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| Type | Commercial Circular |
|---|---|
| Topic | freight |
| Currency | Currency not verified |
over 67,956 kms, with 13,169 passenger trains and 8,479 freight trains, plying 23 million
2021 The Evolution of Indian Railways 2 Table of Contents 1. Evolution of Indian Railways…………………………………. 2. Market size of Rail Industry……………………………………….. 3. Sectoral Outlook……………………………………………………….. 4. Challenges faced by Indian Railway……………………………………. 5. Strategies adopted by Indian Railways…………………………………… 6. Role of Railways in covid-19……………………………………. 7. Modernisation of Railways………………………………………………… 8. Export scenario …………………………………….. 9. Make in India………………………………………….. 10. Investment scenario in Indian Railway………………………………… 11. Future outlook………………………………………….. 3 Journey of Indian Railway 4 Evolution of Indian Railways The Railways’ rate of growth was very high during the British Raj. In less than 20 years after the steam engine came to India in 1853, all its major metropolitan centres – including Delhi, Bombay, Calcutta and Madras – were linked by an extensive railway network. The country’s hill railways were laid in the next 50 years. Less than a century after the railways chugged into India, as many as 54,000 kilometers of tracks were added to India’s network at the annual rate of 600 km. However, in the 69 years since the country’s Independence, successive governments managed to lay only around 10,000 km of new tracks – at the approximate rate of 160 km a year. While India’s erstwhile British rulers had ensured that all the five hill railways in the country became operational by 1930, Independent India has been struggling to complete construction work on the Kashmir rail link for the last 69 years. Journey of Indian Railway system 1853-1869: Launching passenger rail services Although rail services in India were initially proposed in the 1830s, historians cite 16 April 1853 as the kick starter for India’s passenger rail revolution. On this date, the country’s first passenger train set off on a 34km journey between Bombay’s Bori Bunder station and Thane. It consisted of 14 cars being hauled by three steam locomotives, and carried 400 passengers. 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. 5 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. 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. 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. 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 n
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