General Studies - RAILWAYS IN INDIA

RAILWAYS IN INDIA

Overview

• The railway network in India is the fourth largest in the world
  
• India’s railway network transports over 6 billion passengers and 350 million tonnes of freight annually
• Railways in India traverse the length and breadth of the country, with about 7000 stations and total route length of over 63,000 km. About 28% of the route length has been electrified

History of railways in India

Extent of the railway network in India in 1909

• The first railway line in the Indian subcontinent was established in Madras in 1836. The first line was established near Chintadripet Bridge on an experimental basis. In 1837, a 3.5 mile line was commissioned between Red Hills and the stone quarries at St Thomas Mount
• The regular first train in India was operationalised in 1851 for localised hauling of canal construction material in Roorkee
  
• Two railways companies – the Great Indian Peninsular Railway (GIPR) and the East Indian Railway (EIR) were created in 1853 to construct and operate experimental railway lines near Bombay and Calcutta respectively
• The first passenger train service in India was inaugurated between Bombay (Bori Bundar) and Thane in 1853
  
• In 1923, both the GIPR and the EIR were nationalised
• Upon Independence in 1947, forty two separate railway systems in India were amalgamated into a single unit christened the Indian Railways. The Indian Railways thus became one of the largest railway networks in the world
• Railway zones were established in 1951

The Indian Railways

• The Indian Railways is the state-owned railway company of India, which owns and operates most of India’s rail transport
• The Indian Railways was formed in 1947 by the amalgamation of 42 disparate railway networks
• The Indian Railways functions under the Ministry of Railways
• The Indian Railways is one of the world’s largest commercial employers with over 1.4 million employees
  
• The Indian Railways operates both long distance and suburban rail services

Railway zones

• The Indian Railways is divided into 16 zones, which are further subdivided into divisions
• The Kolkata Metro, although owned and operated by the Indian Railways, is part of any zone
• Each of the 16 zones is headed by a General Manager. Divisions are headed by Divisional Railway Managers
• The oldest railway zone is the Southern Railways, established in Apr 1951
  

Technical details of railways in India

Comparison of the different railway gauges used in India. The Standard Gauge, which is used internationally, is not used in India

• The Indian Railways uses four gauges
  • Indian Broad Gauge: 1676 mm (5ft 6in). This is the most widely used gauge in India. It is broader than the international Standard Gauge (1435 mm i.e. 4ft 8.5in)
    
  • Meter Gauge: 1000 mm (3ft 3.5in)
  • Narrow Gauge: 762 mm (2ft 6in)
  • Narrow Gauge: 610 mm (2ft)
• Project Unigauge was launched in 1980 to convert all portions of track to broad gauge
• Narrow gauge is presently used on Kalka-Simla Railway, Nilgiri Mountain Railway and the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway
  
• Almost all electrified sections of track use 25,000 V AC traction through overhead catenaries
  
• Exceptions to this include
  • Mumbai section, which uses 1500 V DC traction
  • Kolkata Metro which uses 750 V DC, delivered via third rail

Suburban railways

• Suburban railways are currently operational in Mumbai, Kolkata, New Delhi, Chennai, Hyderabad, Pune and Lucknow-Kanpur
• The New Delhi Metro, Kolkata Metro and Chennai MRTS have their own dedicated track
• Suburban trains handling passenger traffic usually use Electric Multiple Units (EMU)
• The oldest underground railway network in India is the Kolkata Metro, commissioned in 1984. The second underground network, the Delhi Metro, started operations in 2002

Special railways in India

• There are two UNESCO World Heritage Sites on the Indian Railways
  
  • Chatrapathi Shivaji Terminus (Victoria Terminus), Mumbai
  • Mountain railways of India
• The Mountain Railways of India consists of three separate railway systems i.e. the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, Nilgiri Mountain Railway and the Kalka-Simla Railway
• Darjeeling Himalayan Railway
  
  • It is a 2ft narrow gauge railway
  • Operates between Siliguri and Darjeeling in West Bengal
  • Built 1889-1891. Added to UNESCO World Heritage List 1999
• Nilgiri Mountain Railway

  

  The rack and pinion system on the Nilgiri Mountain Railway
  • Uses a 3ft 3 3/8 in metre gauge
  • Connects Mettupalayam with Ooty in Tamil Nadu
  • Only railway in India to use rack-and-pinion system
    
  • Has the highest railway gradient in India (average of 4%, at places as high as 8%)
    
  • Added to UNESCO World Heritage List in 2005
    
• Kalka-Simla Railway
  
  • It is a 2ft 6in narrow gauge railway
  • Operates between Kalka in Haryana and Shimla in Himachal Pradesh
  • Added to UNESCO World Heritage List 2008
• Konkan Railway
  • The Konkan Railway runs along the Konkan coast of India, between Mangalore in Karnataka and Mumbai in Maharashtra. It was opened in 1998
  • The Konkan Railway introduced India’s first Roll on Roll off (RORO) freight service in 1999, which allows trucks to be transported on flatbed trailers
• Kashmir Railway
  
  • The Kashmir Railway, also known as Jammu Udhampur Srinagar Baramulla Rail Link (JUSBRL) is intended to connect to Jammu and Kashmir with the rest of the country by means of railways
  • Currently under construction, the project is expected to complete in 2017. The first phase of the project, between Jammu and Udhampur was completed in 2005
  • When completed the Kashmir Railway will connect Jammu with Baramulla, a distance of 345 km
  • The entire project has been divided in four legs or phases
    • Leg 0: Jammu-Udhampur (53 km). Completed Apr 2005
    • Leg 1: Udhampur-Katra (25 km). Expected completion 2012
    • Leg 2: Katra-Qazigund (148 km). Expected completion 2017
    • Leg 3: Qazigund-Baramulla (119 km). Completed Oct 2009
  • The route crosses major earthquake zones, and is subject to extreme temperatures and inhospitable terrain
  • The Kashmir Railway has the highest railway bridge in India: 77m over the Tawi river in the Jammu-Udhampur section.
  • When the Kashmir Railway is completed, the Chenab Bridge will be the highest railway structure in the world (359 m above river bed), making it taller than the Eiffel Tower

Notable facts about the Indian Railways

Map of the Kashmir Railway. Leg 0 (black line) and Leg 3 (red line) are currently operational. Leg 1 (blue line) and Leg 2 (green line) are under construction

• The
  Palace on Wheels is India’s first luxury train. It was launched in 1962. It travels from New Delhi to Jaipur, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, Sawai Madhopur, Chittaurgarh, Udaipur, Bharatpur and Agra
• The Fairy Queen, built in 1855, is the world’s oldest steam engine still in active use. It currently operates a special tourist service from New Delhi to Alwar in Rajasthan, to the Sariska Tiger Reserve
• The Lifeline Express, commissioned in 1991, is India’s mobile hospital train run by the Impact India Foundation, in collaboration with the Indian Railways and the Ministry of Health
• The Himsagar Express, between Kanyakumari and Jammu Tawi, has the longest run in terms of distance and time in the Indian Railways. It covers a distance of 3745 km about 75 hours
• The Bhopal Shatabdi Express is the fastest train in India, having a maximum operating speed of 150 kmph
• The Kharagpur Railways Station has the world’s longest railway platform (1072 m)

International rail links

• India has rail links with Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh
• India-Pakistan rail links
  
  • Samjhauta Express: Amritsar (Punjab, India) – Lahore (Punjab, Pakistan)
    
  • Thar Express:
    Munabao (Rajasthan, India) – Khokhrapar (Sindh, Pakistan)
• India-Bangladesh rail links
  
  • There are two freight links between India and Bangladesh. However there is no passenger rail link
    
  • Mahishasan (West Bengal, India) – Shahbazpur (Bangladesh)
  • Radhikapur (West Bengal, India) – Birol (Bangladesh)
• India-Nepal rail links
  
  • Raxaul (Bihar, India) – Sirsiya (Parsa, Nepal)
  • Jaynagar (Bihar, India) – Khajuri (Dhanusa, Nepal)

Private railways in India

• Although the Indian Railways enjoys a near monopoly on rail transport in India, a few private railways do exist
• Private railways are also owned and operated by companies for their own purposes such as harbours, ports, steel mills, mines etc
  
• Private railways in India are principally for freight and not for passenger transport
  
• The Bombay Port Trust, Madras Port Trust and Calcutta Port Trust all run their own broad gauge lines
• The Tatas operate furnicular railways (inclined railways) at Bhira and Bhivpuri Road in Maharashtra
• The Kutch Railway Company, a joint venture between the Gujarat government and private companies is in the process of building a Gandhidham-Palanpur railway line

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