system led to reckless expenditure. The railway companies have no inducement to curtail expenditure in view of the ‘guarantee clause’. Private railway companies invested huge capital than was economically and scientifically justified. Further, assuming indispensability of the guaranteed income, it need not have been quoted so high since the prospect of getting money at 3 p.c. guarantee was readily available at that time. The minimum yield guaranteed (4.5 p.c to 5 p.c.) was in excess of prevailing rates in London money market. Prof. N. Sanyal rightly says that “the Indian guarantee killed effort for economy, promoted recklessness, and involved the country in liabilities much beyond what the people could bear” . In all, 4,255 miles of line had been opened by 1869, with a capital outlay of Rs. 89 crore. One ‘result of the wasteful expenditure was that, instead of estimated cost of construction of £ 8,000 per mile, it actually shot up to £18,000 per mile—without counting dividends advanced upon the guarantee and the cost of land which was given free. A variety of factors were responsible for such high cost. These were: pioneering nature of the work, lack of skilled labour, lack of experience, high but unnecessary standard of construction, etc. However, the principal factor that led to the high cost of construction was the system of excessive guarantees which left no positive encouragement to the companies to economise in construction or in operation. Wasteful construction of railway lines actually brought down companies actual rates of return and unnecessarily increased the subsidy and mulcts the State of millions of rupees. Many of the unprofitable lines constructed by the companies survived mainly out of the ‘guarantee clause’. The guaranteed interest on the capital invested in railways, which India had to pay in sterling, stood at 13.5 million pounds by 1868. Thus, the OGS imposed an enormous financial burden on the State as well as the taxpayer. Deficit on the railway budget rose to a staggering figure of Rs. 166.5 lakh by 1869. It was said that the entire profit went to the guaranteed companies and the whole loss to the Government. Following M. Dobb, we can conclude that railway construction indeed served for Britain and not India “the double function of providing a profitable outlet for capital and stimulating the export of British capital goods”. Thus, the guarantee contributed substantially to the ‘drain’ of funds from the sub-continent. Unfortunately, the foreign ruler did not show any amount of interest to build up any of the allied industries in India required to supply the materials demanded by the railways. Obviously, this then demanded imports of the materials from foreign countries, mainly Britain. In other words, the OGS failed to give any forward thrust to industries allied to railways. History of Railway Development # State Construction and Management (1869-82) : In view of the extravagance and mismanagement of the private companies, absence of effective control in the working of the companies, the remote possibilities of sharing the profits and highly unsatisfactory financial results, it was decided to follow a policy of direct government construction of railways. So far as the OGS was concerned, the entire profits, went to the foreign companies while the entire loss to the Government. The then Viceroy, Governor General Lord Lawrence, in 1867 and, again, in 1869, argued that the Government of India could raise capital in the British market at a cheaper rate (e.g., not more than 4 p.c.) and undertake the cheaper methods of construction of railways under its own supervision. This proposal was sanctioned and the construction of State Railways was undertaken accordingly in 1870 with borrowed capital. Thus, in the history of Indian Railway, a new epoch started in 1870 as it was an era of laissez-faire. Wrongs committed in the earlier period have been now set right. The first ten years after 1869 witnessed construction of railway lines at a remarkable speed. The average cost of construction came down due to greater efficiency and economy in construction, particularly on the State lines. The saving in costs during this period was due to the adoption of a new cheaper gauge, called the meter gauge, for nearly all lines. But the other evil of meter gauge line was nevertheless unimportant. The evil was the financial embarrassments. A comparison of financial results in 1880 showed that the average return on capital on company managed lines stood at 6.2 p.c. as against 2.15 p.c. on the State lines. This was partly due to the fact that company lines were mainly located in the high profit areas and prosperous part in the country and State lines were spread across the country as the policy of the Government relating to railway construction was based on humanitarian and strategic considerations. Some ‘famine lines’ were constructed and some lines were constructed for defending the frontiers and for the movement of military in controlling the mob. As a result, financial difficulties of the Government went to nadir more because of the fall in the exchange value of rupee, a rise in the costs of famine relief, and, a rise in defence costs on the North-West Frontier. Moreover, the Famine Commission of 1880 opined that to tackle the menace of famine, construction of additional 5,000 miles of railways was to be undertaken on a war footing. Equally vociferous was the British merchants and industrialists as regards state construction and they, outcries for the rapid expansion of railways to encourage wheat exports from the remotest field of this country to England and the import of iron rails and other supplies to India. History of Railway Development # The New Guarantee System (1882-1900) : Upset by resource crunch and the strong desire of the Famine Commission to construct railway lines as speedy as possible to mitigate the problem of famines, the Government once .again returned to the policy of inviting private British companies to undertake railway construction. Company management of ‘State’- owned lines was favoured and, when the Government purchased the ‘East Indian Railway’ in 1879 its management was left with the old company. The Parliamentary Select Committee of 1884 recommended that, along with the private companies, the ‘State’ should come forward to construct railways. Thus, this arrangement —known as the New Guarantee System (NGS)— was based on a sort of partnership between the Government and the private railway companies. Under this system, fresh contracts were made by the Government with the private companies, but with terms more favourable to itself this time. Features of the NGS : The terms that were granted to the companies are known in the history of India’s railway construction as the ‘New Guarantee System’. The chief differen­tiating features of the NGS were: (i) Railway lines managed by private companies from the beginning were declared to be the property of the Secretary of State for India who reserved the right to terminate the contract after 25 years and/or at subsequent 10-year intervals on payment of the capital provided by the companies; (ii) The interest guaranteed to the companies on their capital was pegged at a lower rate, usually 3.5 p.c.; and (iii) The Government retained a much larger share of the surplus profits, usually three-fifths. When the contracts of the old guarantee companies ran out, the Government acquired the railway lines; some of which were retained under direct State management and others were handed over again for management to the same companies under the NGS. However, the construction of railway lines had not altogether been given up by the State. The State continued to construct both protective and productive and self-supporting railways leaving only profitable lines to private companies. OGS vs. NGS : So far as the terms of contract were concerned under the old and the new system, the latter displayed better and more favourable terms to the State. Firstly, under the NGS, the lines constructed by private railway companies, such as the Bengal Central Railway, the Bengal Nagpur Railway, the Southern Maratha Railway, etc., were from the beginning the property of the Secretary of State. But, under the OGS, the State exercised the power to purchase lines from the companies after 25 or 50 years. Railways would become the property of the State after the expiry of 99-year lease. Thus, the OGS failed to prevent over­-capitalisation in the railways. Secondly, the guaranteed interest on the capital, contributed by the companies was lower (3.5 p.c.) under the NGS, while it was about 5 p.c. under the OGS. Thirdly, the division of surplus profit under the NGS was more favourable (usually ⅗ths) than under the OGS where surplus profits were to be shared on a 50-50 basis. Fourthly, under the OGS, if the Government wished to buy off railway lines, the Government would have to pay compensation at the average market value of the companies’ shares in London for three years preceding. But the NGS provided for buying off shares at their face value only. Finally, the old system was strictly rigid since all transactions were to be made at a fixed rate of exchange of 22 pence per rupee. The NGS was considered to be a better offer as to transfer some of the exchange risks to the private railway companies. But the NGS did not find favour at the hands of critics who pointed out that the above-said advantages were not only relatively minor but also were no compensation for the exclusion of the State in toto from the ‘productive’ lines. Under the new system, the State was asked to confine itself ‘merely to those railways which, from their unprofitable character, could not be undertaken by private enterprise.’ The construction of the profitable lines was handed over to the private companies, thereby sacrificing a great deal of revenue. Because of the guarantee clauses, the railway budget showed huge net deficit. The losses to the State during the first 40 years of Indian railways amounted to Rs. 58 crore under the guarantee clauses. Further, the question of management was peculiar since railway policies were not framed by one but by two authorities, one in India and another in England. As a result, 96 different lines constructed by these two agencies were opened and administered by 33 railway administrations. These 96 lines were classified into 10 groups on the basis of ownership and management thereby leading to occasional conflicts and friction. ‘The organization was far from satisfactory from the viewpoint of efficiency and economy.’ Achievements of the NGS : Under the NGS, we saw for the first time the beginning of the Branch Line Companies which were offered more liberal terms than what it did under the new system. The first railway construction under the Branch Line terms was the South Bihar line in 1895. Along with the branch line, construction of District Board lines was undertaken to provide some sort of relief to the finances of the Government, since railway lines catering to purely local needs were to be financed by District Boards of the security of their revenues. The District Boards were empowered to levy special cess for railway purposes. The first of this kind was the District Board to Tanjore which constructed a short line from Mayavaram to Mutapet. However, the scheme did not arouse enough enthusiasm since the District Boards were starved of resources. As a result, only 158 miles of railway lines were constructed in Bengal and 105 miles in Tanjore district. However, there had been a dramatic increase in rail lines during this railway era. During this period, construction of railway lines averaged 744 miles per year over 1882-1900 as against 468 miles of the previous period. The total mileage increased from 10,069 to 24,752 miles. Of this, about 14,000 miles were of broad gauge, 10,000 miles of metre gauge track, and the rest were Tight’ railways. But expansion was still poor relative to other developed contemporary countries. In 1902, as compared to one mile of railway line for every 5 square miles in the UK, for every 17 square miles in the USA, and for every 29 square miles in Japan, India had one mile of railway line to every 63 square miles. For the first time in the history of Indian railways, some net profits accrued to the State exchequer. Between 1900-1902, the net gain stood at about Rs. 1.75 crore. There were other gains too. Railways’ contribution towards the revenue to the Government increased from Rs. 75.7 crore to Rs. 1,108 crore between 1881-1901. Thus the railways earned more than what it spent. History of Railway Development # Rapid Extension of Railways up to 1914 : With the advent of the 20th century, Indian railways entered a new era. Thanks to the thriving trade and commerce, India became equipped with huge railway network which made railways a “running concern” . But problems remained. Railway administration exhibited utter inconsistency since railway lines were classified into at least 10 groups on the basis of ownership and management. Further, the speed of movement of freight and passenger trains was not only slow but also accident-prone. The railway stock was not adapted to the country’s requirements. The Government, therefore, appointed Thomas Robertson in 1902, to enquire into the working and administration of the Indian railways. Apart from recommendations on technical matters, he recommended company management of all railway lines in the country. But, Indian public opinion as well as the Government was against company management. As a result, the ‘dual’ system— ‘State’ and ‘company-managed’ lines—continued throughout this period. Following the proposal made by T. Robertson, the Railway Board was set up in 1905 to draw up the programme of expenditure on railway development. In 1908, the status of the Railway Board was enhanced and from that date Railway Department was made independent of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. Anyway, as railway expansion was found to be inadequate compared to the country’s requirements, British merchants led a deputation to the Secretary of State to allocate more funds for railway expansion. But Indian people took a U-turn and demanded more funds for irrigation and education rather than railways. Actually, during this time, railways vs. irrigation debate ensued. Following this development, the Government appointed Mackay Committee in 1908 to investigate Railway Finance and Administration. The Mackay Committee recommended that since the country could profitably have even 100,000 miles of railways, a standard of £12.5 million annually be allocated for railway construction and development. As a result, capital expenditure increased by Rs. 110 crore between 1908 and 1914 and the railway mileage rose to 34,656 miles in 1913-14 as against 24,752 miles in 1900. As the railways began to prove remunerative, gross earnings rose from Rs. 51 crore to Rs. 63 crore between 1910 and 1914-15. Despite the phenomenal expansion of railway lines during this period, the overall achievement was far from satisfactory, particularly when compared with contemporary countries. Above all, the plight of third class passengers was miserable since they had to travel in cattle-trucks and goods wagons! Other amenities, like lavatories in coaches, drinking water, waiting rooms, etc., were conspicuously absent. This discourteous and unsympathetic attitude again brought to the fore the demand for State ownership and management of railways. The following four major aspects emerge from the above historical development of Indian railways: Firstly, no purely Indian company was formed for railway construction in India. Instead, guaranteed foreign private companies were allowed with adequate backing. In fact, for all practical purposes, Indian private companies with capital resources played a negligible part in the construction of Indian’ railways. Secondly, despite being assured or guaranteed interest on capital, private foreign companies lacked initiative and enterprise since they were unwilling to face the normal hazards of enterprise. Companies were hesitant in undertaking ‘risks of loss’. These companies intended to be sheltered or protected. Thirdly, the speed at which railways were built in India was really remarkable amidst difficulties of multifarious nature—resource crunch, plague, famines, etc. Even in England, railway development lagged behind India. Finally, despite the guarantee clause, Indian railways failed to meet the interest charges on the capital invested in them until the close of the 19th century. Up to 1900, when Indian railways saw the ‘face’ of net profit, the Government had to shoulder the enormous burden of Rs. 76 crore on account of guaranteed interest. History of Railway Development # The World War I: Breakdown of the Railway System (1914-21) : The World War I brought utter chaos and confusion, thereby exposing the weaknesses of the Indian railway system. During this time railways came under obligation to carry troops and stores. Capital expenditure had been drastically reduced from Rs. 18.4 crore in 1913-14 to Rs. 2.97 crore in 1916-17 mainly because of the exigencies of the war finance. Financial strains came to such a pass that not only railway construction but also repair works had been suspended. Paucity of finance forced the authorities to dismantle 150 miles of track. During this time, defence considerations were so overwhelming that the needs of commercial traffic had been cold-storage. All this led to an appreciable decline in the standards of operational efficiency provided by the Indian railways. Over­crowding in passenger trains became so acute that people had to travel on footboards or on the roof of the wagons even for a long distance. Some stop-gap measures were undertaken to halt this predicament. Railway authorities preferred to sacrifice passenger traffic (by withdrawing fare concessions, introducing various traffic restrictions, etc.) in favour of the goods movement. Another notable development of this period was the increase in railway rates and fares. The great inconvenience to mainly passenger traffic and also goods traffic on the one side and the high fares and freights on the other made the public hostile against the anti-national policy pursued by the British railway companies. The Indian Legislative Assembly also raised its voice. The criticism gathered momentum with the uncovering of a number of cases where the English dominated companies had entered into secret agreements and acted against national interest. Vigorous demands were made by the Indian public and trading community for the adoption of the State management of railways immediately. To flatter the Indians, the government obliged them by appointing the Indian Railway Committee in 1920 under the chairmanship of Sir William Acworth. History of Railway Development # The Acworth Committee—Separation of Railway Finance (1921-30) : After the termination of the First World War (1918), the Indian public opinion strongly voted for State management. Consequently, the Indian Railway Committee was appointed in 1920 headed by Sir William Acworth—a railway expert in England. It was appointed to examine in detail: (i) The advantages of alternative methods of management of State-owned railways, (ii) The organisation of the Railway Board and the extent of the Government control over the railway administration, and (iii) The future policy of railway finance. As regards the first of these, the Committee strongly and unanimously recommended that the “Indian railways should be managed not from London, but from India” . But as regards management of the Indian railways, the Committee was a divided one. The Majority Report favoured State management, while the Minority Report recommended the continuance of management by English domiciled companies. The majority pointed out that the system of divided responsibility had acted as a drag on the efficiency of railways. But the minority expressed the view that the management of railways should be entrusted to private companies because of the shortage of funds of the Government, the danger of interference from the elected legislatures, and, above all, rigidity in State management. However, the advantages of direct State management outweighed disadvantages as the majority members of the Committee believed. The Committee argued that direct State management as liked by Indians would enthuse them and might excite them to subscribe to railway loans. Furthermore, the fruits of shares of profits could be reaped more favorably under State management since profits would accrue to the State rather than private companies. Moreover, national interests would be served in a better way under State management than under company management. Regarding the second term of reference, the Committee recommended changes in the constitution and status of the Railway Board. The Committee also suggested the setting up of the Central and Local Advisory Councils. It recommended the establishment of a department of communications and Railway Rates Tribunal to determine fares and freights. The most far-reaching recommendation of the Committee was about railway finance. Under the prevalent system, railway finances were included in the general finances of the Government. This kind of dovetailing of finances kept the railways at the mercy of general revenue position of the Government. In times of financial stringency, replacement, extension, and betterment of railways had been curtailed while, at the time of prosperity the surplus had been transferred to the Government. The Acworth Committee strongly urged the separation of railway finance from general finance instead of being included in the Government of India’s general budget. In view of the turnover, the mixing of railway finance with the general finance was also an embarrassment to the annual general budget in as much as the extreme variability of railway profits might jeopardies the general budget. If these two finances were divorced, an atmosphere of certainty would prevail in both the general and the railway budget estimates. The Government accepted almost all the recommendations forwarded by the Acworth Committee. A number of railway lines were brought under State management on the expiry of their contracts. The Railway Finance Committee was appointed to explore the possibilities of separation of railway finance. Railway finance was separated from the general finance in September 1924 following the adoption of the Railways Separation Convention before the Indian Legislative Assembly. The ‘Convention’ laid down the amount of annual contribution to the General Exchequer that the railways should make. Contribution would be determined in accordance with the capital outlay and profits earned by the railway system. The ‘Convention’ also stipulated that, if the amount available for transfer to the railway reserve exceeded Rs. 3 crore, one-third of that excess would go to the Central Exchequer. The first separate railway budget was presented in 1925. The period saw a remarkable expansion in railway activities. The total route mileage increased from 38,039 to 41,724 in 1929-30, passengers carried to 634 million, and freight to 91 million tons. Electrification in Bombay and Madras suburban trains were also introduced during this period. Between 1924-25 and 1928-29, the average annual contribution of railways to the general revenue stood at Rs. 6 crore while net revenues exceeded the interest charges each year by about Rs. 10 crore, thereby leaving a stamp of financial prosperity by the railways. History of Railway Development # The Great Depression and after (1929-39) : The Great Depression dealt a body blow to India’s agricultural economy. Under its brutal impact, exports of agricultural raw materials showed; a remarkable decline and, consequently, railway traffic plummeted down. The freight carried by railways declined from 91 million tons in 1928-29 to 71 million tons and passenger traffic from 634 million to 480 million in 1932-33. Competition from road transport did another havoc to the Indian railways. It resulted in a loss of Rs. 4.25 crore every year. The concomitant result of all these was the complete reversal of the railway surpluses of the previous three decades. To stem the rot, a perverse policy of raising rates and fares was tried in 1930, 1932, and 1936. What was needed at that time was the economy in expenditure. Accordingly/ the Government appointed two committees—one in 1931 and another in 1932—to suggest measures how to achieve the economy of expenditure. Unfortunately, austerity drive on the part of the railway authorities was made at the expense of maintenance and renewal expenditures. However, the railways turned the corner around 1936-37 as soon as depressionary conditions were over. But earnings were not large enough. The financial mess that the Indian railways exhibited during the 1930s again excited Indian people to raise their voices. The issue was discussed on the floor of the Indian Legislative Assembly in 1936 under the Chairmanship of Sir Ralph Wedgewood—another railway expert. The Committee was asked to examine the financial position of the state-owned railways and to suggest measures for improvement in railway earnings. The Committee submitted its report in 1937 and urged the Government for building up of ‘depreciation fund’ of at least Rs. 30 crore and ‘equalisation fund’ for the interest and amortization payments. For the time being, railways’ contributions to general revenues should remain suspended was another recommendation of the Committee. However, all the provinces criticised heavily this recommendation of the Committee and demanded the existing arrangement of railways’ contribution to general finances to remain untouched, even if this implied a deterioration in the standards of maintenance of the railways. With a view to protecting railways against road competition, the Committee recommended a system of route licensing, freights and fare fixation, participation by railways in road transport, regulation of road transport, etc. However, success was little in these directions. History of Railway Development # From World War II to Partition (1939-1947) : Railways were yet to come out from the morass of the Great Depression when the stage was set for the Second World War in 1939. However, there was an abnormal increase in railway traffic due to the movement of troops, passengers and goods as well as the growth of industrial production. Works relating to maintenance and renewals except the most essential were shelved due to the exigencies of the war. In addition, track, rolling stock and other supplies had to be bodily removed for use in the Middle East theatres of war. All these led to severe strain on the railways. However, the period was marked by financial prosperity. Gross earnings rose from Rs. 94 crore in 1938-39 to Rs. 226 crore in 1945-46. Railways’ contribution to the general revenues came to Rs. 158 crore and the railway Reserve Fund increased by Rs. 76 crore over the same period. The partition of the country in 1947 had a disastrous effect on railways. About 6,950 miles or 19 p.c. of the track and corresponding equipment’s went to Pakistan, leaving 33,985 miles in India. One result of the partition was the emergence of Bombay as the principal port of supply for the western region of the country, as Karachi went to Pakistan. Following partition, another dislocation took place in Eastern India. Because of the partition of Bengal, one had to reach Assam only by crossing Pakistan’s territory since railroad of Assam went to Pakistan. This problem was solved by constructing 149 miles long Assam Link in 1949. On the eve of India’s Five Year Plans, Indian railways were in utter doldrums. 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national integration Development and growth of Indian Railways The first railway line was opened for public traffic in 1853, between Mumbai and Thane But , India tops world’s leading countries with regard to passenger/kilometre carried ‘Indian Railways’ is the largest public sector undertaking of the country, comprising vast network stations and route length with fleet of locomotives, passenger vehicles etc. Since its inception in 1853, Indian Railways has played a vital role in the economic, Industrial and social development of the country Distribution of Indian Railways This region has a dense network of railways from Amritsar to Haora Dense population, development of Industry & Agriculture, large scale Urbanisation have helped in development of Railways The whole of peninsular plateau has hilly and plateau terrain, which hinders the development of railways The population density is also moderate here For such reasons, except, Saurashtra and Tamil Nadu, a relatively open and more lose network has developed here The rugged terrain, hill and valley topography, backward economy and sparse population are factors responsible for the sparse rail network in the region Also, there are practically no railway line in North-Eastern states of Meghalaya, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Manipur and Nagaland These areas have rough terrain with thick forests Hence, construction of railways under these condition is a difficult and costly affair The coastal plains There is distinct contrast in rail network between eastern and western coastal plains The Eastern Coastal plain is quite wide and permits the construction of railways But, such network has been eluded in the Western coastal plain, due to the structure and relief of the area Significance of the Indian Railways Railways provide the cheapest and most convenient mode of passenger transport both for long distance and suburban traffic Railways have played a significant role in the development and growth of Industries. Growth of textile Industry in Mumbai, Jute Industries around Kolkata are largely due to development of railway network in these areas Agriculture also owes its growth to railways to a great extent. Now farmers can sell their agricultural produce to distant places Railways have been helpful in removing isolation between cities and countryside; and have played a significant role in dissemination innovations and new ideas Railways are particularly suited for long distance journey; and hence provide a strong medium of national integration Railways carry relief and rescue teams to the affected areas, during times of natural calamities. Hence, they play a part in mitigating the sufferings of the people Railways help in facing man-made calamities like social, political, religious disturbances, insurgency, etc. It facilitates easy movement of police, troops, defence equipment etc, during times of emergency Metro Rail offers fast, cheap and comfortable journey in metropolitan cities of India It helps in reducing pressure on the existing road transport and provides clean and eco-friendly transport at the local level It is a part of rapid mass transport; and first rapid transit system in India was the Kolkata Metro, which started operations in 1984 The Delhi Metro was India’s first Modern Metro and third rapid transit system in India, which started its operations in 2002 After the success of Metro Rail in Delhi, other cities like Bengaluru, Hyderabad, have planned to ease the public transit system Government Initiatives to improve Railways Sector in India In June 2021, the Central Government approved the implementation of a 235 km semi high-speed rail corridor between Pune and Nashik in Maharashtra. The cost of building this project will be Rs. 16,039 crore In April 2021, Indian Railways completed the arch closure of the under-construction Chenab Bridge which is the world’s highest railway bridge. Chenab Bridge is 1315 m long and will be 35 meters higher than Eiffel Tower in Paris In July 2020, the Ministry of Railways has invited Request for Qualifications (RFQ) for private participation in operating passenger train services across 109 Origin Destination (OD) routes On September 22, 2020, Indian Railways sanctioned a feasibility study for seven bullet train projects – all open to PPP investments. The Indian Railway launched the National Rail Plan, Vision 2024, to accelerate implementation of critical projects, such as multitrack congested routes, achieve 100% electrification, upgrade the speed to 160 kmph on Delhi-Howrah and Delhi-Mumbai routes, upgrade the speed to 130 kmph on all other golden quadrilateral-golden diagonal (GQ/GD) routes and eliminate all level crossings on the GQ/GD route, by 2024 On the whole, Indian Railway network is growing at a healthy rate. In the next five years, Indian railway market will be the third largest, accounting for 10% of the global market. Indian Railways, which is one of the country’s biggest employers, can generate one million jobs when scaled to efficient levels. Our Mission, Vision & Values Director’s Desk Commerce & Accountancy Previous Years’ Question Papers-Prelims Previous Years’ Question Papers-Mains Environment & Ecology Science & Technology ADVERTISEMENTS: Essay on “Railways Transport System in India” (1044 Words) Essay on the Railways Transport System in India (1044 Words). Railways were introduced in India in 1853 primarily to serve the interests of the British government. Today the railways in India provide the principal mode of transport for freight and passengers. Indian railways have been a great integrating force during the last hundred years by bringing people and their goods together. It has bound the economic life of the country and helped in accelerating the development of industry and agriculture. Image Source: upload.wikimedia.org From a very modest beginning in 1853, when the first train steamed off from Mumbai to Thane, a distance of 34 km. The Indian railway system is the largest in Asia and world’s second largest railway system under a single management. The railways constitute India’s principal means of transport and carry more than two third of goods traffic and passengers with investments exceeding Rs. 55,000 crores, employing about 16 lakh persons and 2,16,717 wagons. Indian Railways run around 11,000 trains everyday, of which 7,000 are passenger trains. About 28 per cent of the route kilometre, 39 per cent of the running track kilometre and 30.42 percent of the total track kilometre (19,607 km) is electrified. Administration : Before railways were taken over by Government in 1944 there was complicated method of ownership and control; some were company-owned and company-managed and some were state-owned and state- managed. Therefore to bring uniformity in the efficiency and economy of the railway, a scheme for re-grouping of the whole system was formulated by the Railway Board in 1950 and was enforced in 1952. This scheme finally led to the setting of nine separate zonal railways. The responsibility for the general administration and management of the government railway lie with the Railway Board under the overall guidance of the Minister for Railways who is helped by the Minister of State for Railways. The Railway Board exercises all powers of the Central government in terms of operations, regulation, and construction and maintenance. The Railways Board consists of the Chairman, the financial commissioner and five functional members. Railway Finance : The railway finances have been separated from the general revenues of government since 1924- 25. Railways have their own funds and accounts and the railway budget is presented separately to the Parliament. The railways contribute to the general revenues a fixed rate of dividend on the capital investment by the government. The quantity of contribution to be made is reviewed periodically by a Parliamentary Convention Committee. Gauges of Indian Railways : Indian railways comprise three gauges. (i) Broad Gauge: This gauge has 1,676 m distance between the two lines. More than 70 per cent track of Indian railways is broad gauge. (ii) Metre Gauge: The distance between two rails is one metre. About 24 per centof Indian railway is metregauge. (iii) Narrow Gauge: This is of two types. One is 0.762 metre and the other is 0.610 metre broad. It is confined to hilly areas only. Railway Zones : The Railway network has been divided into seventeen zones, having different territorial jurisdictions that generally vary between 4,000 and 10,000 km route length. Each headed by a General Manager. Zonal Railways are further divided into smaller operating units called divisions. There are 68 operating divisions in Indian Railway. Indian Railways is now reorganised into 17 Zones. Two new Railway Zones, viz., East Central Railway, Hajipur and North Western Railway, Jaipur became functional on 1 October 2002. Five more new Zones-East Coast Railway, Bhubaneswar, North Central Railway, Allahabad, South East Central Railways, Bilaspur, South Western Railway, Hubli and West Central Railway, Jabalpur became functional on 1 April 2003. Along with the reorganisation of the Zones, eight new Railway Divisions Agra on North Central Railway, Ahmedabad on Western Railway, Guntur and Nanded on South Central Railway, Pune on Central Railway, Raipur on South East Central Railway, and Ranchi on South Eastern Railway and Rangiya on Northeast Frontier Railway became operational on 1 April 2003. Cooperation between public and railway administration is secured through various committees including Zonal Railway Users’ Consultative Committees and Divisional Railway Users’ Consultative Committees. Currently, the Railways are 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 inter­locking, route relay inter-locking, centralised traffic control, automatic signalling and multi-aspect colour light signalling are being progressively introduced. Indian Railways have made impressive progress in indigenous production of rolling stock and variety of other equipment over the years and is now self- sufficient in most of the items. Since the inception of the planned era in 1950-51, Indian Railways have implemented nine five-year plans, apart from annual plans in some years. During the Plans, emphasis was laid on a comprehensive programme of system modernisation. With capacity being stretched to the full, investments of cost-effective technological changes have become inescapable in order to meet the ever-increasing demand for rail transport. Along with the major thrust directed towards rehabilitation of assets, technological changes and up gradation of standards were initiated in important areas of track locomotives, passenger coaches, wagon bogie designs, signalling and telecommunication. Railways Public Sector Undertakings : There are five undertakings under the administrative control of Ministry of Railways. They are as follows: (i) Rail India Technical and Economic Services Limited (RITES): It provides consultancy services for transportation in India and in other countries wherever asked for (ii) Indian Railway Construction Company Limited (IRCON): It takes the responsibility of construction of railway projects on turn-key basis within the country and in foreign countries specially in developing countries. (iii) Indian Railway Finance Corporation (IRFC): It is concerned with raising of funds through public borrowings for implementation of Railway Plan. (iv) Container Corporation of India Limited (CONCOR): It handles the domestic and international container traffic through railway (v) Konkan Railway Corporation Limited (KRC): It looks after the running and maintenance of Konkan Railways (vi) Centre for Railway Information System (CRIS): It was set up as a registered society to design and implement various railway computerisation projects. Production Units of Railways : (1) Wheel and Axle Plant, Bangalore (Karnataka) (2) Diesel Component Works (DCW), Patiala (Punjab) (3) Diesel Locomotive Works (DLW), Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh) (4) Chittaranjan Locomotive Works (CLW) Chittaranjan, (West Bengal) (5) Integral Coach Factory (ICF) Perambur near Chennai (Tamil Nadu) (6) Rail Coach Factory, Kapurthala (Punjab) Related Essays: Essay on the Air Transport System in India Essay on “The Water Transport System in India” – (1301 Words) Essay on “Road Transport System found in India” (1960 Words) Short Paragraph on “Transport System in India” (199 Words) Essay on Transport System in India , Essay on Railway Privacy Overview Cookie Duration Description cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics 11 months This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. 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Switch language: Timeline: 165 years of history on Indian Railways In April, Indian Railways celebrated 165 years since its first passenger trains went into service in the country. This feature takes a deeper look at the long and complex history of one of the world’s largest rail employers, from the British Raj to the modern rail operations of a developing superpower. Share on Linkedin Share on Facebook 165 Years of Indian Railways History Despite beginning life as a by-product of British colonial rule, India’s railways have come to define and shape the country over the course of the last century and a half. Tracks that were laid to boost a regime and fill the coffers of foreign investors evolved to support the country itself, forming a staggeringly vast network which you could call a jewel in the Indian crown. As Indian Railways (IR) celebrates the 165th anniversary of its first passenger service, we take a look back at some of its major highlights and chart its course to becoming one of the most prestigious rail providers in the world. Go deeper with GlobalData India Defense Spends on CBRN: 2016 to 2024 India defense spends on homeland security: 2016 to 2025, data insights. The gold standard of business intelligence. Find out more Related Company Profiles Indian railways, the east india company, 1853-1869: launching passenger rail services. Although rail services in India were initially proposed in the 1830s, historians cite 16 April 1853 as the kickstarter for India’s passenger rail revolution. On this date, the country’s first passenger train set off on a 34km journey between Bombay’s BoriBunder station and Thane. It consisted of 14 cars being hauled by three steam locomotives, and carried 400 passengers. The line was built through an alliance between the Great Indian Peninsular Railway (GIPR) – incorporated in 1849 – and the East India Company, which at that point ruled large swathes in India. Its success spurred subsequent launches of railways in Eastern India (1854) and South India (1856). Following the opening of the Calcutta-Delhi line in 1864 and the Allahabad-Jabalpur line in 1867, these lines were linked with the GIPR to create a 4,000-mile network spanning the width of India. This early era of passenger travel was primarily funded by private companies under a guarantee system created by the British Parliament, which ensured they would receive a certain rate of interest on their capital investment. In total, eight railway companies were established between 1855 and 1860, including Eastern India Railway, Great India Peninsula Company, Madras Railway, Bombay Baroda and Central India Railway. 1869-1900: Famine and economic growth Following the Indian rebellion of 1857 and the subsequent liquidation of the East India Company, the British Raj reigned supreme in India. From 1869-1881, it took control of railway construction from external contractors and increased expansion to help areas struck by famine after intense droughts in the country.  The length of the network reached 9,000 miles by 1880, with lines snaking inward from the three major port cities of Bombay, Madras and Calcutta. How well do you really know your competitors? Access the most comprehensive Company Profiles on the market, powered by GlobalData. Save hours of research. Gain competitive edge. Your download email will arrive shortly Not ready to buy yet? Download a free sample We are confident about the unique quality of our Company Profiles. However, we want you to make the most beneficial decision for your business, so we offer a free sample that you can download by submitting the below form The 1890s saw the introduction of new passenger amenities, including toilets, gas lamps and electric lighting. By this point the popularity of the railways had skyrocketed and overcrowding led to the creation of a fourth class onboard. By 1895, India had started building its own locomotives and by 1896 was able to send its own experts and equipment to assist with the construction of the Uganda Railway. 1901-1925: Moves towards centralisation After years of construction and financial investment the railways finally began to make a profit in 1901. Nevertheless, it was during the early years of this century that the scale of government intervention increased dramatically. GIPR was the first company to become state-owned in 1900. By 1907, the government had purchased all major lines and began leasing them back to private operators. The Railway Board was established in 1901, including a government official, an English railway manager and an agent of one of the company railways. In 1905, its powers were formalised by the government under then viceroy Lord Curzon, and the board has grown in size and prominence ever since. Movements were also made towards a more centralised management system, with both GIPR and East Indian Railways (EIR) being nationalised in 1923. Nevertheless, World War I took its toll on Indian rail development, with production diverted to meet British requirements outside of India. By the end of the war, the network was in a state of disrepair, with many services restricted or downgraded. Railway finances were separated from the general budget in 1924, with the railway receiving its first individual dividend in 1925. 1925-1946: Electrification and hard times The first electric train ran between Bombay and Kurla on 3 February, 1925, setting a precedent for further electrification in the coming years. By 1929, the railway network had grown to an overall length of 66,000km and carried approximately 620 million passengers and 90 million tonnes of goods annually. Nevertheless, in the last days of the British Raj, world events continued to play a role in rail activity. The economic depression kick-started by the Wall Street Crash resulted in INR11m being withdrawn from the railway reserve fund. Meanwhile, World War II also stymied railway development, as wagons were extensively commandeered for military movements. 1947-1980: Partition and zonal creation In 1947, the departure of Britain split the nation in two, causing a ripple effect across the railways as more than 40% of the network was lost to the newly created Pakistan. Two major lines, the Bengal Assam and North Western Railway, were divvied up and isolated from the Indian rail system. In the post-partition furore, violent mobs damaged railway infrastructure and attacked trains carrying refugees. A few years later, Indian Railways set about manifesting its own destiny, acquiring the majority of control over railway franchises in 1949-1950. In 1951-1952, it began reorganising the network into zones. The first train between India and Pakistan, the Samihauta Express, began running between Amritsar and Lahore in 1976. Moving into the latter half of the 20 th Century, the railways increasingly made steps towards modernisation. Colonial-era locomotives were replaced with state-of-the art trains, while moves to adopt 25kv AC traction in the 1950s drove set off a new drive towards electrification. 1980-2000: Technology and phasing out steam The 1980s saw a complete phase-out of steam locomotives, as electrification was spurred on by energy crises in the 1970s. Around 4,500km of track was electrified between 1980 and 1990. Meanwhile, India’s first metro system opened in Calcutta in 1984. Though economic stagnation and political upheaval blocked growth of the network in the 80s, the 90s saw the opening of the Konkan Railway; a 738km behemoth connecting the western coast of India with the rest of the country. However, the major revolution of the period came from the world of computing. In particular, the Indian Railways online passenger reservation system was launched in 1985 and gradually introduced at Delhi, Madras, Bombay and Calcutta. This was designed to allow passengers to reserve and cancel accommodation on any train from any terminal – a vital boon for passengers – and was extended with the introduction of the country-wide network of computerised enhanced reservation and ticketing (CONCERT) in 1995. 2000-2017: Moving online Since 2000, metro stations have continued to pop up in India’s major cities, including Delhi (2002), Bangalore (2011), Gurgaon (2013) and Mumbai (2014). The noughties also saw the creation of the network’s East Coast ,  South Western ,  South East Central ,  North Central  and  West Central Railway zones , in 2002. Nevertheless, arguably the greatest step forward for IR was the launch of online train reservations and ticketing through its IRCTC system in 2002. Passengers could now book their journeys online or buy tickets from thousands of agents across the country – a necessary addition, considering that passengers had reportedly traversed a distance of more than 4.5 billion kilometres on the railways in the period from 2000-2001. More recently, the Gatimaan Express , India’s fastest train with a top speed of 160km/h, made its maiden journey from Delhi to Agra on 5 April 2016. And Indian Railways announced on 31 March 2017 that the country’s entire rail network would be electrified by 2022. 2018: The future of Indian Railways Today, Indian Railways manages the fourth-largest rail network in the world, with tracks spanning more than 120,000km of the country. The railway is preparing for the future with a number of initiatives. Current Rail Minister Piyush Goyal said in May that free WiFi services would be provided at more than 7,000 stations by 2019, and IR has invested in greener technologies in a bid to meet 25% of its power demand with renewables, primarily solar, by 2025. Sign up for our daily news round-up! Give your business an edge with our leading industry insights.  More Relevant GCRE signs new deal with Network Rail Wabtec opens new maintenance shed in andhra pradesh, india, bangkok’s new metro line brings builders onboard , spain’s adif begins €210m rail renovation project in huelva. Give your business an edge with our leading industry insights. Sign up to the newsletter: In Brief Your corporate email address, i would also like to subscribe to:. Railway Technology In Brief Future Rail : Railway Technology Focus (monthly) I consent to Verdict Media Limited collecting my details provided via this form in accordance with Privacy Policy Thank you for subscribing View all newsletters from across the GlobalData Media network. Essay on Train Journey for Students and Children 500+ words essay on train journey. First of all, a journey refers to traveling from one place to another. When it comes to journeys, train journeys take the top spot. A train journey certainly is a wonderfully joyous occasion. Furthermore, train journeys fill individuals with a feeling of intense excitement. This mode of the journey is best when the travel distance is long. A train journey creates an aura that cannot be experienced with other types of journeys. My Experience of Journey by Train I have always been an avid supporter of train journeys. My involvement with train journeys began in childhood . I live in Lucknow and from here I have undertaken many train journeys. Furthermore, since childhood, I have paid several visits to the hill station of Almora to meet my relatives. Almora is a hill station located in the state of Uttarakhand. Most noteworthy, Almora is situated in the Himalayan mountain region. Due to this, trains cannot travel directly to Almora. Consequently, Kathgodam is the last town station accessible by trains before the mountain range begins. The trip from Lucknow to kathgodam is quite a lively experience. I have always ensured the reservation of my seats beforehand. So, my train journey begins from Lucknow railway station. As the train undergoes motion and leaves the Lucknow railway station, my excitement begins to rise. Moreover, as the train gathers speed, a thrilling feeling overtakes me. My train journey from Lucknow to Kathgodam is probably 8-10 hours duration. However, I enjoy every minute of it in spite of the journey being so long. Furthermore, all along the journey, one can purchase items of food and drinks. I almost always purchase meals and refreshments at least twice in the journey. When slumber overtakes me, I make use of the sleeping berth. I personally find sleeping on the train berth very comfortable. When I wake after a deep sleep, mountains are visible from a distance. Moreover, as the train approaches Kathgodam with menacing speed, the view of mountains gets bigger and bigger. Also, my amusement greatly rises as I see the Himalayas draw closer. Finally, as the train stops at Kathgodam, my delightful train journey comes to an end. Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas Why Do I Like to Travel by Train? Comfort is one of the biggest advantages of a train journey. Most noteworthy, one can move freely in a train cabin. Furthermore, in trains, there is a possibility of an ample foot room. Moreover, trains offer comfortable sleeping berths. All of this makes the train journey a relaxing experience. Beautiful sightseeing is another noteworthy benefit of train journeys. As the train travels, one can enjoy the views of the countryside, farms, forests , factories, etc. This makes train journeys more comprehensive than journeys by air or road. Train journeys offer a variety of opportunities to pass time. Furthermore, the train offers a sociable environment. In train journeys, conversations between passengers almost always take place. One can make new friends with traveling passengers on the train easily. Also, one can spend time in a handsome manner on a train journey. In a train journey, one can spend time reading something, listening to music, watching videos, sleeping/resting comfortably, etc. To sum it up, train journeys are truly one of a kind. The train journey offers uniqueness like no other journey. Most noteworthy, the charm of such a journey is unmatchable. The train journey certainly offers an unforgettable rich experience. Q1 Why does the writer sleeps so deeply in trains? A1 The writer sleeps deeply in trains because he finds sleeping on the train berth very comfortable. Q2 What makes train journeys so journeys so comfortable? A2 Trains journeys certainly are very comfortable. First of all, one can move freely in a train cabin. Furthermore, there is ample foot room possibility and comfortable sleeping berths on the train. Customize your course in 30 seconds Which class are you in. Travelling Essay Picnic Essay Our Country Essay My Parents Essay Essay on Favourite Personality Essay on Memorable Day of My Life Essay on Knowledge is Power Essay on Gurpurab Essay on My Favourite Season Essay on Types of Sports Leave a Reply Cancel reply Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked * Download the App CBSE Library Indian Railways Essay | Essay on Indian Railways for Students and Children in English Indian Railways Essay: Indian Railways is one of the largest railway networks operated by the Government of India. Railways was first introduced in India in 1853. Today, its operations cover 29 states and 7 union territories, and also provides international services to its neighbours, Nepal, Bangladesh and Pakistan. It is also one of the busiest rail networks in the world, carrying about 18 million passengers daily. Moreover it is the world’s largest employer, providing jobs to millions. You can read more  Essay Writing  about articles, events, people, sports, technology many more. Short Essay on Indian Railways 200 Words in English Below we have given a short essay on Indian Railways is for Classes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6. This short essay on the topic is suitable for students of class 6 and below. For a country so reliant on its trains, Indian Railways Vision 2020 envisages introduction of bullet trains. It will be a massive addition to its route network, with segregation of passenger and freight services into separate double-line corridors, raising the speeds of passenger trains from the current 130 kmph to 160-200 kmph on some routes, zero accidents and equipment failures and setting up of high-speed passenger corridors. However, this vision would remain a difficult one to achieve, looking at the past and current situation of the railways. Inspite of being the largest and the busiest network, Indian Railways was never a sector to give good returns to the economy, (barring the time of Lalu Prasad Yadav). It faces a lot of problems, sometimes proving even a burden to the Indian Government. The age-old and crumbling infrastructure, low fares, lack of maintenance, mismanagement, lack of quality service deliverance etc are all the major issues with the railways. A sharp decline in the earnings and serious escalation in expenditure has posed even more problems for Indian Railways. Additionally, the ever increasing prices of fuel, coal, the number of accidents, cost of maintenance etc further increases the problems. A significant change in the Indian Railways came after the year 2004. The 156 years old Indian Railways was regarded as a hopeless, loss making organisation, with too little revenue, too many problems. Steps were taken to increase the demand rather than the price. A team of experts proposed and applied some simple techniques effectively on a per train basis. Subsequently, fares were increased in line with the demand, giving the railways the much needed cash flow to improve its services. Thus with these efforts, Indian Railways was able to book profits. After 2010, the railways went back into problematic phase. The funds started shrinking, therefore improvement in passenger amenities could not be carried out. However, the recently elected government has again brought in a ray of hope for the good days for ‘Indian Railways’. Surprisingly, Indian train fares are among the cheapest in the world. With such fares, Railways paced its steps well with the technological advancement. The e-ticketing for making reservations and mobile app system to track train schedule are some major breakthroughs. Leave a Comment Cancel reply The Sitting Bee Short Story Reviews Third Class in Indian Railways by Mahatma Gandhi In the essay Third Class in Indian Railways by Mahatma Gandhi we have the theme of class, acceptance, desperation, dependency, greed and hygiene. Taken from his Selected Works collection the reader realises from the beginning of the essay that Gandhi may be exploring the theme of class. Gandhi chooses to travel by third class in order that he might see how other people, who are less privileged than him, might live. Something that strikes the reader as being a noble task. Gandhi throughout his life wanted to know how others, less fortunate, lived and the railways were a good place to start. It was on the railways that Gandhi saw first-hand how others not only traveled but lived. In the essay he also manages to bring the reader through the dirt that passengers may have encountered and the hostilities due to overcrowding that were felt by passengers travelling third class. Though a third class ticket cost five times less than that of a superior class. Gandhi found that the treatment of people was not proportionate. In reality those traveling third class were treated badly. However it is interesting that people accepted the conditions they found themselves in. Often bribing railway officials in order to get into third class. This may be significant as it suggests that people are not only reliant on the train system in India but that they are accepting of the conditions they find themselves in. No matter how dirty the carriages and closets (toilets) may be. If anything the people on the train in third class are desperate to be allowed to travel. They have places to go and have no alternative because they have so little money but to travel third class. It may also be important that Gandhi felt the need to write an essay on travelling by railway in third class. It is possible that he wants those in authority to improve the circumstances of those involved in traveling in third class. It may also be a case that Gandhi is exploring the theme of greed. Railway officials know how bad things are in third class yet they do very little if anything to change the situation. This can only leave the reader suspecting that money talks for the railway officials. No matter how squalid the conditions are the railway officials know that people will still travel in third class because they are dependent on the railway. People have no other option but to travel third class in order to reach their destination. Often people are travelling for two or three days in order to get themselves to their destination. The end of the essay is interesting because Gandhi, unlike those who travel third class, is not prepared to accept the conditions as he finds them. He has written an essay that he hopes will change the situation for his fellow travelers. However the reader holds little hope that things might change. Again people are dependent on the railways and as such will accept the conditions that they might find themselves in. It will take more than an essay or embarrassment for those in charge to change. Letter to Adolf Hitler by Mahatma Gandhi Playing the English Gentleman by Mahatma Gandhi Changes by Mahatma Gandhi Women Not the Weaker Sex by Mahatma Gandhi Mahatma Gandhi One comment I LIKE THIS Leave a Reply Cancel reply Your email address will not be published. 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Click here for instructions on how to enable JavaScript in your browser. 480 IMAGES Indian Railways Essay 10 Lines on Indian Railway || Essay on Indian Railway in English || Essay on Indian Railways Delhi and railway journey essay sample Essay On 160 Glorious Years Of Indian Railways भारतीय रेलवे पर निबंध VIDEO "Indian Railways' Journey: "Colonial Past to Independence Growth" Indian railways vary ll Short's video #Teesta torsa Express Railways Indian 🚆🚉🚊👌👌😭😭 Indian Railways #train #indianrailways #railway #shorts#youtubeshorts #viral Why is Indian Railways in loss? 😱 #shorts #indianrailways #train #viral #railway #viralvideo positive and negative impacts of railways in India || class 12 indian economic development COMMENTS Indian Railways Essay Indian Railways Essay: Indian Railways is one of the largest railway networks operated by the Government of India. Railways was first introduced in India in 1853. Today, its operations cover 29 states and 7 union territories, and also provides international services to its neighbours, Nepal, Bangladesh and Pakistan. ... Short Essay on Indian ... Essay on Indian Railways 500 Words Essay on Indian Railways Introduction. Indian Railways, the lifeline of the nation, is one of the world's largest railway networks. Covering a route of over 67,000 kilometers, it ferries more than 22 million passengers daily, reflecting its vital role in the country's socio-economic fabric. Indian Railways Indian Railways is a statutory body under the ownership of the Ministry of Railways of the Government of India that operates India's national railway system. As of 2023, it manages the fourth largest national railway system by size with a track length of 132,310 km (82,210 mi), running track length of 106,493 km (66,172 mi) and route length of ... Essay on Indian Railways 1. Essay on the Introduction to Indian Railways: Among all the transport systems of the country, Railways occupy the most important position as it carry nearly 80 per cent of total goods traffic and 70 per cent of the passenger traffic. Indian Railways had started its operation on April 16, 1853 with its first route of 22 miles (34 kms). English Essay on "The Indian Railways" Full-Length Essay, Paragraph The Indian Railways. Essay # 1. The railways of India are great engineering works. The constructors were confronted with enormous physical difficulties. Broad rivers had to be spanned and the mighty mountain wall of the Ghats had to be surmounted by the railroad before Mumbai could be brought into railway communication with Gujarat, Kolkata ... Indian Railways: Establishment and Brief Facts for UPSC Exam The Indian Railways began its operations from 16 April 1853. The Indian transportation system is very important in UPSC IAS Exam also. Here we are giving some interesting details about the Indian Railways. Indian Railways Latest Updates -. March 8th 2021 - The first woman driver of Indian Railways, Surekha Yadav drove all women-staffed ... Brief Introduction to Development of Railways in India The Indian Railways Development - An Overview. In April 1853, India's first railway network was inaugurated for the public to travel between Mumbai and Thane. Then, the route stretched to Kalyan in 1854. Also, in 1856, it extended to Khopoli. Finally, in June 1858, the Khandala-Pune segment was completed and opened. PDF Rail History 01 1 Rail History Indian Railways - Way of Life (Story of - Electrification / Modernization) First railway service in India started on 16 Apr. 1853 when the first train was flagged off from th Bombay (Mumbai) to Thane, to cover a distance of 34 kms with 14 coaches and 400 passengers. India put first step towards new age when it took manufacturing of steam locomotives in India. History of Indian Railways 1843: The idea of a railway to connect Bombay with Thane, Kalyan, and with the Thal and Bhore Ghats inclines first occurred to Mr. George Clark, the Chief Engineer of the Bombay Government, during a visit to Bhandup in 1843. 1853: The formal inauguration ceremony was performed on 16th April 1853, when 14 railway carriages carrying about 400 guests left Bori Bunder at 3.30 pm "amidst the loud ... Essay on Indian Railways 14/04/2018 1 0 1. Essay on Indian Railways. Indian Railways (IR) is India 's national railway system operated by the Ministry of Railways. It manages the fourth-largest railway network in the world by size, with 121,407 kilometres (75,439 mi) of total track over a 67,368-kilometre (41,861 mi) route Forty nine percent of the routes are ... Essay on "160 Glorious years of Indian Railways" for School, College 160 Glorious years of Indian Railways . In the year 2013, the Indian Railways completed 160 years. Since its beginning in 1853, Indian railways have grown as the second largest network in the world, after Russian Railways. To improve the transport system in South India, the idea of railways in India was first imagined in 1832 in Madras. Essay on Railways in India Essay # 2. Effects of Railway Development: The Railway Development had far-reaching effects on the life and economy of the Indian people. In the official view, "the benefits conferred by railways were at all time great" and that they were "an all powerful agent in the promotion of the material and social advancement of the people." Indian leaders, on the other hand, holding that ... Indian Railways: Development; Factors; Distribution and Improvement of ADVERTISEMENTS: Indian Railways: Development; Factors Distribution and Improvement of Indian Railways! Indian railway system is the main artery of the country's inland transport. Railways virtually form the life-line of the Country, catering to its needs for large scale movement of traffic, both freight and passenger, thereby contributing to economic growth and also promoting national ... Indian railways has been the lifeline of India's growth story. Analyze Indian railways has been the lifeline of India's growth story. Analyze the challenges, advantages and disadvantages of its privatization. Login. Study Materials ... Economy Environment Environment & Ecology Environment and Ecology Essay Governance GS GS 3 GS 1 GS 2 GS 3 GS 4 Internal security International Relations Polity Science ... Evolution of Indian Railways Test Series. The evolution of Indian Railways dates back more than 160 years since the first Indian train was introduced by the British Government of colonial times. India's railways defined and shaped the country over the last century and a half. The tracks laid boost a regime the foreign investors evolved to support the country itself. History of Railway Development in India History of Railway Development # Rapid Extension of Railways up to 1914: With the advent of the 20th century, Indian railways entered a new era. Thanks to the thriving trade and commerce, India became equipped with huge railway network which made railways a "running concern". But problems remained. HISTORY OF INDIAN RAILWAYS : G. S. KHOSLA HISTORY OF INDIAN RAILWAYS, G. S. KHOSLA Addeddate 2019-02-03 12:24:46 Coverleaf 0 Identifier HISTORYOFINDIANRAILWAYSG.S.KHOSLA Identifier-ark ark:/13960/t5r85ts3b Ocr ABBYY FineReader 11.0 (Extended OCR) Ppi 600 Scanner Internet Archive HTML5 Uploader 1.6.3 ... Railways The cost of building this project will be Rs. 16,039 crore. In April 2021, Indian Railways completed the arch closure of the under-construction Chenab Bridge which is the world's highest railway bridge. Chenab Bridge is 1315 m long and will be 35 meters higher than Eiffel Tower in Paris. Essay on the Indian Railways Essay on the Indian Railways. Indian Railways is the biggest Government institution of India which gives more than 17 Lakh people employment. Indian Railways is the biggest railway system of Asia and the second biggest railway system of the world. In India the first train was run between Mumbai and Thane. Lord Dalhousie was the Governor General ... Essay on "Railways Transport System in India" (1044 Words) The Indian railway system is the largest in Asia and world's second largest railway system under a single management. The railways constitute India's principal means of transport and carry more than two third of goods traffic and passengers with investments exceeding Rs. 55,000 crores, employing about 16 lakh persons and 2,16,717 wagons. Timeline: 165 years of history on Indian Railways In April, Indian Railways celebrated 165 years since its first passenger trains went into service in the country. This feature takes a deeper look at the long and complex history of one of the world's largest rail employers, from the British Raj to the modern rail operations of a developing superpower. Joe Baker June 12, 2018. Essay on Train Journey for Students and Children 500+ Words Essay on Train Journey. First of all, a journey refers to traveling from one place to another. When it comes to journeys, train journeys take the top spot. A train journey certainly is a wonderfully joyous occasion. Furthermore, train journeys fill individuals with a feeling of intense excitement. Indian Railways Essay Indian Railways Essay: Indian Railways is one of the largest railway networks operated by the Government of India. Railways was first introduced in India in 1853. Today, its operations cover 29 states and 7 union territories, and also provides international services to its neighbours, Nepal, Bangladesh and Pakistan. ... Short Essay on Indian ... Third Class in Indian Railways by Mahatma Gandhi It was on the railways that Gandhi saw first-hand how others not only traveled but lived. In the essay he also manages to bring the reader through the dirt that passengers may have encountered and the hostilities due to overcrowding that were felt by passengers travelling third class. Though a third class ticket cost five times less than that ... assignment essay homework paper phd report resume review speech thesis