Sem 1 Chap 4 B
Sem 1 Chap 4 B
1.0 Introduction
Indian Railways (IR) are the principal mode of transport in the country and is rightly called its life
line. In over 165 years of its existence, it has successfully adapted to the changing needs of travel
and transport in the country. From a system which essentially served the colonial interest of the
British regime since the first train ran from Bombay to Thane on 16th April, 1853, Indian Railways
have emerged today as a major vehicle of socio-economic development. It has made great advances
in Railways Technology to enable the system to meet the requirements of moving large volume of
passenger and freight traffic.
Indian railways with a network of over 66 thousand route Kms. fulfill the country’s transport
need particularly in respect of long distance passenger and goods traffic and suburban traffic
around India’s major cities. Indian Railways carry over1.1 million tonne of originating goods
and about 14 million passengers every day, and thus generally meet the aspirations of this
country as far as its travel requirements are concerned.
In the first few years after Independence, Railway planners concentrated essentially on
filling missing railway links. It was only with the inception of Five Year Plans from 1951
onwards that planned development of Railway system commenced. In 69 years since
Independence though the route kilo metres had increased only by 30%, there had been
tremendous increase in the passenger and goods traffic; The growth of passenger traffic since
Independence is about 400% and that of revenue earning freight traffic is about 675%. This
has been possible due to Railways improving the productivity of its assets by modernising the
system and technological upgradation in various fields of railway engineering. Indian Railways
have attempted modernisation and upgradation of system so as to generate maximum capacity
with minimum investment and to provide Railway transport at least possible cost to the rail
users.
2.0 Planning Startegy
Indian Railways have drawn a Corporate Plan for 15 year period from 1985 to 2000 providing
a basic framework of planning. The objective of the plan and strategies adopted have already
been discussed in lesson 1.
The development Plans of the Indian Railway have been drawn up within the framework of
the National five Year plans of the country. Plan outlay of the Indian Railways as well as those
for the Transport sector as a whole are in the Table below :
156
Section - 4
Funds Allocation for various five year plans:
Item Upto Fifth Sixth Seventh Eighth Ninth Tenth Eleventh
Fourth
Plan Plan Plan Plan Plan Plan Plan Plan
1950-74 1974-78 1980-85 1985-90 1992-97 1997-2002 2002-2007 2007-2012
Railways 3.200 1,523 6,555 16,549 27.202 45,413 60,600 2332.89
Transport 6.039 4.078 13.841 29.548 53.966 121.324 147,448 448.97
Sector
Total Plan 30.988 28,991 109,292 218,729 424,100 859,200 893,183 418.531
Outlay
Transport 19.5 14.1 12.7 13.5 12.4 14.1 17.0 10.9
As %age
of total
Plan
Railways as 10.3 5.3 6.0 7.6 6.3 5.3 6.8 5.6
%age of
total Plan
* Excludes inter-plan period 1966-69
The 12th five year plan envisages a large investments to achieve its objectives. The estimated
resources required are Rs5,19,221 crore including GBS of Rs 1,94,221 crore, IEBR of Rs2,25,000
crore and private sector investment of Rs1,00,000 crore.
3.0 Track Or Permanent Way
Track is the single costliest asset consisting of about 40% of the total capital investment of the
Indian Railways. It is also the basic structure which provides the path for the wheels to move on
and therefore, carries the main brunt of the moving loads.
Track or Permanent Way is the rail-road on which trains run. It basically consists of two parallel
rails having a specified distance in between and fastened to sleepers, which are embedded in a layer
of ballast of specified thickness spread over the formation. The rails are joined with each other by
fish plates and bolts and these are fastened to the sleepers by various fittings like keys and spikes
etc. The sleepers are spaced at a specified distance and are held in position by embedding these in
ballast.
Permanent way track, therefore, consists of (i) rails, (ii) sleepers, (iii) fittings and fastenings, (iv)
ballast and (v) formation.
3.1 Track Specification on Indian Railways
Most of the railway lines on Indian Railways are single lines having formation generally 6.10
metres (20 feet) wide for broad gauge and 4.8 metres (16 feet) wide for metre gauge. The formation
157
Section - 4
is generally stable except in areas where clayey soil or other types of shrinkable soils are met with.
Most of the track is straight except for 16% of the track on B.G. and M.G. and 20% of track on N.G.
which is on curves. The maximum degree of curvature permissible on the Broad Gauge is 10 deg on
the metre gauge is 16degand on the Narrow Gauge is 40 deg.
The ballast used mostly is broken stone ballast but in some areas sand, mooram and coal ashes
have also been used. About 20 cm to 35 cm (8" to 14") cushion of ballast is normally given below
the bottom of sleepers to transfer the load evenly and to give necessary resilience to track.
Sleepers used are Prestressed Concrete sleepers laid at 1660 nos. per km or 1540 nos per km.
The rails standardized for Indian Railways are 60 kg and 52 kg (90 UTS) for B.G. and 90R,
75 R and 60R for M.G. The rails are normally rolled in 65metres length and are welded together to
form longer rails and are being laid progressively in the track in order to reduce maintenance costs
and reduce the noise level, providing more comfortable rail travel. Flash butt welding is done at
centralized plants and Thermit welding is done in situ only when required. Elastic fastings consisting
of a rubber pad, MS liner and Elastic Rail Clip is used on Indian Railways.
The turnouts used are normally 1 in 8½ for goods trains and 1 in 12 as wells as in 1 in 16 for
passenger trains;. Curved switches and thick web tongue rails are being extensively used.
The Indian Railways as such are progressing fast in modernisastion of its permanent way in
order to cope up with the challenge of heavier loads and faster traffic.
3.2 Length of the track on Indian Railways
The total route kilometres as on 31.3.2016 was 66,687 Kms. Out of this, 31.85% is double/
multiple track.
Length of Track on IR over various periods
Total Route Kilometres
Year BG MG NG Total
1980-81 31,827 25,167 4,246 61,240
1990-91 31,880 23,419 4,068 62,367
2000-01 44,776 14,987 3,265 63,028
2010-11 55,188 6,809 2,463 64,460
2014-15 58,825 4,908 2,297 66,030
2015 60,510 3,880 2,297 66,687
158
Section - 4
Double / Multiple tracks over the same period is as following
Year Route Kms. % of Total
Route kms
1980-81 13,040 21.30%
1990-91 14.331 23.00%
2000-01 16,010 25.40%
2010-11 19,223 29.82%
2014-15 20,633 31.25%
2015-16 21,237 31.85%
The length of electrified route Kms. on IR for some selected years is
3.3 State-wise route km :
As on 31.3.2016, the state-wise length of railway lines in terms of Route Kilometers’ is as under
159
Section - 4
MAHARASHTRA 5745.48
MANIPUR 1.35
MEGHALAYA 8.76
MIZORAM 1.5
NAGALAND 11.13
ODISHA 2572.16
PUNJAB 2269.27
RAJASTHAN 5893.1
SIKKIM 0
TAMIL NADU 4027.08
TELANGANA 1736.67
TRIPURA 192.54
UTTARAKHAND 339.8
UTTAR PRADESH 9077.45
WEST BENGAL 4135.19
Union Territories
Name Of Union Territory Route Kilometres
CHANDIGARH 15.7
PUDUCHERRY 22.16
ANDMAN & NICOBAR 0
TOTAL:ALL INDIA 66687.46
Note : Remaining State/Union Territories have no railway line.
3.4 Railway Bridges
3.4 Railway Bridges
IR has 1,40,919 bridges, out of which 664 are important, 11,653 are major and 1,28,602 are minor
bridges. In 2015-16, 705 bridges were strengthened/rehabilitated/rebuilt. ‘Major Bridges with a
waterway of more than 18 m or a clear opening of 12 m in any one span.
3.5 Level crossings :
Level crossings are meant to facilitate the smooth running of traffic in regulated manner governed
by specific rules & conditions. Status of level crossings on IR as on 01.04.2016 is as under:
160
Section - 4
Total number of level crossing : 28,607
Number of manned level crossings : 19,267 (67%)
Number of unmanned level crossings : 9,340 (33%)
IR has decided to progressively eliminate the level crossing for the safety of Road - users and
train passengers. During the year 2015-16, 1,253 unmanned level crossings and 390 manned level
crossings have been eliminated.
3.6 Land management :
As on 31.03.2016 IR owns about 4.73 lakh hectares of land. About 90% of this land is under
Railways’ operational and allied usages such as laying of new lines, doubling, gauge conversions,
track, stations, workshops, staff colonies, etc. The break-up of the land is as under:-
Creation of various infrastructure facilities for development of future rail network largely
depends on the availability of land. Therefore, preservation and meaningful interim use of
railway land is the main objective of IR’s land-use policy.
In pursuance of Railways’ commitment towards environmental improvement through
afforestation and also with a view to safeguard the precious railway land against
unauthorized occupation, tree plantation is being undertaken on vacant railway land
with active participation of railway employees.
Besides, railway land is also licensed to railway employees belonging to Group ‘C’ and
‘D’ category under ‘Grow More Food’ scheme, for growing vegetables, crops etc.
Licensing of railway land is permitted for the purposes directly connected with railway
working. Plots of railway land at stations, goods sheds and sidings are licensed to other
parties for stacking/storing of goods either received or to be dispatched by rail.
Through an amendment to Railways Act, 1989, Rail Land Development Authority
161
Section - 4
(RLDA), under the Ministry of Railways has been constituted on 1st November, 2006 to
undertake all tasks related to commercial development on railway land/air-space under
the control of Ministry of Railways. Necessary action for development of these sites is
under process by RLDA. Besides commercial development of vacant Railway land.
4.0 locomotives
Indian Railways owns a total fleet of 8592 locomotives as on 31-3-2009 including 43 Steam
locomotive, 4963 Diesel-locomotives and 3586 Electric locomotives. Steam loco ownership
reached a peak in 1963-64 with 10,810 units. It then declined gradually as production of steam
locos was stopped in 1971. Diesel and electric locomotives which are more than twice as
powerful as steam locos are progressively replacing steam locos.
Apart from replacing steam locomotives by diesel and electric locomotives in areas of
heavy traffic density, a large number of diesel shunting engines are also being introduced in
replacement of steam shunting locomotives. This has enabled the Indian Railways to improve
operation efficiency in both passenger and freight operations.
5.0 Traction
The traction mix has significantly changed in the last two decades and the railways have been
progressively switching over to diesel and electric traction. Steam locomotion, though, it involves the
least initial costs, is technologically inferior to diesel and electric traction in many respects. On the
other hand, diesel and electric locomotives have much superior performance capabilities, electric
locomotives being more powerful of the two. Electric traction is also the most capital intensive and
therefore requires a certain minimum level of traffic density for its economic use.
The table below shows changes in the distribution of locomotives for traction.
Number Of Locomotives
Broad Gauge Metre Gauge Total
(inclusing NG)
Year Steam Diesel Elec. Steam Diesel Elec. Steam Diesel Elec.
1980-81 4,361 1,866 1,016 2,763 470 20 7,469 2,403 1,036
1990-91 1,295 2,893 1,723 1,482 731 20 2,915 3,759 1,743
2000-01 - 3,881 2,791 33 657 19 54 4,702 2,810
2010-11 - 4,688 4,033 30 310 - 43 5,137 4,033
2014-15 - 5,375 5,016 30 203 - 43 5,716* 5,016*
2015-16 - 5,585 5,214 26 172 - 39 5,869 5,214
162
Section - 4
The share of traffic in terms of Train Kms. and GTKMs for passenger and freight
services hauled is shown in Table 1.8
Indian Railways run a large number of fast Rajdhani, Shatabadi, GaribRath, Duranto Express
trains connecting various metropolitan towns and state capitals. The Rajdhani express trains
run between New Delhi & Howrah, New Delhi & Mumbai, H. Nizamuddin& Bangalore,
H.Nizamuddin& Trivandrum, New Delhi & Bhubaneshwar, New Delhi & Guwahati, New
Delhi-Chennai and between New Delhi & Jammu Tawi etc.
The fast and comfortable intercity Shatabadi express trains operate between New Delhi &
Bhopal, New Delhi & Lucknow, New Delhi & Kalka, Chennai & Mysore, Mumbai &
Ahmedabad, New Delhi & Chandigarh, New Delhi & Amritsar, New Delhi & Ajmer, New
Delhi & Dehradun, Howrah &Bokaro Steel City, Howrah & Rourkela, Chennai & Coimbatore,
Chennai and Mysore and between Pune & Mumbai etc. The GaribRath Expresses have more
or less the same stoppages as the Shatabadi Expresses but have more of lower classes and the
fare is less than that of Shatabadi Expresses. These trains have been introduced to cater to the
persons who cannot afford to travel in Shatabadi Express. The Duranto Express trains are long
distance trains like Rajdhani Expresses and are unique in the way that these have no scheduled
stoppage between the originating station and the terminal station. These trains take considerably
less time than even the Rajdhani Express trains.
These trains run at fast speed between 105 kmph to 150 kmph and are fully air conditioned.
Recently IR has started Gatiman Express from New Delhi to Agra which runs at maximum
speed of 160 kmph.
163
Section - 4
6.0 Electrification And Electric Traction
Electric traction is a pollution free and energy efficient mode of transportation and offers an
excellent alternative to fossil fuels as a source of energy.
Electric traction on 1500 volts D.C. was first introduced in 1925 on a small section of the Bombay
area and till 1957 it was confined to less than 466 kilometres, comprising mainly the suburban
sections of Bombay and Madras. Electrification on the main line sections was, however, taken up
toward the end of the second Five Year Plan on 25 KV single phase AC system.
The electrification of Howrah-Burdwan suburban section of Calcutta on Eastern Railway was
taken up during the First Five Year Plan (1951-56) and was completed in 1958. Thereafter,
Electrification on Indian Railways has continued in a planned manner on the trunk routes
connecting the four metropolitan cities of Kolkata, Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai and other high
density routes.
As on 31.03.2016, Electrified route Kms. on Indian Railways constitute about 35.32% of
total route Kms. Out of total 66,687 km of route, electrified route KMs is 23,555 kms.
The length of electrified route Kms. on IR for some selected years is: \
164
Section - 4
start with the use of diesel locomotives on the newly laid M.G. line to Gandhidham in 1955-56.
Diesel locomotion then progressed rapidly after the introduction of B.G. main line locomotives on
the heavy density sections of the Eastern region in 1958-59 to ensure speedy and adequate
transportation of raw materials to Steel Plants and finished products there from. Diesel traction has
subsequently been extended to other high density routes and routes situated away from coalfields.
Today,diesel electric traction is significant in the motive power scene of the Indian Railways. Important
allied services such as, shunting, branch line feeder service, slower sectional trains are to some
extent still operated by diesel locomotives. But those will have to be gradually taken over by diesel
locomotives on non-electrified routes as new designs for diesel locomotives suitable for branch line
services get evolved. Steam traction has been totally phased out except on some tourist trains and
hill/NG. Railways.
The number of locomotives on IR over a period of time is shown in graph below:
165
Section - 4
166
Section - 4
Average Distance Travelled Per Passenger (Kms.)
The number of passenger trains run daily compared to previous year is as below:
Ticketless Travel:
During 2015-16, 24.39 lakh checks were conducted against ticketless/irregular travel (including
167
Section - 4
carriage of unbooked luggage). About 253.37 lakh cases were detected and ` 921.76 crore realized
on this account.
Passenger Amenities:
The allocation under the Plan Head “Passenger Amenities” in 2015-16 was Rs1,752.50 crore
(Budget Estimate) and Rs1,211.84 crore (Revised Estimate).
During the year 2015-16, 1,252 stations have far been identified for development under the
Adarsh Stations Scheme, out of which 988 stations have already been developed.
During the year, 693 stations were provided with water coolers, 468 stations were electrified
and 15 passenger lifts and 31 escalators were provided at 11 and 20 stations, respectively.
10.0 Freight Traffic
Revenue earning freight traffic handled during 2015-16 was 1101.51 million tonnes. NTKMs
earned during the year were 654 billion. Total loading and freight output, inclusive of non-
revenue traffic, were 1108.62 million tonnes and 656 billion NTKMs respectively. Commodity-
wise loading of revenue earning traffic was as follows:
168
Section - 4
The following tables show the growth of freight traffic over the years:
169
Section - 4
11.0 Operating Efficiency Indices of Indian Railways
Operating efficiency indices of Indian Railways are as following
Operating Revenue and Expenditure (` in cr)
Item 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16
Gross revenue receipts (Rs) 1,43,213.87 1,61,017.25 1,68,379.60
Working expenses incl. depreciation, etc. 1,31,464.80 1,44,178.76 1,49,151.13
and miscellaneous expenses (Rs)
Net revenue receipts (Rs) 11,749.07 16,838.49 19,228.48
Percentage of net revenue receipts to 5.63 6.95 7.00
the Capital-at-charge
Operating ratio (per cent) 93.6 91.3 90.5
Dividend to General Revenues 8,008.67 9,173.55 8,722.51
andpayment to States in lieu of tax on
passenger fares
Excess (+) / Shortfall (-) (+)3,740.4 (+)7,664.94 (+)10,505.97
171
Section - 4
172
Section - 4
173
Section - 4
(i) Introduction of Rajdhani & Shatabadi trains:Rajdhani express trains have been
introduced since 1969 at upto 130 kmph breaking the decades old barrier of 100
kmph. A number of Shatabadi trains and Inter city express trains have been introduced
to connect metropolitan towns and state capitals. This has provided much needed
relief to passengers
(ii) Kolkata Metro Railways: Underground Metro Railway has been built & commissioned
in Kolkata. This has brought Indian Railways on the map of world Railways with regard
to metro trains. This has provided considerable relief to commuters in densely populated
city of Kolkata.
(iii) Konkan-Railway: 760 Km B.G. Railway line of the Konkan Railways were built from
Roha to Mangalore. The construction of this line has been a big technical achievement.
This section has 169 major bridges, 1630 minor bridges & 88 tunnels with longest tunnel
being 6.5 Kms.
This line has substantially reduced journey time between Mumbai –Mangalore, Mumbai-
Cochin &Mumbai-Goa. This line is accelerating Socio-economic development of the Konkan
region.
(iv) Electrification of Railways : About 35.32% of total route Kms (23,555 Kms) has been
electrified. This has considerably increased the output of the railways system.
(v) Uni Gauge project : Adoption of one uniform gauge has been undertaken in big way
to develop alternative routes, to connect important places with B.G. net work, to develop
backward regions and to avoid the problem of transhipment. During VIII plan, about
6897 kms of M.G.& N.G. track had been converted in B.G. and in IX plan, another
1892 kms. have been converted and work is in progress on 8074 km.
The unification of gauge will be highly beneficial to railways, the railway administration
& the country at large. It will also help in socio-economical development of backward
regions.
(vi) Computerised reservation facility: The computerized railways reservation facility
has been provided in last few years at a large number of places (including at stations)
on Indian Railways. On 31-3-2016 this facility is available at about 4000 terminals covering
about 100 % of Total work load. The computerized reservation facility has been a land
mark in passenger amenity works and has been greatly appreciated by rail users.
(vii) Technology upgradation: Indian Railways have updated the technology in various fields
of railways working like manufacture of Electric & Diesel Locos, manufacture of Coaches
& wagons, signalling& telecommunication techniques & in various fields of civil Engineering.
As far as civil engineering in concerned, some of the major trust areas are introduction of
long welded rails, manufacture of concrete sleepers, mechanized track maintenance &
use of sophisticated track recording cars.
(viii) Development of indigenous capacity for rolling stock manufacture.
174
Section - 4
(ix) Construction of bridges, which are Engineering marvels across major river like the Ganges,
Godavari, and Brahamputra.
(x) Linking North-Eastern region with the rest of the country.
(xi) The upgradation of technology has helped considerably in improving the output of Indian
Railways.
(xii) Running of Gatiman (150 kmph) and Tejas (Super Luxury) trains. Running of special trains
as per peak traffic.
(xiii) Development of 400 Railways station as World Class on PPP (Public Private Partnership)
model.
Key statistics of Indian Railway
Some of the important key statistics of Indian Railways are given below as on 31.3-2001
Key Statistics of Indian Railway
Item Quantity in 2015-16
1. Total Track Kilometres : 66,687
2. Route Kilometres : 92,081
3. Electrified Route Kms. : 23,555
4. Locomotives
Diesel : 5,869
Electric : 5,214
Steam : 39
Total : 11,122
5. Wagons (Units) : 2,51,256
6. Passenger Coaches : 53,101
7. No. of Stations : 7,216
8. No. of Staff : 13.31 lacs
9. No. of Trains : 13313 trains daily including EMU and Passenger/Mail
Express Trains
10. Traffic carried : 1108.62 million tones of freight traffic and
(originating) 8107 million passengers in the year.
11. Revenue earned : Revenues : Rs. 1,68,379.60 crores
Next excess :Rs19,228.48crores.
175
Section - 4
BIBILIGRAPHY
1. Indian Railways year book – 2015-16.
2. Annual statistical statements of Indian Railways.
3. Annual Reports & Accounts of India Railways.
4. 100 years History of Indian Railways.
176