The History of Indian Railway

The History Of Indian Railway

The history of rail transport in India began in the mid-nineteenth century. In 1849, there was not a single kilometre of railway line in India. A British engineer, Robert Maitland Brereton, was responsible for the expansion of the railways from 1857 onwards. The Allahabad-Jabalpur branch line of the East Indian Railway had been opened in June 1867. Brereton was responsible for linking this with the Great Indian Peninsula Railway, resulting in a combined network of 6,400 km (4,000 mi). Hence it became possible to travel directly from Bombay to Calcutta. This route was officially opened on 7 March 1870 and it was part of the inspiration for French writer Jules Verne's book Around the World in Eighty Days. At the opening ceremony, the Viceroy Lord Mayo concluded that “it was thought desirable that, if possible, at the earliest possible moment, the whole country should be covered with a network of lines in a uniform system”. 

Indian Railways (reporting mark IR) is an Indian state-owned enterprise, owned and operated by the Government of India through the Ministry of Railways. It is one of the world's largest railway networks comprising 115,000 km (71,000 mi) of track over a route of 65,000 km (40,000 mi) and 7,500 stations. As of December 2012, it transported over 25 million passengers daily (over 9 billion on an annual basis). In 2011, IR carried over 8,900 million passengers annually or more than 24 million passengers daily (roughly half of which were suburban passengers) and 2.8 million tons of freight daily. In 2011–2012 Indian Railways had revenues of 1119848.9 million (US$20 billion) which consists of 696759.7 million (US$13 billion) from freight and 286455.2 million (US$5.2 billion) from passengers tickets.

Railways were first introduced to India in 1853 from Bombay to Thane. In 1951 the systems were nationalised as one unit, the Indian Railways, becoming one of the largest networks in the world. IR operates both long distance and suburban rail systems on a multi-gauge network of broad, metre and narrow gauges. It also owns locomotive and coach production facilities at several places in India and are assigned codes identifying their gauge, kind of power and type of operation. Its operations cover twenty four states and three union territories and also provides limited international services to Nepal, Bangladesh and Pakistan.

Indian Railways is the world's ninth largest commercial or utility employer, by number of employees, with over 1.4 million employees. As for rolling stock, IR holds over 239,281 Freight Wagons, 59,713 Passenger Coaches and 9,549 Locomotives (43 steam, 5,197 diesel and 4,309 electric locomotives). The trains have a 5 digit numbering system as the Indian Railways runs about 10,000 trains daily. As of 31 March 2013, 23,541 km (14,628 mi) (36%) of the total 65,000 km (40,000 mi) km route length was electrified.[4] Since 1960, almost all electrified sections on IR use 25,000 Volt AC traction through overhead catenary delivery.

Map of the completed and planned railway lines in India in 1871, thirteen years after the end of Company rule.

By 1875, about £95 million were invested by British companies in India guaranteed railways. By 1880 the network had a route mileage of about 14,500 km (9,000 mi), mostly radiating inward from the three major port cities of Bombay, Madras and Calcutta. By 1895, India had started building its own locomotives, and in 1896 sent engineers and locomotives to help build the Uganda Railways.

In 1900, the GIPR became a government owned company. The network spread to the modern day states of Assam, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh and soon various independent kingdoms began to have their own rail systems. In 1905, an early Railway Board was constituted, but the powers were formally invested under Lord Curzon. It served under the Department of Commerce and Industry and had a government railway official serving as chairman, and a railway manager from England and an agent of one of the company railways as the other two members. For the first time in its history, the Railways began to make a profit.

In 1907 almost all the rail companies were taken over by the government. The following year, the first electric locomotive made its appearance. With the arrival of World War I, the railways were used to meet the needs of the British outside India. With the end of the war, the railways were in a state of disrepair and collapse.

In 1920, with the network having expanded to 61,220 km (38,040 mi), a need for central management was mooted by Sir William Acworth. Based on the East India Railway Committee chaired by Acworth, the government took over the management of the Railways and detached the finances of the Railways from other governmental revenues.

The period between 1920 and 1929 was a period of economic boom; there were 41,000 mi (66,000 km) of railway lines serving the country; the railways represented a capital value of some 687 million sterling; and they carried over 620 million passengers and approximately 90 million tons of goods each year. Following the Great Depression, the railways suffered economically for the next eight years. The Second World War severely crippled the railways. Starting 1939, about 40% of the rolling stock including locomotives and coaches was taken to the Middle East, the railways workshops were converted to ammunitions workshops and many railway tracks were dismantled to help the Allies in the war. By 1946 all rail systems had been taken over by the government.

Railway zones

Indian Railways is divided into several zones, which are further sub-divided into divisions. The number of zones in Indian Railways increased from six to eight in 1951, nine in 1952 and sixteen in 2003. Each zonal railway is made up of a certain number of divisions, each having a divisional headquarters. There are a total of sixty-eight divisions.

Each of the sixteen zones is headed by a general manager who reports directly to the Railway Board. The zones are further divided into divisions under the control of divisional railway managers (DRM). The divisional officers of engineering, mechanical, electrical, signal and telecommunication, accounts, personnel, operating, commercial, security and safety branches report to the respective Divisional Manager and are in charge of operation and maintenance of assets. Further down the hierarchy tree are the station masters who control individual stations and the train movement through the track territory under their stations' administration.

Locomotives

  

A Beyer Garratt 6594 Engine seen at the National Rail Museum

Locomotives in India consist of electric and diesel locomotives. Steam locomotives are no longer used, except in heritage trains. Locomotives are also called locos or engines. In India, locomotives are classified according to their track gauge, motive power, the work they are suited for and their power or model number. The class name includes this information about the locomotive. It comprises 4 or 5 letters. The first letter denotes the track gauge. The second letter denotes their motive power (Diesel or Electric) and the third letter denotes the kind of traffic for which they are suited (goods, passenger, mixed or shunting). The fourth letter used to denote locomotives' chronological model number. However, from 2002 a new classification scheme has been adopted. Under this system, for newer diesel locomotives, the fourth letter will denote their horsepower range. Electric locomotives don't come under this scheme and even all diesel locos are not covered. For them this letter denotes their model number as usual.

A locomotive may sometimes have a fifth letter in its name which generally denotes a technical variant or subclass or subtype. This fifth letter indicates some smaller variation in the basic model or series, perhaps different motors, or a different manufacturer. With the new scheme for classifying diesel locomotives (as mentioned above) the fifth item is a letter that further refines the horsepower indication in 100 hp increments: 'A' for 100 hp, 'B' for 200 hp, 'C' for 300 hp, etc. So in this scheme, a WDM-3A refers to a 3100 hp loco, while a WDM-3F would be a 3600 hp loco.

Note: This classification system does not apply to steam locomotives in India as they have become non-functional now. They retained their original class names such as M class or WP class.

As of 31 March 2012, Indian Railways had 5,197 diesel locomotives (increased from 17 on 31 March 1951), 4,309 electric locomotives (increased from 72 on 31 March 1951) and 43 steam locomotives (decreased from 8,120 on 31 March 1951) (see Railway Budget 2012–13 Explanatory Memorandum).

Goods wagons or freight cars

The number of freight car or goods wagons was 205,596 on 31 March 1951 and reached the maximum number 405,183 on 31 March 1980 after which it started declining and was 239,321 on 31 March 2012. The number is far shorter than the requirement and the Indian Railways keeps losing freight traffic to road. Indian Railways carried 93 million tonnes of goods in 1950–51 and it increased to 1010 tonnes in 2012–13.

However, its share in goods traffic is much lower than road traffic. In 1951, its share was 65% and the share of road was 35%. Now the shares have been reversed and the share of railways has declined to 30% and the share of road has increased to 70%.

Passenger coaches

Indian railways has several types of passenger coaches.

Electric Multiple Unit (EMU) coaches are used for suburban traffic in large cities – mainly Mumbai, Chennai, Delhi, Kolkata, Pune, Hyderabad and Bangalore. These coaches numbered 7,793 on 31 March 2012. They have second class and first class seating accommodation.

Passenger coaches numbered 46,722 on 31 March 2012. Other coaches (luggage coach, parcel van, guard's coach, mail coach, etc.) numbered 6,560 on 31 March 2012.

Freight

Indian Railways earns about 70% of its revenues from the freight traffic (Rs. 686.2 billion from freight and Rs. 304.6 billion from passengers in 2011–12). Most of its profits come from movement of freight. It makes a loss on passenger traffic. It deliberately keeps its passenger fares low and cross-subsidises the loss-making passenger traffic with the profit-making freight traffic.

Since the 1990s, Indian Railways has stopped single-wagon consignments and provides only full rake freight trains for goods. Most of its freight earnings come from movement of bulk goods such as coal, cement, food grains and iron ore in full rakes. It is continually losing freight traffic to road.

Track and gauge

Indian railways uses four gauges, the 1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in) broad gauge which is wider than the 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge; the 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 3⁄8 in) metre gauge; and two narrow gauges, 762 mm (2 ft 6 in) and 610 mm (2 ft). Track sections are rated for speeds ranging from 75 to 160 km/h (47 to 99 mph).

The total length of track used by Indian Railways is about 115,000 km (71,000 mi) while the total route length of the network is 65,000 km (40,000 mi).[19] About 23,541 km (14,628 mi) or 36% of the route-kilometre was electrified as on 31 March 2013.

Indian gauge is the predominant gauge used by Indian Railways.

Broad gauge is the predominant gauge used by Indian Railways. Indian broad gauge—1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in)—is the most widely used gauge in India with 105,000 km (65,000 mi) of track length (91% of entire track length of all the gauges) and 56,000 km (35,000 mi) of route-kilometre (86% of entire route-kilometre of all the gauges).

In some regions with less traffic, the metre gauge (1,000 mm/​3 ft 3 3⁄8 in) is common, although the Unigauge project is in progress to convert all tracks to broad gauge. The metre gauge has about 8,000 km (5,000 mi) of track length (7% of entire track length of all the gauges) and 7,000 km (4,300 mi) of route-kilometre (10% of entire route-kilometre of all the gauges).

The Narrow gauges are present on a few routes, lying in hilly terrains and in some erstwhile private railways (on cost considerations), which are usually difficult to convert to broad gauge. Narrow gauges have 2,000 route-kilometre. The Kalka-Shimla Railway, the Kangra Valley Railway and the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway are three notable hill lines that use narrow gauge, but the Nilgiri Mountain Railway is a metre gauge track. These four rail lines will not be converted under the Unigauge project.

The Indian Railways serves every major populated region in the country

The share of broad gauge in the total route-kilometre has been steadily rising, increasing from 47% (25,258 route-km) in 1951 to 86% in 2012 whereas the share of metre gauge has declined from 45% (24,185 route-km) to 10% in the same period and the share of narrow gauges has decreased from 8% to 3%. However, the total route-kilometre has increased by only 21% (by just 11,500 km from 53,596 route-km in 1951) in the last sixty years or about 200 km per year. This compares very poorly with Chinese railways, which increased from about 27,000 route-km at the end of second world war to about 100,000 route-km in 2011, an increase of more than threefold. More than 28,000 route-km (34% of the total route-km) of Chinese railway is electrified compared to only about 21,500 route-km of Indian railways.

Sleepers (ties) are made up of prestressed concrete, or steel or cast iron posts, though teak sleepers are still in use on a few older lines. The prestressed concrete sleeper is in wide use today. Metal sleepers were extensively used before the advent of concrete sleepers. Indian Railways divides the country into four zones on the basis of the range of track temperature. The greatest temperature variations occur in Rajasthan.

Accommodation classes

Indian Railways has several classes of travel with or without airconditioning. A train may have just one or many classes of travel. Slow passenger trains have only unreserved seating class whereas Rajdhani, Duronto and Shatabdi trains have only airconditioned classes. The fares for all classes are different with unreserved seating class being the cheapest. The fare of Rajdhani, Duronto and Shatabdi trains includes food served in the train but the fare for other trains does not include food that has to be bought separately. In long-distance trains a pantry car is usually included and food is served at the berth or seat itself. Luxury trains such as Palace on Wheels have separate dining cars but these trains cost as much as or more than a five-star hotel room.

A standard passenger rake generally has four unreserved (also called "general") compartments, two at the front and two at the end, of which one may be exclusively for ladies. The exact number of other coaches varies according to the demand and the route. A luggage compartment can also exist at the front or the back. In some mail trains a separate mail coach is attached. Lavatories are communal and feature both the Indian style as well as the Western style.

Food

Trains are classified as pantry car/non-pantry car, trains with pantry cars are listed as P in Trains at a Glance. Meals are included in the fare on Rajdhani, Shatabdi and Duronto trains, while Indian Railways catering staff come around to collects orders an hour or two before mealtimes. Meals available for lunch and dinner are generally vegetarian and non-vegetarian thalis (rice, dal, a vegetable (chicken or fish curries for non-veg thalis), curd/yogurt, chapattis/rotis and occasionally, a sweet dish) or (veg/egg/chicken) biryani. Pantry car service always includes the sale of tea, coffee, cold drinks, Indian snacks (samosa) and "namkeen" (chips and other salty snacks). Pantry cars mostly re-distribute food from base kitchens that are based at important stations; As per the catering policies only heating is encouraged for which electric heating equipment is provided. Any cooking at stations or in pantry cars is discouraged. The quality of food varies, with the fare being better in the South and West. Also, the parameters like: hygiene, taste, cuisine changes from region to region. Most pantry cars and restaurants at stations are used to be earlier managed by Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation IRCTC. However Indian Railways has now phased out IRCTC from most catering in Railways except at Food Courts, Fast Food Units etc. Most catering is now managed by Zonal Railways. Kiosks are ubiquitous where one can find snacks/breakfast/packed foods/ biscuits/ cookies/ mineral water etc. At major stations, one can find higher end IRCTC food courts and food plazas and even fine-dine restaurants that have been given to reputed private players to manage.

Lately there has been a trend of innovative services like Travelkhana who take the order on phone or through their website and get fresh food delivered in the train.

Problems and issues

A large number of bridges have exceeded their useful life and need to be replaced. Speed restrictions have to be placed on such bridges, thus reducing the average speed of the trains themselves. Maintenance of tracks is generally manually done and needs to be mechanised.

The Indian railways has outdated communication, safety and signalling equipment on many of its tracks. The speed of updating these with the latest technology is very slow. The manual signal system on the tracks increases the distance between trains and reduces their speed besides being the cause of a number of train accidents. Interlocking systems are found on only a few routes.

The personnel costs and operating costs have increased several times over the past decade. Fares have been hiked both in 2011 & 2013, offsetting a good percentage of the loss. The passenger services are being run at a loss. Freight rates are increased to cross-subsidize the loss in passenger traffic; this drives away the freight traffic to road. The maintenance of passenger coaches and goods wagons is poor and often results in derailments and other accidents. The sanitation in trains and stations is improving. Trains like Duronto/Rajdhani & some express trains such as Hyderabad to Banglore Kacheguda Express have onboard janitors, whose job it is to clean to compartment and washrooms on a regular basis. Further, mobile numbers of supervisors are provided on the train for any complaints.

Lack of profit in operations does not allow capital expenditure on better technology in any field. New railway line projects are often announced without securing additional funding for them. The paucity of funds creates time and cost overruns. A large number of these projects are not profitable and do not get completed within the scheduled time. As on 31 March 2011, 347 projects including new lines, doubling and gauge conversion were pending and their costs have skyrocketed to 1472 billion (US$27 billion). However, the railway budget for 2012–13 provided only 130 billion (US$2.4 billion) for the projects.

Sexual harassment of women on trains has risen alarmingly. The menace is more harsh in the metropolitan areas of north, south and western regions. There have been several cases of railway officials themselves indulging in sexual offences instead of being saviours of the women under attack.