The Union Railway Budget is to be presented on the 26th
of February. Let us take a look at the
glorious history of Indian Railways.
Railways continue to be the principal mode of transport in
India. Much more than that, it has become a part and parcel of the country’s
socio-economic life, impacting not only its culture and socio-economic
activities but also largely influencing our art, history and literature besides
unifying the people. The Indians have developed an abiding romance with the
railways.
Way back in 1853, wheels rolled on rails on 16th April,
where the first ever railway train, carrying 400 people in 14 carriages, covered
the 21-mile distance between Bombay and Thane in about 75 minutes. The train
took off with a regal 21-gun salute to celebrate the occasion. Much water has
since flowed down the Arabian Sea. What started as a system to serve the
colonial interests of the foreign masters has developed into the main vehicle
for socio-economic development of a welfare society.
GROWTH
The planned growth and development of the railway system
started from 1951. The increase in terms of route kilometres and rolling stock
was significant but not outstanding; while during the same period passenger
traffic increased by 360 per cent and revenue-earning freight traffic by 550
per cent. These staggering figures will show how much conscious effort has been
put in to improve the productivity of the assets and modernization of
technology.
Looking back, some of the major achievements of the railways
in the field of customer satisfaction and development are indeed noteworthy.
The first and foremost among them is, of course, the introduction of the
Rajdhani Express in 1969, the first train to travel at the speed of 130
kilometres per hour, revolutionizing the concept of train travel. This trend
continued with the Shatabdi Express making its mark in 1988 with a high speed
of 140 kilometres per hour. After a wait of over two decades, the 16.45
kilometres-long Metro underground railway in Kolkata was fully commissioned.
Spanning from Dum Dum to Tollygunge, it provided an immense relief to thousands
of daily commuters in the city. The
Konkan Railway Project, the 760-km broad-gauge railway line from Roha to
Mangalore touching four States has been another landmark. With 1800 bridges and
88 tunnels, including a tunnel as long as 6.5 km—it has already been hailed as
the project of the century and its completion in 1997 was a fitting tribute to
the Golden Jubilee anniversary of the country’s Independence. The Project
Unigauge was launched on April 1, 1992 to develop the backward regions and to
connect important places with broad gauge network. So far over 13000 km of
metre gauge and narrow gauge have been converted to broad gauge networks. This
was a big leap forward to the mantra of "one country, one gauge".
Another such unifying factor is the Computerized Reservation System, which at present
covers 97 per cent of the reserved passenger population. At present, this
facility is spread over 758 locations and it is even available where there is
no rail link. Another milestone achieved is introduction of Garib Rath Express
fully air-conditioned train connecting different destinations.
TRANSFORMATION
During the British era, there were just four classes in a
train—First, Second, Inter and Third. After Independence, not only the Third
Class was abolished but a number of new options were also provided—3 Tier,
2-Tier and Chair Cars, suiting everyone’s choice and pocket. The introduction
of air-conditioned coaches brought about a new degree of comfort in travel
during the summer and winter months. Even in 3-Tier sleepers, cushioned berths
were provided and the days of wooden planks were over.
If we look at passenger coaches, the state of changes will
be clear. Before 1950, we had only wooden coaches which were very expensive to
maintain and which often got telescoped with each other during accidents,
affecting the safety of the passengers. Moreover, those were only fit to travel
at a maximum speed of 96 KMPH only. In 1949, the Integral Coach Factory was set
up in collaboration with a Swedish concern to manufacture anti-telescopic
metal-bodied coaches. Since then, more than 170 designs of coaches have been
developed. The new coaches have drastically reduced causalities in train
accidents and the speed potential has gone up from 96 KMPH to 140 KMPH. Now
with the upcoming light weight high speed fire-retardent Linka Hoffmann Busch
(LHB) coaches from Germany under manufacture at the Rail Coach Factory,
Kapurthala, the Indian Railways’ speed with attendant comfort and safety is
going up. We have also seen the introduction of high capacity power cars and
Diesel Multiple Units (DMUs). Now coach interiors are being designed with
improved fittings and features to enhance their crashworthiness and reduce the
impact of accidents. On the wagon front, we largely inherited 4—wheelers with
vacuum brakes. These have been steadily replaced with 8—wheelers with air
brakes and improved track loading density.
At the time of Independence, the Indian Railways had only
steam locomotives. We have seen the indigenisation of the imported diesel
electric loco, achieving an indigenous content of more than 95 per cent. The
high-speed passenger loco (WDP-1-2300 HP) and the high capacity diesel freight
loco (WDG-2-3100 HP) were also designed and developed during this time.
Push-Pull trains and Rail Buses, both running on diesel, were introduced for
low density passenger traffic. Now, high speed 4000 horse power diesel locos
under a technology tie-up with General Motors of the USA are manufactured
indigenously. In the field of electric locomotives, the progress was
revolutionary. After Independence, the railways had about 70 electric locos
running only in Mumbai and Kolkata areas. The figure, at the end of 2001-2002,
has gone up to 2810. In 1947, only 388 route kilometres were electrified. In
March 2002, the figure stood at 14856 route kilometres, which is one fifth of
our total track. Presently, over 65 per cent of freight traffic and 48 per cent
of passenger traffic are hauled by electric traction. The Indian Railways is
manufacturing three-phase 6000 high horsepower electric locos under a technological
tie-up with a Swiss enterprise.
ELECTRIFICATION- ECO-FRIENDLY
The advent of electrification has not only made the railways
cleaner and more eco-friendly but also took a big leap towards energy
conservation. With progressive replacement of steam traction by diesel and
electric traction, the energy consumption for goods services has come down from
36.4 kg of coal equivalent per thousand Gross Tonne Kilo Metre (GTKM) in 1970
to 17.92 kg of coal equivalent in 2001. As the expenditure on fuel is about 25 per
cent of the working expenditure of the Indian Railways, its control is vital
for the financial health of the organization.
Electrification has also helped the railways provide some
basic passenger amenities. Over the years we have seen the designing and development
of different types of air-conditioned coaches which are extremely popular with
the travelling public. In the sixties, the lighting system in the railways was
24 volt. It has since been replaced by 110 volt system. The difference in
illumination is enormous. The earlier system also had some fire hazards which
has since been removed by the new one. For shorter routes, the railways has
introduced Mainline Electrical Multiple Units (MEMU). These new trains have
become quite popular with the commuters for reducing journey time and
increasing passenger capacity.
TRACKS
Much of the safety and comfort of a rail journey depends on
the track and its maintenance. Beginning with the off track tampers for packing
off the ballast under the sleepers in the late fifties, the railways has come a
long way in the mechanized construction and maintenance of its permanent way.
During this period, various types of track laying and maintenance machines have
progressively been used. Responding to the ever-increasing passenger and
freight traffic, the railways had to go for a heavier track structure to handle
this challenge. The present track structure on the main routes of the Indian
Railways compares with the best anywhere in the world regarding its traffic
carrying capacities. This has been possible because of the use of
state-of-the-art machines.
The welding of rail joints was hardly known in the
pre-Independence era in the country. The replacement of ordinary fish-plated
joints by welded joints has been one of the thrust areas in the last half a
century. It has substantially contributed to safety, economy and riding
comfort. These welded rails, known as Long Welded Rails (LWR), Continuous
Welded Rails (CWR) and Short Welded Rails (SWR) have also saved fuel and electric
consumption. The maintenance in terms of labour is also at least 15 per cent
cheaper.
From the mid-1970s, the Railways has switched over to the
production and use of concrete sleepers in a big way. Prior to that there was
total dependence on wooden sleepers. However, to encourage the conservation of
forests and to maintain ecological balance, this step was considered necessary.
As a result, a production capacity of over 60 lakh concrete sleepers per year
has been created. This has reduced the requirement of wooden sleepers by almost
88 per cent.
MODERNISATION
The railway signalling system is to be continuously
modernized to cope with the rising traffic density and to meet better safety
standards. At the time of Independence, the signalling equipment was of a
rudimentary nature. Everything was imported from European rail companies and
there was no domestic base for producing those equipment. Now the whole picture
has changed. The equipment has been modernized and the up-to-date technology
absorbed and indigenised. The Railways has three workshops exclusively to
manufacture signalling equipment in Podanur, Gorakhpur and Methuguda. In
addition, about twelve factories in the private sector are producing the
equipment. As a result, there is a widespread use of semi-conductor and
micro-processor-based safety and signalling equipment of higher reliability.
For efficient operations, the railways took a policy
decision in the 1960s to build its own communication network. In the last
thirty years, over 20,000 route kilometres have been equipped with analog
microwave system. This is now being gradually replaced by state-of-the-art
digital technology. The Optic Fibre Cable System is also being introduced to
cover all important routes. Since Independence, the Railways has installed over
one lakh electromechanical exchange lines which are now being converted to
digital electronic exchanges. Optic Fibre Cable System is being installed, to
begin with, along the high density routes to cover the four metros.
To optimize train operation and enhance levels of safety in
the high-density track route sections, mobile train radio systems have been
commissioned over 1700 route kilometres on Itarsi-Bhusaval, Itarsi-Nagpur,
Durg-Nagpur and Delhi-Mughalsarai sections. This is for emergency communication
between the driver and the guard in case of any major technical problem or
emergency and also for communication between mobile trains to pre-warn any
danger. In another major breakthrough in recent times, the railways has
introduced satellite communication so that passengers can talk to any telephone
subscriber anywhere in the country or abroad. The satellite phones are now
available in all Zonal and Divisional Railways to meet emerging needs.
EXPANSION
During the pre-Independence times, rail travel had a very
limited scope. People travelled mainly on work or on business. It is only in
the last few decades that the railways is getting involved with the tourism
industry. The trend started with the Palace on Wheels pattern and a decision
has been taken to launch eight such trains on popular tourist circuits.
"Discover India" or INDRAIL passes valid from half-a-day to three
months and Rail Holiday package tours are very much on. While such schemes are
mostly for international tourists, for local tourists there is a 100 Budget
Hotels Project which will add 10000 hotel rooms in the organized sector in the
country. This would attract an investment of Rs. 10000 crore and generate
direct employment to 30000 people and indirect employment to double that number
of persons in related activities. This is in addition to building Rail Yatri
Niwases for common passengers.
The introduction of economic liberalization in July 1991
threw a major challenge before the Indian Railways. As a result, it took
several measures to modernize the rolling stock, tractions and coaches. Steam
locos were phased out altogether. Besides, it entered into joint ventures with
State Governments to give a fillip to various railway projects, both urban and
non-urban. Special emphasis was laid on customer care and user-friendly
services. A Customer Care Institute was also set up. Recently, the railways
also launched the National Rail Vikas Yojana at a cost of Rs. 15000 crore
outside the Railway Budget as a hallmark of public-private partnership for
strengthening the golden quadrilateral routes to provide connectivity to major
parts of the country and build four mega bridges in order to remove bottlenecks
in this vital infrastructure over a period of next five years. In addition, the
Indian Railways has been divided into 16 Zones and 67 Divisions to ensure
efficiency and productivity of rail services through manageable, cohesive
administrative units.
SOCIAL CHANGE
The Indian Railways has become a
major instrument of social change. Now the trains criss-cross literally from
Kashmir to Kanyakumari and the remote and inaccessible North-Eastern parts of
the country are coming up on the railway map. The Indian Railways rededicate
itself to the task of meeting the growing challenges of bulk transportation
apart from meeting the strategic requirements of the nation.
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SV/RTS/SK
SS-76/SF-76/21.02.2007
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(Release ID :24969)