Story of Indian Railways is the story of Indian's macro - economic growth and socio-economic transformation over a period of almost a century-and-a-half.
Indian railways (IR) started its 53 km journey between Mumbai and Thane on April 16, 1853 and is today one of the largest Railways in the world. The railway network invariably referred to as ‘the lifeline of the Indian economy" is spread over 109,221 Km covering 6906 stations. Operating on three gauges, trains in India carry over 481 Billion Tonne Kilometers (BTKMs) and 695 Billion Passenger Kilometers (BPKMs) of goods and passenger traffic respectively every year. IR carries around 40% of freight traffic and 20% of the passenger traffic in the country.
IR is one of the premier infrastructural wings of the economy combining all major functions of a conventional Railway system. It builds and maintains infrastructure assets like Track, Electric traction, Signaling Systems, Telecom network, Stations/Terminals etc. Apart from operating goods and passenger trains, it operates suburban trains in various metros. It manufactures locomotives, coaching stock, wagon and components of rolling stock like Wheel & Axle. It runs workshops to maintain its rolling stock & is also involved in ancillary activities like catering, tourism etc. All the above activities are managed through a strong work force of 1.41 million.
The policy formation and management of Indian Railway Board comprises of Chairman and six functional members who supervise the running of 16 zonal railways, metro railway (Calcutta), production units, construction organization and other rail 4establishments. Nine subsidiary organizations under the Ministry of Railways viz. IRCON, RITES, CONCOR, RCIL RVNL, MRVC, IRFC, and KRCL undertake specialized functions contributing to IR's growth and progress.
Indian Railway's operations are characterized by mixed traffic - both passenger and freight trains share the same track and infrastructure. Passenger trains constitute nearly 70% of the trains run but contribute to less than 35% of the revenue earned, while freight trains constituting only 30% of the trains, make up 65% of the revenue. It is against this challenging backdrop that the real significance of the turn-around achieved by IR has to be properly grasped.
Traffic growth of Railways has exceeded that of the GDP over the last four years – a phenomenon without precedent. Projections of the freight and passenger traffic show that by the year 2011-12, IR is likely to handle a volume of 1100 million tonnes (702 BTKMs) of freight and 8400 million originating passengers ( 880 BPKMs).
IR has been a success story; however, IR needs to be alive to the fact that its freight traffic stands on a narrow base of a few commodities. The traffic is also concentrated on certain high-density routes; in particular, the routes connecting the four metropolitan cities of the country which constitute 16% of the network but carry more than 50% of the traffic. Diversification of freight traffic to a larger range of commodities and easing capacity constraints on high-density trunk routes, therefore, constitute the most significant challenge for IR in the years ahead.
Indian railways (IR) started its 53 km journey between Mumbai and Thane on April 16, 1853 and is today one of the largest Railways in the world. The railway network invariably referred to as ‘the lifeline of the Indian economy" is spread over 109,221 Km covering 6906 stations. Operating on three gauges, trains in India carry over 481 Billion Tonne Kilometers (BTKMs) and 695 Billion Passenger Kilometers (BPKMs) of goods and passenger traffic respectively every year. IR carries around 40% of freight traffic and 20% of the passenger traffic in the country.
IR is one of the premier infrastructural wings of the economy combining all major functions of a conventional Railway system. It builds and maintains infrastructure assets like Track, Electric traction, Signaling Systems, Telecom network, Stations/Terminals etc. Apart from operating goods and passenger trains, it operates suburban trains in various metros. It manufactures locomotives, coaching stock, wagon and components of rolling stock like Wheel & Axle. It runs workshops to maintain its rolling stock & is also involved in ancillary activities like catering, tourism etc. All the above activities are managed through a strong work force of 1.41 million.
The policy formation and management of Indian Railway Board comprises of Chairman and six functional members who supervise the running of 16 zonal railways, metro railway (Calcutta), production units, construction organization and other rail 4establishments. Nine subsidiary organizations under the Ministry of Railways viz. IRCON, RITES, CONCOR, RCIL RVNL, MRVC, IRFC, and KRCL undertake specialized functions contributing to IR's growth and progress.
Indian Railway's operations are characterized by mixed traffic - both passenger and freight trains share the same track and infrastructure. Passenger trains constitute nearly 70% of the trains run but contribute to less than 35% of the revenue earned, while freight trains constituting only 30% of the trains, make up 65% of the revenue. It is against this challenging backdrop that the real significance of the turn-around achieved by IR has to be properly grasped.
Traffic growth of Railways has exceeded that of the GDP over the last four years – a phenomenon without precedent. Projections of the freight and passenger traffic show that by the year 2011-12, IR is likely to handle a volume of 1100 million tonnes (702 BTKMs) of freight and 8400 million originating passengers ( 880 BPKMs).
IR has been a success story; however, IR needs to be alive to the fact that its freight traffic stands on a narrow base of a few commodities. The traffic is also concentrated on certain high-density routes; in particular, the routes connecting the four metropolitan cities of the country which constitute 16% of the network but carry more than 50% of the traffic. Diversification of freight traffic to a larger range of commodities and easing capacity constraints on high-density trunk routes, therefore, constitute the most significant challenge for IR in the years ahead.