Progress of Indian Railways THE 103rd anniversary of r a i lways

In Ind ia , celebrated this week, comes almost immedia te ly after the end of the f i rs t F ive Tear P lan . I t provides, therefore, an oppor tun i ty to examine the progress made by the r a i lways du r ing this period as also the plans tha t have been for­mula ted fo r expansion in the next five-year period,

Th a t the ra i lways had been sub­jected to considerable s t ra in du r ing the W a r and the immedia te post-W a r period is very w e l l k n o w n . The physical weakening of the system seen in the h i g h ra t io of overage stock and of overdue replacement or re­pair of equipment has s t i l l not been completely overcome in spite of the efforts made since 1047 and more pa r t i cu la r ly in the last five years. Nevertheless, the r a i lways have to per form a huge task in the next five years and the plans of the r a i l ­ways to meet the s i tua t ion are a l ­ready we l l -known, The second Plan presents the Ind i an Ra i lways at once w i t h a challenge and an oppor­t un i t y . The R a i l w a y Boa rd Chair­man's slogan, "We W i l l Deliver the Nation's Goods," shows that rail-waymen in the country are appro­aching their problems in the r i g h t spirit.

D u r i n g the first P lan , the Ind i an Ra i lways were concerned p r i m a r i l y w i t h rehab i l i t a t ion . At the same time, they had to provide fo r the sharply moun t ing requirements of current traffic, bo th f r e igh t and pas-singer. To accomplish th is task, the r a i lways were a l lo t t ed Rs 400 crores under the f i rs t F ive Year P lan . T h a t actual expenditure was Rs 432 crores, i nd ica t ing an over­fu l f i lment of the P lan , is a t r ibu te to the efforts made by the Ra i lways since the general picture in a l l other sectors of the nation's economy is one of v a r y i n g degrees of underfu l -l i lmen t . Pa r t i cu l a r ly g r a t i f y i n g i s the new s lant in R a i l w a y publ ic i ty on operat ional efficiency.

Rapid Progress

R o l l i n g stock alone has accounted for over Rs 240 crores, cover ing the purchase of 1,589 locomotives, 4,837 coaching vehicles and 61,773 wagons, in a i l cases b o t h for addi t ions to the stock and replacement of old stock. A l l the lines d i smant led dur­i n g the War , w h i c h the Cent ra l B o a r d o f Transpor t h a d recommend­ed for res tora t ion, have been already

reopened to traffic w i t h one excep­t ion . F ive new lines already in pro­gress at the commencement of the P lan and seven more sanctioned under the P lan have been completed, whi l e m a n y other lines s tar ted under the P lan are in progress. The found­a t ion stone of the Ganga Bridge was l a id by the President on Republic Day this year, and the provision of add i t iona l faci l i t ies a t Vishakapa tn -am Port , which is under the cont ro l of the Rai lways , is m a k i n g good progress.

I n t e r n a l product ion o f r o l l i n g stock has also progressed satisfact­o r i l y . The Ch i t t a r an j an Locomotive W o r k s produced 337 locomotives d u r i n g the period of the f i rs t Plan against, the t a rge t of 268. The I n ­tegra l Coach F a c t o r y at Pe r a m bur was inaugurated in October 1955. R a i l w a y workshops turned out 3,415 passenger coaches, the Hindus tan A i r c r a f t Fac to ry 706 coaches and manufacturers in the pr ivate sector another 230. In addi t ion, pr iva te manufacturers t u rned out near ly 41,200 goods wagons, annual ind i ­genous capacity h a v i n g been raised to 15,000 units .

Whi l e overage stock—locomotives, wagons and coaches- continue to f o r m a h i g h percentage of the to ta l , the Ra i lways increased the goads traffic carr ied by them f r o m 96.7 mi l l i on tons in 1951-52 to 115 m i l l i o n tons in 1955-56.

Second Plan The Second P l an provides for a

much larger a l loca t ion for ra i lways than did the f i r s t As reduced under the f inal d r a f t approved by the P lan­n ing Commission, Rs 1,125 crores have been made available for the ra i lways of w h i c h they have to f ind Rs 375 crores f r o m the i r own re­sources. The C h a i r m a n of the R a i l ­way Boa rd has revealed t h a t i f the ra i lways are able to f ind a larger volume of resources in te rna l ly , they w i l l be permi t ted to expand their plan accordingly,

Since the final a l locat ion of Rs 1,125 crores Is smal ler t han asked for by the R a i l w a y Board, i t m i g h t be asked w h a t the impac t of th is is l i k e l y to be on the economy dur­ing the Second P l an . Shr i G Pande, Cha i rman of the R a i l w a y Board , has stated tha t i t w i l l be possible to provide fo r an add i t iona l t r anspor t capacity of 15 per cent f o r passen­ger traffic a n d f o r 47 m i l l i o n tons

of goods, inc lud ing about 5 m i l l i o n tons car r ied over f r o m the f i r s t P lan period. " W h i l e th is increase/ ' he points out, "is expected to meet f u l l y the addi t ional traffic load of 25 m i l l i o n tons on account of coal and other r aw mater ia ls required for the expanding steel indus t ry axid i ts finished products, and a fur ther 6 m i l l i o n tons of coal and 4 m i l l i o n tons of cement, i t w i l l leave a me­agre m a r g i n fo r trade in other sec­tions of the na t iona l economy".

The inadequate a l lo tment fo r r a i l ­ways, considering the immense task they are expected to perform, has also meant tha t the r a i lway p lan does not provide for much new r a i l mi le ­age. "On ly about 850 miles of new lines are being planned fo r the pre­sent, and these are mos t ly required in connection w i t h the steel and coal indus t ry" .

The t o t a l amount of Rs. 1,125 crores is to be allocated in the f o l ­l o w i n g way. The new lines ment ion­ed above w i l l require Rs 66 crores, whi le renewal and s t rengthening of t r a ck w i l l require Rs 100 crores, and Rs 380 crores w i l l be spent on r o l l ­i n g stock. W o r k s intended to i n ­crease l ine capacity, inc lud ing doubl­ing, coveraion to broad gauge, re­model l ing of impor t an t yards etc, have been al located Rs 166 crores, whi le remodel l ing of workshops and the construct ion of new ones w i l l cost Rs 65 crores. Elect r i f ica t ion of 850 miles at an expenditure of Rs 80 crores is also planned on sections "where steam t rac t ion can no longer haul traffic sa t i s fac tor i ly" . Hous ing and other staff welfare measures w i l l cost Rs 50 crores.

Western Rai lway The Western Ra i lway , w h i c h ser­

ves an i m p o r t a n t i ndus t r i a l region of the count ry w i t h two majo r ports, has been al located Rs 100 crores for its second F ive Year P lan . Cover­i n g a route mileage of 5,614 miles, the Western R a i l w a y Includes both broad and meter gauge systems. L i k e the other r a i l w a y systems, the Western R a i l w a y had to face a considerable back log of rehab i l i t a ­t ion of equipment at the commence­ment o f the P lan . In the task o f overcoming this, the Western R a i l ­way made spectacular progress. I t s task was more complicated t h a n t h a t of mos t of the other systems because the loss of K a r a c h i as a resul t o f P a r t i t i o n th rew an add-t iona l burden o n I t The decision

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to develop K a n d l a as an add i t iona l m a j o r por t on the West Coast, wh i l e re l ieving to some extent the burden on the Bombay-Ahmedabad mainl ine , l a id the responsibi l i ty for servicing the new port w i t h t r a n ­sport on the Western Ra i lway itself. Besides, this r a i l w a y was faced w i t h the problem of ra i s ing the standards of operation on the meter-gauge section to those preva i l ing on the broad-gauge lines.

In this s i tua t ion, wi thou t much increase in its holdings of r o l l i n g stock and locomotives, the Western R a i l w a y carr ied last year 305 m i l ­l ion passengers against 258 m i l l i o n passengers in the f irst year of i ts operation. The tonnage of goods carr ied increased from a l i t t l e over 13 m i l l i o n tons to wel l over 16-½ m i l l i o n tons. Over 400 miles of meter gauge line were completely renewed, and near ly 900 miles were p a r t i a l l y renewed.

The Western Ra i lway has a large number of bridges. Of these as many as 120 bridges on the 240-mile Bombay-Baroda section alone were strengthened d u r i n g the first Plan, whi le a new high-level bridge of 1,500 feet was completed over the M a h i r iver a t Sevalia on the A n a n d -Godhra section.

To serve the new port of Kand la . the Kandla-Deesa r a i lway line of about 170 miles was completed dur­i n g the f i r s t P lan . An a l te rna t ive outlet f r o m K a n d l a is proposed to be provided th rough the R a n i w a r a -B h i l d i l ine n o r t h of Ku tch , whose construct ion has been taken in hand and is expected to be completed w i t h i n the Second Plan period. Other lines, whose construction has been commenced, are the Indore-Dewas-Uj ja in line and the Fatehpur-Shekhawate-Ohuru line.

Doub l ing of the l ine f rom Ahmeda-bad to K a l o l and conversion of a 30-rnile n a r r o w gauge line f r o m K a n d l a to Bhuj in to meter gauge have been completed. A p a r t f rom this a number of line capacity w o r k s for increasing sectional capa­c i ty have also been carried out.

Fu ture Expans ion The Western Rai lway 's Second

Plan, cut f rom Rs 149 crores to Rs 1.00 crores, proposes to cater for a 15 per cent increase in passenger traffic and a 25 per cent increase in general goods traffic, ' in addi t ion to meet ing the addi t ional requirements of industries and agr icu l tu ra l pro­jects for which a definite demand for t ranspor t can be ant ic ipated on

the basis of i n f o r m a t i o n avai lable at present.'

To cater for this traffic, the Ra t lam-Godhra-Nagda section and the intermediate section between Baroda and A n a n d w i l l be doubled, and double-line w o r k i n g w i l l be es­tabl ished f r o m Bombay to Ahmeda-bad and f rom Bombay to Nagda. In regard to new construct ion, the survey for the Loharu -P i l an i l i n k , a distance of 13.75 miles, has been completed. The survey of the Ko tah -Ch i to rga rh line (104 miles) is in hand, and i t is also proposed to ca r ry out surveys for the fo l low­ing projects: Dungarpur to R a t l a m V i a Banswara, Bhavnaga r to Tara -pore, and a broad gauge line into Saurashtra .

Add i t i ona l line capacity works , bridge rehab i l i t a t ion , t r ack renewal, workshop expansion, s igna l l ing and safety arrangements, are a l l inc lud­ed in the Second Plan. Addi t iona l locomotives, coaches and wagons, cost ing about 69 crores of rupees, are to be obtained to enable this R a i l ­w a y to cater fo r the addi t iona l traffic. In the .second Five Year Plan, an a l loca t ion of Rs 2.30 lakhs has been made for the remodel l ing of stations to increase their useful­ness for goods and passenger traffic.

The three lines between Bandra and B o r i v l i have already been ele­ctr if ied to cope w i t h the addi t ional t raff ic in the suburban section. I t is fur ther proposed to spend Rs, 32 lakhs on the provision of addi t ional facil i t ies and for b r ing ing these three lines in to use for suburban traffic also. A d d i t i o n a l electrical mul t ip le uni t stock has been ordered and is expected to be delivered dur­ing 1956-57 and 1957-58.

W i t h the provis ion of these fac i l i ­ties, it should be possible to run ad­d i t iona l t ra ins w h i c h can be i n t r o ­duced on receipt of the 25 mul t ip le electrical coaches on order. The new remodelled Churchgate s tat ion, w h i c h w i l l also provide addi t ional accommodation for the overflow of the Western R a i l w a y headquarters office, w i l l be a modern mul t i -s torey-ed structure. The suburban t r a v e l ­ler, whose number has increased f r o m 145 m i l l i o n to 173 m i l l i o n dur­ing the last two or three years may f ind consolation in the fact tha t he is not worse off than the "commuter" on the Engl i sh or Amer ican r a i l ­ways.

Central Railway

The f irst Five-Year P l an com-menced w i t h the Cen t ra l Rai lway ' s

assets bad ly in need of rehab i l i t a -t i on . Traff ic increased d u r i n g the W a r period and has continued to i n ­crease thereafter, and th i s has had to be carr ied w i t h a t tentuated a n d overage assets, by m a k i n g more i n ­tensive use of them. Considerable arrears had to be made up in t r a c k renewals, replacement of locomotives and r o l l i n g stock a n d other assets; and this claimed the major por t ion of the funds avai lable . A l t h o u g h rehab i l i t a t ion was the keynote, the needs of increasing traffic were no t overlooked. D u r i n g the f i rs t three and a ha l f years of the P lan period, addi t ional traffic faci l i t ies were provided on a somewhat l i m i t ­ed scale to cater for the increasing needs of traffic, then est imated to be of the order of 2 per cent per annum.

It was towards the end of 1955 tha t the Ra i lway Boa rd directed t+he ind iv idua l Ra i lways to prepare themselves to ca r ry 20 per cent more traffic du r ing the busy season of 1955-50. This entailed consider­able expansion in the Ra i lway ' s hand l ing capacity. A d d i t i o n a l cros­s ing and block stations had to be provided to increase line capa­ci ty , Loop lines had to be lengthen­ed and addi t ional loons provided at a number of stations. It was esti­mated that on the (Central Ra i lway 19 new crossing stations w o u l d be required and addi t ional lines w o u l d be necessary at 20 other stations. The hand l ing capacity of .10 yards inc lud ing some majo r yards, t h rough wh ich the stream of traffic passes, had to be improved. Improvemen t of t e r m i n a l facil i t ies in large goods-sheds, facilities for t ransh ipment at break-of-gauge junct ions and at re­pack ing (Joints were required to be under taken. It was also considered necessary that efforts should be made to improve locomotive usage by cu t t i ng down dras t i ca l ly a l l avod i -able delays. Detailed plans had to be chalked out to achieve a l l these objectives.

As a result of these and other steps i t is hear tening to note t h a t the number of wagons on the Cen­t r a l R a i l w a y broad gauge d u r i n g the six months f r o m September 1955 to Februa ry 1956 was ten per cent more than wha t i t was d u r i n g the corresponding period las t year.

The efficiency of operat ion on the R a i l w a y has improved enormously d u r i n g the last six months . For example, the figure of 'wagon miles per wagon day', w h i c h is a measure of the number of miles a

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wagon moves in one day on an aver­age ( inclusive of delays at t e rmin ­als, t ranshipment and other points) , improved steadily f rom 53.5 in February 1955 to 59.6 in February 1956, Likewise , the 'net ton miles per wagon day', which is a measure of the quan tum of traffic moved by a wagon each day, Improved f rom 714 in Februa ry 1955 to 808 in Feb­r u a r y 1956.

Additional Carrying Capacity The Cent ra l Ra i lway ' s second

Five-Year P lan covers the genera­t ion of addi t iona l c a r r y i n g capacity to reduce overcrowding ' i n passenger c a r r y i n g t ra ins , and fur ther to meet the tremendous g r o w t h of traffic t h a t goes h a n d in hand w i t h econo­mic development and g r o w t h of populat ion. V e r y great stress has been l a i d on the broadening of the channels of movement, p a r t i c u l a r l y where they have* been restricted, leading to w h a t are commonly called "bott lenecks ' in t ranspor t . The Cent ra l R a i l w a y plans to spend a major pa r t of the funds avai lable on w o r k s d i rec t ly con t r i bu t i ng to the increase in the c a r r y i n g capacity and potent ia l of the Ra i lway . These plans i t is claimed have been d r a w n up w i t h a great deal of precision, so as to fi t in l ike a j igsaw puzzle w i t h the other developmental plan in the count ry .

The r a i l w a y plan includes the doubl ing of over 220 miles, the ele­c t r i f i ca t ion of 190 miles where steam t r ac t i on has a lmost reached its peak, the lengthening and add i t ion of loops at over 125 stations, the pro­vision of about a hundred new block stat ions and the remodel l ing of 40 major a n d m i n o r yards . T r a c k renewals and bridge rehab i l i t a t ion w i l l be on an extensive scale, reduc­i n g the number of permanent speed res t r ic t ions , w h i c h now slow down m o v e m e n t The 187—;mile l ong K h a n d w a - H i n g o l i metre gauge r a i l l ine w i l l also be completed du r ing th is per iod thus p r o v i d i n g a v i t a l l i n k between the present separate no r the rn and southern met re gauge systems of I nd i a , A metre gauge wa­gon loaded at T insuk ia , the eastern f ron t i e r of Assam, w i l l then be able to proceed unimpeded to T r i v a n d n i m near Cape Cornorin, the southern­mos t t i p o f I n d i a . The complet ion o f this l i n k w i l l be a grea t step for -waVd in the t r anspor ta t ion system of the coun t ry

A m o n g the major yards planned fo r remodel l ing are Bhusawa l and K a n t i - M u r w a r a , w h i c h f o r m the t w o majo r sluice valves f o r the a r t e r i a l

channels on the Central Railway. Bhusawal Y a r d w i l l be remodelled on modern lines w i t h au tomat ic route-sett ing equipment and electro­mechanical b r a k i n g devices, so as to increase its hand l ing capacity a l ­most to double. The inadequate y a r d at K a n t i - M u r w a r a requires considerable expansion a n d w i l l , therefore, be rebui l t at a new site.

S i g n a l l i n g works designed for greater safety and for augment ing the line capacity w i l l also be on an extensive scale and on modern lines. These include the provis ion of inter­lock ing , au tomat ic s igna l l ing and power s ignal l ing . A l l these w o r k s w i l l enta i l the need for huge quant i ­ties of s igna l l ing and i n t e r l o c k i n g equipment for w h i c h the capacity in th i s count ry is very l i m i t e d . So the Cent ra l R a i l w a y has under taken expansion, on modern lines, of a workshop a t Secunderabad, w h i c h w i l l be able to make a good propor-

tion of the . ment required.

The other . w i t h essentially s imi lar problems, have a l l progressed rapidly in the achieve­ment of improved w o r k i n g and ex­pansion. The position of the South-Eas te rn Ra i lway , wh ich serves a l l the five steel plants exclusively ex­cept fo r the one at Burnpur , served by the Eas te rn Ra i lway , is of special interest. The fact tha t adequate arrangements are being made to service the new plants provides the assurance tha t t ransport w i l l not prove a handicap at least for th i s basic commodi ty so necessary fo r the country 's rap id economic develop­ment . On the whole, i t is good to find t h a t adequate a t t en t ion is be­i n g paid no t only to the expansion of faci l i t ies but also to the bet ter u t i l i sa t ion o f ex is t ing facili t ies, i f necessary, t h rough m i n o r improve­ments at s trategic points.

April 21 1956 THE ECONOMIC WEEKLY