Transport:

Transport or transportation is the movement of people, animals and goods from one
location to another. Modes of
transport include air, rail, road, water, cable, pipeline and space. The field can be divided
into infrastructure, vehicles and operations. Transport is important because it enables
trade between persons, which is essential for the development of civilizations.
Transport infrastructure consists of the fixed installations
including roads, railways, airways, waterways, canals and pipelines and terminals such
as airports, railway stations, bus stations, warehouses, trucking terminals, refueling depots
(including fueling docks and fuel stations) and seaports. Terminals may be used both for
interchange of passengers and cargo and for maintenance.
Vehicles traveling on these networks may
include automobiles, bicycles, buses, trains, trucks, people, helicopters, watercraft, spacecraft an
d aircraft.
Operations deal with the way the vehicles are operated, and the procedures set for this purpose
including financing, legalities and policies. In the transport industry, operations and ownership of
infrastructure can be either public or private, depending on the country and mode.
Passenger transport may be public, where operators provide scheduled services, or private.
Freight transport has become focused on containerization, although bulk transport is used for
large volumes of durable items. Transport plays an important part in economic growth
and globalization, but most types cause air pollution and use large amounts of land. While it is
heavily subsidized by governments, good planning of transport is essential to make traffic flow
and restrain urban sprawl.

Need for Transportation:

Transportation is needed because few economic resourcesraw materials, fuels, food, manufactured
goodsare located where they are wanted. Each region or place on Earth produces more than it consumes
of some goods and services and less than it consumes of others. Through transportation, goods are moved
from where there are surpluses to where there are shortages. Improved transportation has extended the
areas in which various goods can be profitably marketed and thus has helped make the goods widely
available.
The moving of people to places of work, education, and recreation and for their other needs and wants also
requires transportation. Like goods, people are moved to where they are needed. But as decision makers
people also travel to where they want to be. In recreational activities, such as pleasure driving,
transportation can be an end in itself.
The demand for transportation is derived from the need for people and goods to be at a particular place. In
satisfying this need, transportation gives people and goods greater value and place utility. Sometimes, as in
the aging of wine or the ripening of bananas while they are en route to their destinations, goods may
acquire greater form utility. The in-transit storage of goods provided by a vehicle may reduce the need for
warehouse space at the destination. This is an example of time utilitygetting goods to a destination at the
time of their greatest usefulness.
The demand for transportationand the rate of actual traffic flowtends to be proportional to the
population of the destination area. Traffic flow between two areas also depends on their proximityflow
generally tends to be greater the closer the areas are to each other.
The concentration of transportation services in heavily urbanized and industrialized areas is a result of the
great amount of traffic. However, political or military considerations or prospects for future economic

growth may lead to the construction of transportation facilities even where they are not profitable.
Economic development in nonindustrialized countries, for example, commonly requires extensive
investment in roads, airfields, harbours, and other transport facilities long before there is much traffic.
In industrialized countries such as the United States, transportation routes traditionally have been provided
for in advance of other economic development. The Cumberland Road, for example, was built early in the
1800s to open the Ohio Valley to settlement. The Erie Canal, completed in 1825, helped settle the Great
Lakes region. Federal land grants to railroad companies in the 19th century helped settle the West. In
Canada roads and railroads were being extended to the north in the 1960s and 1970s to facilitate settlement
and the exploitation of natural resources. In the long run, transporting goods from one place to another is
justified only if the goods can be produced cheaply enough at the first place so as to offset the
transportation cost to the second.

Transport

Types of Transport
A mode of transport is a solution that makes use of a particular type of vehicle, infrastructure and
operation. The transport of a person or of cargo may involve one mode or several of the modes,
with the latter case being called intermodal or multimodal transport. Each mode has its own
advantages and disadvantages, and will be chosen for a trip on the basis of cost, capability, and
route.

Human- powered

Human powered transport, a form of sustainable transportation, is the transport of people and/or
goods using human muscle-power, in the form of walking, running and swimming.
Modern technology has allowed machines to enhance human power. Human-powered transport
remains popular for reasons of cost-saving, leisure, physical exercise, and environmentalism; it is
sometimes the only type available, especially in underdeveloped or inaccessible regions.
Although humans are able to walk without infrastructure, the transport can be enhanced through
the use of roads, especially when using the human power with vehicles, such as bicycles
and inline skates. Human-powered vehicles have also been developed for difficult environments,
such as snow and water, by watercraft rowing and skiing; even the air can be entered
with human-powered aircraft.

Animal-powered
Animal-powered transport is the use of working animals for the movement of people and
commodities. Humans may ride some of the animals directly, use them as pack animals for
carrying goods, or harness them, alone or in teams, to pull sleds or wheeled vehicles.

Air

A fixed-wing aircraft, commonly called airplane, is a heavier-than-air craft where movement of the
air in relation to the wings is used to generate lift. The term is used to distinguish this from rotar
wing aircraft, where the movement of the lift surfaces relative to the air generates lift.
A gyroplane is both fixed-wing and rotary-wing. Fixed-wing aircraft range from small trainers and
recreational aircraft to large airliners and military cargo aircraft.

Two things necessary for aircraft are air flow over the wings for lift and an area for landing. The
majority of aircraft also need an airport with the infrastructure to receive maintenance, restocking,
refueling and for the loading and unloading of crew, cargo and passengers. While the vast
majority of aircraft land and take off on land, some are capable of take off and landing on ice,
snow and calm water.
The aircraft is the second fastest method of transport, after the rocket. Commercial jets can
reach up to 955 kilometres per hour (593 mph), single-engine aircraft 555 kilometres per hour
(345 mph). Aviation is able to quickly transport people and limited amounts of cargo over longer
distances, but incur high costs and energy use; for short distances or in inaccessible
places helicopters can be used.[1] As of April 28, 2009 The Guardian article notes that, "the WHO
estimates that up to 500,000 people are on planes at any time."[2]

Rail

Rail transport is where a train runs along a set of two parallel steel rails, known as a railway or
railroad. The rails are anchored perpendicular to ties (or sleepers) of timber, concrete or steel, to
maintain a consistent distance apart, or gauge. The rails and perpendicular beams are placed on
a foundation made of concrete, or compressed earth and gravel in a bed of ballast. Alternative
methods include monorail and maglev.
A train consists of one or more connected vehicles that operate on the rails. Propulsion is
commonly provided by a locomotive, that hauls a series of unpowered cars, that can carry
passengers or freight. The locomotive can be powered by steam, diesel or by electricity supplied
by trackside systems. Alternatively, some or all the cars can be powered, known as a multiple
unit. Also, a train can be powered by horses, cables, gravity, pneumatics and gas turbines.

Railed vehicles move with much less friction than rubber tires on paved roads, making trains
more energy efficient, though not as efficient as ships.
Intercity trains are long-haul services connecting cities;[3] modern high-speed rail is capable of
speeds up to 350 km/h (220 mph), but this requires specially built
track. Regional and commuter trains feed cities from suburbs and surrounding areas, while intraurban transport is performed by high-capacity tramways and rapid transits, often making up the
backbone of a city's public transport. Freight trains traditionally used box cars, requiring manual
loading and unloading of the cargo. Since the 1960s, container trains have become the dominant
solution for general freight, while large quantities of bulk are transported by dedicated trains.

Road

A road is an identifiable route, way or path between two or more places.[4] Roads are typically
smoothed, paved, or otherwise prepared to allow easy travel;[5] though they need not be, and
historically many roads were simply recognizable routes without any
formal construction or maintenance.[6] In urban areas, roads may pass through
a city or village and be named as streets, serving a dual function as urban space easement and
route.[7]

10

The most common road vehicle is the automobile; a wheeled passenger vehicle that carries its
own motor. Other users of roads include buses, trucks, motorcycles, bicycles and pedestrians.
As of 2010, there were 1.015 billion automobiles worldwide. Road transport offers a complete
freedom to road users to transfer the vehicle from one lane to the other and from one road to
another according to the need and convenience. This flexibility of changes in location, direction,
speed, and timings of travel is not available to other modes of transport. It is possible to provide
door to door service only by road transport.
Automobiles provide high flexibility with low capacity, but require high energy and area use, and
are the main source of noise and air pollution in cities; buses allow for more efficient travel at the
cost of reduced flexibility.[8] Road transport by truck is often the initial and final stage of freight
transport.

Water

11

Water transport is movement by means of a watercraftsuch as a barge, boat, ship or sailboat

over a body of water, such as a sea, ocean, lake, canal or river. The need for buoyancy is
common to watercraft, making the hull a dominant aspect of its construction, maintenance and
appearance.
In the 19th century the first steam ships were developed, using a steam engine to drive a paddle
wheel or propeller to move the ship. The steam was produced in a boiler using wood orcoal and
fed through a steam external combustion engine. Now most ships have an internal combustion
engine using a slightly refined type of petroleum called bunker fuel. Some ships, such
as submarines, use nuclear power to produce the steam. Recreational or educational craft still
use wind power, while some smaller craft use internal combustion engines to drive one or
more propellers, or in the case of jet boats, an inboard water jet. In shallow draft
areas, hovercraft are propelled by large pusher-prop fans. (See Marine propulsion.)
Although slow, modern sea transport is a highly efficient method of transporting large quantities
of goods. Commercial vessels, nearly 35,000 in number, carried 7.4 billion tons of cargo in 2007.
[9]
Transport by water is significantly less costly than air transport for transcontinental shipping;
[10]
short sea shipping and ferries remain viable in coastal areas.[11][12]

Other modes

12

Pipeline transport sends goods through a pipe; most commonly liquid and gases are sent,
but pneumatic tubes can also send solid capsules using compressed air. For liquids/gases, any
chemically stable liquid or gas can be sent through a pipeline. Short-distance systems exist
for sewage, slurry, water and beer, while long-distance networks are used
for petroleum andnatural gas.

13

Cable transport is a broad mode where vehicles are pulled by cables instead of an internal power
source. It is most commonly used at steep gradient. Typical solutions include aerial
tramway, elevators, escalator and ski lifts; some of these are also categorized
as conveyor transport.
Spaceflight is transport out of Earth's atmosphere into outer space by means of a spacecraft.
While large amounts of research have gone into technology, it is rarely used except to put
satellites into orbit, and conduct scientific experiments. However, man has landed on the moon,
and probes have been sent to all the planets of the Solar System.
Suborbital spaceflight is the fastest of the existing and planned transport systems from a place
on Earth to a distant other place on Earth. Faster transport could be achieved through part of
a low Earth orbit, or following that trajectory even faster using the propulsion of the rocket to
steer it.

Indian road network

14

India has a road network of over 4,689,842 kilometres (2,914,133 mi) in 2013, the second
largest road network in the world. At 0.66 km of roads per square kilometre of land, the
quantitative density of India's road network is similar to that of the United States (0.65) and far
higher than that of China (0.16) or Brazil (0.20). However, qualitatively India's roads are a mix of
modern highways and narrow, unpaved roads, and are being improved. As of 2011, 54 percent
about 2.53 million kilometres of Indian roads were paved.
[1][2]

[2][3]

Adjusted for its large population, India has less than 3.8 kilometres of roads per 1000 people,
including all its paved and unpaved roads. In terms of quality, all season, 4 or more lane
highways, India has less than 0.07 kilometres of highways per 1000 people, as of 2010. These
are some of the lowest road and highway densities in the world. For context, United States has
21 kilometres of roads per 1000 people, while France about 15 kilometres per 1000 people
predominantly paved and high quality in both cases. In terms of all season, 4 or more lane
highways, developed countries such as United States and France have a highway density per
1000 people that is over 15 times as India.
India in its past did not allocate enough resources to build or maintain its road network. This has
changed since 1995, with major efforts currently underway to modernize the country's road
infrastructure.
[3]

[4]

15

NH76: Part of India's recently completed 4-lane Golden Quadrilateral highway network

NH75: Part of India's NS-EW Corridor highway network spanning 7000 kilometres

As of April 2015, India had completed and placed in use over 24,000 kilometres of recently built 4
or 6-lane highways connecting many of its major manufacturing centres, commercial and cultural
centres. The rate of new highway construction across India accelerated after 1999, but has
slowed in recent years. Policy delays and regulatory blocks reduced the rate of highway
construction awards to just 500 kilometers of new road projects in 2013. Major projects are
being implemented under the National Highways Development Project, a government initiative.
Private builders and highway operators are also implementing major projects - for example,
theYamuna Expressway between Delhi and Agra was completed ahead of schedule and within
budget, while the KMP Expressway started in 2006 is far behind schedule, over budget and
incomplete.
[5][6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

According to 2009 estimates by Goldman Sachs, India will need to invest US$1.7 trillion on
infrastructure projects before 2020 to meet its economic needs, a part of which would be in
upgrading India's road network. TheGovernment of India is attempting to promote foreign
investment in road projects.
Foreign participation in Indian road network construction has
attracted 45 international contractors and 40 design/engineering consultants,
with Malaysia, South Korea, United Kingdom and United States being the largest players
[10]

[10][11][12]

History:
The first evidence of road development in the Indian subcontinent can be traced back to approximately 2800 BC from
the ancient cities of Harrapa and Mohenjodaro of the Indus Valley Civilization. Ruling emperors and monarchs of
ancient India had constructed roads to connect the cities. Archaeological excavations give us fresh information about
road connectivity in ancient India. The Grand Trunk Road was built by Sher Shah Suri in 1540-45
connecting Sonargaon near Dhaka in Bangladesh with Peshawar in modern-day Pakistan linking several cities from in
India.[16]

16

India inherited a poor road network infrastructure at the time of its independence in 1947. Beyond that, between 1947
and 1988, India witnessed no new major projects, and the roads were poorly maintained. Predominantly all roads were
single lane, and most were unpaved. India had no expressways, and less than 200 kilometers of 4-lane highways. In
1988, an autonomous entity called the National Highways Authority of India was established in India by an Act of
Parliament, and came into existence on 15 June 1989. The Act empowered this entity to develop, maintain and manage
India's road network through National Highways. However, even though the Authority was created in 1988, not much
happened till India introduced widespread economic liberalization in the early 1990s. Since 1995, the authority has
privatized road network development in India, and by May 2014 delivered a state wise lengths of over 92,851 kilometers
of National Highways, of which 22,757 kilometers are 4-lane or 6-lane modern highways. [6][17][18]

Overview:
Road transport is vital to India's economy. It enables the country's transportation sector to contribute 4.7 percent
towards Indias gross domestic product, in comparison to railways that contributed 1 percent, in 20092010. Road
transport has gained in importance over the years despite significant barriers and inefficiencies in inter-state freight and
passenger movement compared to railways and air. The government of India considers road network as critical to the
country's development, social integration and security needs of the country.[19]
India's road network carries over 65 percent of its freight and about 85 percent of passenger traffic. [20]
Indian road network is administered by various government authorities, given India's federal form of government. The
table below describes the regulating bodies.

Road classification

Authority responsible

Total kilometres (as of

2011)

National Highways

Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (Central

government)

92,851[21][22]

State Highways

State governments (state's public works department)

1,63,898[23]

Major and other district

roads

Local governments, panchayats and municipalities

17,05,706[24]

Rural roads

Local governments, panchayats and municipalities

27,49,805[24]

Roads

Expressways[edit]
Main article: Expressways in India

Mumbai Pune Expressway

17

Expressways make up approximately 1,208 km (751 mi) of India's road network, as of 2013.[29][30] These high-speed
roads are four-lane or six-lane, predominantly access controlled. The 165 kilometer Yamuna Expressway, India's
longest six-laned controlled-access opened on 9 August 2012.[31]
While the start of several expressway projects such as the Ganga Expressway have been delayed for 3 or more years,
because of litigation and bureaucratic procedures, India expects another 3,530 kilometres of expressways to come up
by 2014 from the projects under construction. The government has drawn up a target to lay 18,637 kilometre network of
brand new expressways by 2022.[32] Most of the existing expressways in India are toll roads.[30]

National Highways[edit]
Main article: National Highway (India)

Stretch of NorthSouth Corridor highway between Coimbatore andSalem in Tamil Nadu

NH7 section of NSEW Corridorhighway in South India

The main highways running through the length and breadth of the country connecting major ports, state capitals, large
industrial and tourist centres, etc. National Highways in India are designated as NH followed by the highway number.
Indian national highways are further classified based on the width of carriageway of the highway. As of March 2012,
India had completed and placed in use the following newly built highways: [5]

5,846 kilometers of its 4-lane Golden Quadrilateral highway,

6,310 kilometres of its 4-lane NorthSouth and EastWest Corridor highway,

353 kilometres of 4-lane port connectivity highways,

4,553 kilometres of 4-lane inter-capital highways,

961 kilometres of 4-lane bypass and other national highways.

The above 17,700 kilometres of highways connect most of the major manufacturing centers, commercial and cultural
cities of India.[33] The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is the authority responsible for the development,
maintenance and management of National Highways entrusted to it. The NHAI is undertaking the developmental

18

activities under National Highways Development Project (NHDP) in 5 phases. The NHAI is also responsible for
implementing other projects on National Highways, primarily road connectivity to major ports in India.
As of June 2012, under Phase I, II, III and V of India's national effort has already finished and put in use about 18,000
kilometers of 4/6 lane highways. The country is in process of building an additional 33,441 kilometers of 4 to 6 lanes,
international quality highways throughout India. Of this target, about 13,700 kilometers of modern highways were under
implementation in June 2012, and about 18,000 kilometers of highways have been identified for contract award. [6] India
road building rate has accelerated in recent years and averaged about 11 kilometers per day in second half of 2011. The
country targets to build 600 kilometers of modern roads every month through 2014.

National Highway classification[6][34]

Lanes

Length (km)

Percentage

Single Lane / Intermediate lane

18,350

26%

Double lane

36031

51%

Four Lane/Six lane/Eight Lane

16,553

23%

Total

70,934

100%

State Highways[edit]
Main article: State highways in India

A state highway in Andhra Pradesh

State Governments have the authority and responsibility to build road networks and state highways. Independent of the
NHDP program, state governments have been implementing a number of state highway projects since 2000. By 2010,
state highway projects worth $1.7 billion had been completed, and an additional $11.4 billion worth of projects were
under implementation.[35] The State Highways provide linkages with the National Highways, district headquarters,
important towns, tourist centers and minor ports and carry the traffic along major centers within the state. Their total
length is about 137,712 km.[36]

19

Major District Roads[edit]

A district road in Kerala

These are important roads within a district connecting areas of production with markets and connecting these with each
other or with the State Highways & National Highways. It also connects Taluka headquarters and rural areas to District
headquarters within the state.

India has been adding paved single lane rural roads under itsPMGSY initiative launched in 2000.[37]

Rural Roads[edit]
The rural roads in India forms a substantial portion of the Indian road network. These roads are in poor shape, affecting
the rural population's quality of life and Indian farmer's ability to transfer produce to market post-harvest. Over 30
percent of Indian farmer's harvest spoils post-harvest because of the poor infrastructure. Many rural roads are of poor
quality, potholed, and unable to withstand the loads of heavy farm equipment. These roads are also far from all season,
good quality 2-lane or 4-lane highways, making economic resource flow slow, and logistical costs between different
parts of India one of the highest in the world. For the development of these rural roads,Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak
Yojana (or "Prime Minister Rural Roads Scheme"), was launched in December 2000 by the Indian government to
provide connectivity to unconnected rural habitations. The scheme envisions that these roads will be constructed and
maintained by the village panchayats. In some parts of India, where the government has attempted to manage it directly
as a local social spending program, this program has produced limited results and no lasting change over 10 years, in
either the quality or quantity of rural road network.[38]
In other parts of India, the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana and a sister program named Bharat Nirman (or Build
India) have privatized the rural road construction projects and deployed contractors. The effort has aimed to build allseason, single lane, paved asphalted roads that connect India's rural and remote areas. A significant portion of funding
for these projects has come from the World Bank and Asian Development Bank.[39] This has produced results, which are
presented in the table below.

Rural road network in India, trends over 10 years [37]

Kilometers
in 2001

Kilometers
as of May 2011

Kilometers
under construction in 2011

20

Total rural roads

2.7 million

Paved, not maintained rural roads

0.5 million

Unpaved rural roads

2.2 million

3.1 million

0.1 million

1.9 million

Paved, maintained rural roads

728,871

53,634

New rural roads

322,900

82,743

A rural road in Jharkhand, an eastern state of India

In a 2011 report, The Economist noted the rural road scheme and Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment
Guarantee to be India's biggest single welfare project, costing over $8 billion a year. Alone, it eats up over 3% of all
public spending in India. The report claims Jairam Ramesh, the minister in charge of the central government department
administering the program, criticises uneven, patchy implementation of the scheme. He describes wasteful construction
of items such as roads that quickly crumble away. The results, in many areas, fall short of the huge sums spent. The
funds aimed to employ local villagers through their panchayats is not changing the quality of rural roads, rather ending
up in wasteful spending and corrupt government officials pockets. The gloomiest estimates suggest two-thirds of
allocated scheme funds is being squandered. A review published by the Ministry in September 2011 found that skilled
technicians were unavailable at almost every site. There were rules banning the use of machinery or contractors, labour
is usually by shovel, resulting in patchy construction of roads, drains, ponds, dams and other assets that are of very
poor quality. The government scheme has failed to improve India's awful rural infrastructure. These rural roads get
washed away each monsoon, only to be rebuilt, badly, the following year.[40]

Issues[edit]

A rural road joing two Tehsils in Vidarbha, Maharashtra

21

A road connecting towns in Chhattisgarh

The main roads in India are under huge pressure and in great need of modernisation in order to handle the increased
requirements of the Indian economy. In addition to maintenance, the expansion of the network and widening of existing
roads is becoming increasingly important. This would then enable the roads to handle increased traffic, and also allow
for a corresponding increase in the average movement speed on India's roads.
In 2009, lane capacity was low and only about 16% of India's roads were four lanes or above. [11] A 2007 study found that
the congestion on India's highways reduced average truck and bus speeds to 3040 km/h (1925 mph); road
maintenance was under-funded, and some 40 percent of villages in India lacked access to all-weather roads. [3] While the
PMGSY rural road program mentioned above has, by 2011, connected 90 percent of villages identified in 2005 as
without access,[37] many remote villages in India were still without access to a single lane, paved road as of May 2011.
The World Health Organization compilation of road network safety data for major economies found India to have the
highest number of road fatalities in the World, with 105,000 road-accident caused deaths in 2006. [41] However, adjusted
for India's larger population, the accident and fatalities rates are similar to major economies. Over 20042007, India had
a road fatality rate of 132 deaths per million citizens, compared to 131 deaths per million citizens in the United States.
Non-fatal accident rates reported on Indian roads was 429 accidents per million citizens, compared to 412 accidents per
million citizens in China, and 1101 accidents per million citizens in the United States. The report notes that not all
accidents in India and China are reported and recorded.
The low road densities per 1000 people has created significant congestion and slow speeds on existing roads inside
cities. Because of the congestion, the fuel efficiency of the vehicles in India is very low. This increases the overall fuel
consumption per equivalent kilometer travelled, besides resulting in heavy pollution since the engines run very
inefficiently at such low speeds.[42] Pollutants from poor road network and resultant poor fuel efficiencies include
hydrocarbons, NOx, SOx, methane, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide all of which cause health problems, adverse
climate effects and related environmental damage.
Due to rising prices of petroleum, a non-renewable resource, some have urged the Indian government to focus instead
on improving public transport like the Indian Railways and rapid transit systems.[43] Many cities have proposed, or are
implementing metros and mass transit systems.

Efforts in India to address issues related to road network[edit]

Delhi Gurgaon Expressway in northern India, in India's effort to modernise its road network

22

A 4-lane expressway added in the state of Karnataka, India

India's recent efforts to build modern highways and improve its road network has made a significant difference in
trucking logistics. According to DHL, a global logistics company, the average time to truck shipments from New Delhi to
Bengaluru (Bangalore), a 2000+ kilometre journey, had dropped in 2008, to about five days. [44] By 2010, the average
time to complete a road trip from New Delhi to Mumbai, a 1400+ kilometer journey, had dropped to about 35 hours. In
contrast, a similar journey takes about half the time in China, and one third in European Union countries. In a 2010
report, KPMG one of the world's largest audit and advisory services company noted marked improvements in Indian
road network and logistics efficiencies in recent years.[45] The report also identified the competitive challenges faced by
India. Some findings of this report include:

The average road speed in India has increased to 3040 kilometers per hour. The worldwide average road
speed, which includes China, ranges between 6080 kilometers per hour.

Four lane road network in India has increased to 7,000 kilometers.

Average surface freight costs have dropped to US$0.07 per kilometer. Japan, in comparison, has average
surface freight costs of US$0.037 per kilometer.

The KPMG report also notes that India's road network logistics and transportation bottlenecks hinder its GDP growth by
one to two percent (US$16 billion US$32 billion). In India's 2010 per capita income basis, this is equivalent to a loss of
about 10 million new jobs every year. Poor rural roads and traffic congestion inside the cities remains a challenge in
India. The planned addition of over 12,000 kilometers of expressways in the next 10 years may help address some of
such issues. The constraints and issues with Indian road network differ from one state to another. Some states, such as
Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, have remarkably better road network than others.

Rail transport in India

Rail transport is commonly used mode of long-distance transport in India. Almost all rail
operations in India are handled by Indian Railways, a state-owned organization of the Ministry of
Railways. The rail network traverses the length and breadth of the country, covering in 2011 a
total length of 64,460 kilometres (40,050 mi). It is the fourth largest railway network in the
world, transporting 8.397 billion passengers and over 106 million tonnes of freight annually, as
of 2014. Its operations cover twenty eight states and three union territories and also provides
limited service to Nepal, Bangladesh and Pakistan.
[2]:3

[4]

[1]

Railways were introduced to India in 1853 from Mumbai to Thane, and by the time of India's
independence in 1947 they had grown to forty-two rail systems. In 1951 the systems
were nationalised as one unitIndian Railwaysto form one of the largest networks in the
world. The broad gauge is the majority and original standard gauge in India; more recent
networks of metre and narrow gauge are being replaced by broad gauge under Project
Unigauge. The steam locomotives have been replaced over the years with diesel and electric
locomotives.
[5]

23

India has rail links with Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh and plans to install a rail system in
southern Bhutan. Colour signal lights are used as signals, but in some remote areas of operation,
older semaphores and disc-based signalling are still in use. Accommodation classes range from
general to first class with air conditioning and trains are classified according to speed and area of
operation. The ticketing system has been computerised to a large extent, and there are reserved
as well as unreserved categories of tickets.

History

1832-1900[edit]
A plan for a rail system in India was first put forward in 1832. The first rail line of the Indian subcontinent came up near Chintadripet Bridge (presently in Chennai) in Madras Presidency in
1836 as an experimental line. In 1837, a 3.5-mile (5.6 km) long rail line was established
between Red Hills and stone quarries near St. Thomas Mount. In 1844, the Governor-General
of India Lord Hardinge allowed private entrepreneurs to set up a rail system in India. The East
India Company (and later the British Government) encouraged new railway companies backed
by private investors under a scheme that would provide land and guarantee an annual return of
up to five percent during the initial years of operation. The companies were to build and operate
the lines under a 99-year lease, with the government having the option to buy them earlier.
[6][7]

[8]

[9]

Two new railway companies, Great Indian Peninsular Railway (GIPR) and East Indian
Railway (EIR), were created in 185354 to construct and operate two 'experimental' lines near
Mumbai and Kolkata respectively. The first train in India had become operational on 22
December 1851 for localised hauling of canal construction material in Roorkee. A year and a
half later, on 16 April 1853, the first passenger train service was inaugurated between Bori
Bunder in Mumbai and Thane. Covering a distance of 34 kilometres (21 mi), it was hauled by
[9]

[10]

24

three locomotives, Sahib, Sindh, and Sultan. This was soon followed by opening of the first
passenger railway line in North India between Allahabad and Kanpur on 3 March 1859.
[11]

1900-1947[edit]
At the beginning of the twentieth century India had a multitude of rail services with diverse
ownership and management, operating on broad, metre and narrow gauge networks. In 1900
the government took over the GIPR network, while the company continued to manage it. With the
arrival of the First World War, the railways were used to transport troops and foodgrains to the
port city of Mumbai and Karachi en route to UK, Mesopotamia, East Africa etc. By the end of the
First World War, the railways had suffered immensely and were in a poor state. In 1923, both
GIPR and EIR were nationalised with the state assuming both ownership and management
control.
[14]

[15]

[14]

The Second World War severely crippled the railways as rolling stock was diverted to the Middle
East, and the railway workshops were converted into munitions workshops.
[16]

1947 onwards
After independence in 1947, forty-two separate railway systems, including thirty-two lines owned
by the former Indian princely states, were amalgamated to form a single unit named the Indian
Railways. The existing rail networks were abandoned in favour of zones in 1951 and a total of six
zones came into being in 1952.
[14]

As the economy of India improved, almost all railway production units were 'indigenised'
(produced in India). By 1985, steam locomotives were phased out in favour of diesel and electric
locomotives. The entire railway reservation system was streamlined with computerisation
between 1987 and 1995.
In 2003, the Indian Railways celebrated 150 years of its existence. Various zones of the railways
celebrated the event by running heritage trains on routes similar to the ones on which the first
trains in the zones ran. The Ministry of Railways commemorated the event by launching a special
logo celebrating the completion of 150 years of service.
Also launched was a new mascot for
the 150th year celebrations, named "Bholu the guard elephant".
[17][18]

[19]

On 16 April 2013, Google celebrated 160 years since the first passenger train journey in India
with "Google doodles".
[20][21]

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Nomenclature

The Secunderabad Railway Stationis one of the major stations in India

Trains are sorted into various categories that dictate the number of stops along their route, the
priority they enjoy on the network, and the fare structure. Each express train is identified by a
five-digit number, the first digit as 1 and 2 for long-distance Express trains. If the first digit is 0,
then the train is a Special. The first digit as 5 denotes a passenger train. The second digit
indicates the zone that operates the train, the third the division within the zone that controls the
train and is responsible for its regular maintenance and cleanliness, and the last two digits are
the train's serial number. The system was changed from four digits from 20 December 2010,
to accommodate an increasing number of trains.
[28]

[29]

For super-fast trains, the second digit is always 2 (the first remains 1 or 2), the third digit is the
zone, the fourth is the division and only the last digit is the serial number within the division.
Trains travelling in opposite directions along the same route are usually labelled with consecutive
numbers. However, there is considerable variation in train numbers and some zones, such
as Central Railway, has a less systematic method for numbering trains. Most express trains
also have a unique name that is usually exotic and taken from landmarks, famous people, rivers
and so on.
[28]

[28]

[28]

[30][31]

Urban rail

Rapid Transit
Delhi Metro, operational since 2002

26

Bangalore Metro

The first modern rapid transit in India was the Kolkata Metro, with operations starting in
1984. Chennai MRTS acts as second urban mass transit system since 1997 and differs from
country's other MRTS suburban systems. The Delhi Metro in the capital city of New Delhi is third
conventional metro beginning operations in 2002.The Namma Metro in Bangalore is India's
fourth operational rapid transit beginning operations in 2011. Currently, rapid transit systems
have been deployed in these cities and more are under construction or in planning in several
major cities of India.

Monorail[edit]
The Mumbai Monorail is the first monorail system in India
after the Patiala State Monorail
Trainways closed in 1927. The Wadala-Chembur section opened in February 2014, and the rail
company plans to extend service to Sant Gadge Maharaj Chowk in South Mumbai. Another
monorail system under construction is the Thiruvananthapuram Monorail. Monorail systems have
been planned in Chennai, Bangalore, Delhi, Indore, Kanpur, Kolkata, Kozhikode, Navi
Mumbai, Patna, Pune and Aizawl.
[33][34]

[34]

Tram and Light rail

A tram in Kolkata. The Kolkata tramis the only remaining tram network in India

The advent of the British had seen trams introduced in many cities in India. Cities that introduced
tram systems in India included Kolkata, Mumbai, Delhi, Patna, Kanpur, Nasik and Chennai.
While the other cities had discontinued tram services between 1930 and 1960, Kolkata has
remained the only city in India with an operating tram network.
Two modern Light rail systems have been proposed in Delhi and Kolkata.

27

Suburban rail
Many cities have their own dedicated suburban networks to cater to commuters. Currently,
suburban networks operate
in Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Delhi, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Pune, Lucknow-Kanpur and Bang
alore.
Mumbai's suburban trains handle 6.3 million commuters daily.

[35]

28