Indian Railways - Past and PresentBy: Chitresh Shrivastva

A new chapter begins

Introduction of railways paved way for Industrialization in

the 19th Century

Employment opportunities for people in the Urban and Rural

areas*

Construction of workshops for maintaining locomotives and

coaches

Pioneer of modern management techniques

Helped in breaking Social and cultural differences

Facilitated discipline in the society*

Emergence of nationalism and emperialism

Stations as a place for meeting people of diverse cultures

North America and England highly benefited later shifting the

same to India

In the Indian scenario

British earlier planned to construct line between Bangalore and

Madras( today known as Chennai)*

Survey carried out between 1831-33

British shifted their attention to the construction of Mumbai-

Thane line.

Location of ports perhaps prompted the British to construct the

line between Mumbai and Thane

Factors taken into

consideration

Cost of construction*

Returns expected on the particular route

Climatic conditions

Geographical conditions

Geographical security

Procurement of trustworthy and competent workers

Gauge System

5ft 6in*. Gauge suggested by Lord Dalhousie and Mr. Simms,

government engineer

Ensured greater volume of traffic

Evolution of 3 different gauge systems in 1871

Gauge Measurement

Broad 5’6”

Metre 3’0.75”

Narrow 2’0”

2’6”

An abrupt evolution?

Railways evolved in 6 different stages

10 private companies set up for construction of railways

Need aroused due to slow pace of construction of railways

under the Company

Provision of capital for laying down of railway lines

The interest rate fixed at 4.5% to 5%

The system however was criticized by Lord Lawrence

Railway Companies often inflated their expenses which caused

financial burden on the government

1869 onwards he government takes control of construction of

railway lines

1870-1882 a catalyzing period for railways

5000 miles of line suggested for protection of countries

against famines

Purchase of railway companies by the government

Princely states encouraged to build their own railways

Their existed 42 different railway systems.

Gwalior Light Railway , Nizam State Railway and Sangli state

Railway some prominent railways

Railways forced to curtail its expenditure

Approx. 17000 crores withdrawn from Railway Safety fund

during the World War II od which Britain was a part

What about finances?

Ackworth Committee in 1920

Committee comprised of Indians like Rajendranath Mukherjee,

V.S Srinivas, Sir Purushottam Das Thakurdas

Suggested that railways can function effectively provided that

it is separated from the General Budget

The recommendations of Ackworth Committee approved in

the convention held on September 20, 1924

During the colonial regime Railways was a private enterprise

that evolved on public risk

Introduction subsidy provision*

3 different financial alternatives : Revenue surpluses, borrowed

money and reserve surpluses evolved.

Railways staggered to meet the interest charges at full rate.

The financial performance however revived during 1930s and

1940s

Railways fully nationalized post independence

Freight and passenger output

between 1884- 1939

Freight

10%

Passenger

3%

Freight and Passenger output

between 1881-1939

Freight

4%

Passenger

4%

GLOBALIZATION AND INDIAN

RAILWAYS

Globalization and its impact on Indian

Railways

1991 as a year of economical transformation.

Liberalization, Privatization and Globalization takes birth in India.

Indian Railways retained the tag of a Public Sector Undertaking.

At the time of Economic Reforms Indian Railways was financially weak

Termed as a Time Bomb waiting to explode

Railways now in a position to initiate projects on the PPP

model*

Konkan Railway, Pipavav Railway Corporation , Rail

Vikas Nigam some prominent examples.

Introduction of schemes like OYW (Own Your Wagon),

BOLT (Build Operate Lease Transfer) and BOT (Build

Operate Transfer)

Setting up of International Institute Of Railways in New

Delhi

RITES and IRCON- the technical and constructional wing

of Indian Railways have worked on several international

projects

Setting up of CONCOR in association with International

Union of Railways

Are there any evidences of global companies prior to

economic reforms?

The Swiss Elevator and Car Mfg. company set up the first

rail coach factory in Perambur

ALCO a USA based company the first diesel locomotive

rolled out in 1964

Other companies which came into play Jessop and Co.,

Burn and Co. and Braithwaite and Co. which are now Bhari

Udyog Nigam Ltd.

Post 1991 Developments

The first 4000 HP locomotive with State-of-the-Art

technology and was rolled out in 2002

100% dynamic Braking

Capable of hauling a 24 coach train at 160 kmph

Co-Co Wheel Design

Cost : Approx. 11.5 crores

6000 ltrs Fuel Capacity

In 2003 Indian Railway introduced German Manufactured

ALSTOM LHB coaches

Maximum Operating Speed :160 kmph

Higher seating Capacity

Anti telescopic*

CBC- Central Buffer Coupling

Controlled Discharge System*

Cost : 75 lakhs- 1.8 crores

The Chittaranjan Locomotive Works rolled out the first

state - of Art Electric locomotives WAP5 And WAP7

Engine horsepower for WAP5- 5400 HP and WAP7-6000

HP

Maximum Operating speed- 160kmph

Builder: CLW under ToT from Adtranz

Data regarding export of locomotives (Country

wise)

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

Sudan Myanmar Angola

Locomotives

Export of Rolling Stock (Coaches)

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

Myanmar South Africa Taiwan

Rolling Stock

The Next Generation E-ticketing

Project Sanctioned in 2013

Developed by IRCTC

Announced in 2013 Rail Budget by Pawan Bansal

Uses the Beta software developed by Germany

Ability to generate 7200 tickets per minute

Estimated cost of the project is 74 crore rupees

Dedicated Freight Corridors

Foundation stone laid in 2009

Expected to be operational by 2016-17

Approx., cost as per khankodkar committee is 2,40,000 core

rupees

Speed of freight trains on this stretch estimated to be

around 100kmph

Two corridors North- South, East to West and diagonals.

Trains will be about 100 cars long

High Speed Corridors

Intended to reduce travel time on some of the

busiest sections

Setting up of High Speed Rail corporation

Company set up in 2012

Subsidiary of Rail Vikas Nigam Limited

Routes undergoing feasibility

studyRoute Participating

companies

Total length

Pune- Mumbai- Ahmedabad RITES, Systra (France),

Italferr (Italy)

650 km

Delhi to Patna (via: Agra,

Varanasi, Lucknow)

Mott McDonald (UK) 991 km

Howrah- Haldia Ineco, Prointec, Ayesa

(Spain)

135 km

Hyderabad- Dornakal-

Vijayawada-Chennai

Parsons Brickenhoff

(India)

664 km

Chennai- Bangalore-

Coimbatore- Ernakulum –

Thiruvananthapuram

JARTS (Japan Railway

Technical Service) and

Oriental Consultants

850km

What are the bottlenecks?

Cost of construction

Track alignment

Wheel Design

Need for an elevated corridor

Financial constraints

Land Acquisition

Fencing of the entire corridor

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