Vision VIEW SATELITE MAP VIEW ROUTE MAP e as a premier world class Financial and Managerial Training and

Research Academy,in Rail and tion Economics and Finance, while contributing to and enabling the Corporate Objectives of Indian

Activities include training and retraining to supervisors in existing and emerging practical working rules and systems, t and complement Railway Staff College in meeting the training needs of Accounts & non Accounts Officers, y top-up and refresh accounting and finance practices for Gr-B officers including exposure to PC AFRES/ PRIME, Internet, FOIS/TMS etc, facilitate interaction & expose to corporate F&A system for IRAS rs, help and facilitates F&A Directorates in evolving policy changes, resolving problems through on and consensus emerging from inter-zonal seminars/workshops at SAG/JAG levels with external expertise y, train international Trainees from Railway Organisations of other countries. ns a virtual classroom across Indian Railways, through videobased e-learning, to Create a database of PPT's, & videos for accesssing through internet by officers & staff of across Indian Railways

TARA wishes its viewers a very happy New Year 2011 ur endeavour is to inculcate a collective pride in our Organisation and a collective vision for the future. The dy transport economics are subjected to several fluidities and the role of Accounts & Finance turns vibrant with cessity of being quick learners and front runners for placing global changes and challenges in the right perspe ARA aims to facilitate this alognside strengthening our conventional wisdom acquired from our time tested pr VIJAYA KUMAR,IRAS, Director C-TARA From The Director's desk
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The Ministry of Railways in India is in charge of the Indian Railways,that enjoys a monopoly in rail transport. As of May 2009, the ministry is headed by the Minister of Railways Mamata Banerjee . Important leaders such as John Matthai, N. Gopalaswamy Ayyangar, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Madhu Dandavate, Panampilly Govinda Menon, Madhavrao Scindia, C K Jaffar Sharief, Jagjivan Ram, George Fernandes, Ram Vilas Paswan, Nitish Kumar, Lalu Prasad Yadav and Mamata Banerjee have served as Minister of Railways. The Railway Board which is the apex body of the Indian Railways reports to this ministry. On August 1, 2007, Ramesh Chandra took over as the Chairman of the Railway Board. The ministry is housed inside the Rail Bhavan in New Delhi. Thanks to historical reasons, the Ministry of Railways presents a budget separate from the general budget of India. The practice started in 1924. At the time, the railway budget formed about 70% of the country's budget. So separating it out allowed better focus on each budget's priorities. The Railway Budget nowIndian Railways
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This article is about the organisation. For general information on railways in India, see Rail transport in India.
Indian Railways

Departmental Undertaking of The Type Ministry of Railways, Government of India Industry Founded Headquart ers Area served Rail transport 16 April 1857 (1857-04-16)[1]

New Delhi, Delhi, India

India

Mamata Banerjee
(Ministry of Railways)

Key people

E. Ahamed & K.H. Muniyappa

(Ministers of State)

Vivek Sahai
(Chairman, Railway Board)
[2]

Products

Rail transport, Cargo transport, Services, more... 88,355 crore (US$19.61 billion) (2009-10)[3] 951 crore (US$211.12 million) (2009-10)[3] Republic of India (100%)
(2009)
[4]

Revenue

Net income Owner(s)

Employees 1,600,000

Divisions

16 Railway Zones (excluding Konkan Railway) Indianrailways.gov.in

Website

Indian Railways (Hindi: Bhratya Rail), abbreviated as IR (Hindi: ..), is the stateowned railway company of India, which owns and operates most of the country's rail transport. It is overseen by the Ministry of Railways of the Government of India. Indian Railways has more than 64,015 kilometres (39,777 mi)[5] of track and 7,083 stations. It has the world's fourth largest railway network after those of the United States, Russia and China. [5] The railways traverse the length and breadth of the country and carry over 25 million passengers and 2.5 million tons of freight daily.[6][7] It is one of the world's largest commercial or utility employers, with more than 1.6 million employees.[6][8] As to rolling stock, IR owns over 230,000 (freight) wagons, 60,000 coaches and 9,000 locomotives.[6] Railways were first introduced to India in 1853. By 1947, the year of India's independence, there were forty-two rail systems. In 1951 the systems were nationalised as one unit, 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.

Contents
[hide] 1 Organisational structure 1.1 Railway zones

1.2 Recruitment and training 1.3 Subsidiaries

2 Locomotives 3 Technical details 3.1 Track and gauge 3.2 Traction

4 Railway links to adjacent countries 5 Services 5.1 Passenger 6 Types of passenger services 7 Suburban rail 7.1 Accommodation classes 7.2 Train Numbering 7.2.1 Notable trains and achievements 7.2.2 Fares and ticketing 7.2.3 Tourism 7.3.1 Dedicated Freight Corridor

7.3 Freight

8 Rail budget and finances 9 Issues 10 Reforms and upgrades 11 See also 12 Notes 13 References 14 External links

[edit] Organisational structure

Main article: Indian Railway organisational structure

Indian Railways is a department owned and controlled by the Government of India, via the Ministry of Railways. As of December 2010, the Railway Ministry is headed by Mamata Banerjee, the Union Minister for Railways, and assisted by two ministers of State for Railways. Indian Railways is administered by the Railway Board, which has a financial commissioner, five members and a chairman.[9]

[edit] Railway zones

A schematic map of the Indian Railways network, showing the various zones.

The headquarters of the Indian Railways in New Delhi

Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, Mumbai First Railway Station in India. Also World Heritage Site

Indian Railways is divided into 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 finally 17 in 2010. Each zonal railway is made up of a certain number of divisions, each having a divisional headquarters. There are a total of sixty-seven divisions.[10][11] The Delhi Metro is being built and operated by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Limited (DMRC). The Government of India and the Government of Delhi jointly set up a company called the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) on March 5, 1995 with E. Sreedharan as the managing director.He is Padma Vibhushan awardee(Second highest honour) by Government of India[17] It is no way connected to Indian Railways.[12] Each of the seventeen zones, Including Kolkata Metro, is headed by a General Manager (GM) 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 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
Sl. No Abbr Name . Date Headquart Establish ed ers

Divisions

1.

Central East Central East Coast Eastern North Central North Eastern North Western

CR

1951, November Mumbai 5 2002, Hajipur October 1

Mumbai, Bhusawal, Pune, Solapur, Nagpur Danapur, Dhanbad, Mughalsarai, Samastipur, Sonpur

2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

ECR ECoR ER NCR

2003, April Bhubanesw Khurda Road, Sambalpur, 1 ar Visakhapatnam 1952, April Kolkata 2003, April Allahabad 1 Gorakhpur Howrah, Sealdah, Asansol, Malda Allahabad, Agra, Jhansi Izzatnagar, Lucknow, Varanasi Jaipur, Ajmer, Bikaner, Jodhpur Alipurduar, Katihar, Rangia, Lumding,

NER 1952 NWR

2002, Jaipur October 1

Northeast NFR 1958,15th Guwahati

Frontier 9. 10. Northern NR South Central SCR

Jan 1952, April Delhi 14

Tinsukia Delhi, Ambala, Firozpur, Lucknow, Moradabad

1966, Secunderab Secunderabad, Hyderabad, Guntakal, October 2 ad Guntur, Nanded, Vijayawada 2003, April Bilaspur 1 Kolkata Bilaspur, Raipur, Nagpur Adra, Chakradharpur, Kharagpur, Ranchi Hubli, Bangalore, Mysore Chennai, Tiruchirappalli, Madurai, Palakkad, Salem, Trivandrum(Thiruvananthapuram) Jabalpur, Bhopal, Kota Mumbai Central, Ratlam, Ahmedabad, Rajkot, Bhavnagar, Vadodara

South 11. East Central 12. 13. South Eastern South Western

SECR

SER 1955 SWR

2003, April Hubli 1 1951, April Chennai 14 2003, April Jabalpur 1 1951, November Mumbai 5 2010, December Kolkata 25

14. Southern SR West Central

15.

WCR

16. Western

WR

Kolkata 17. Metro

Kolkata Metro

[edit] Recruitment and training

WDM-3A diesel passenger and freight locomotive of Indian Railways at Shantiniketan, India

With approximately 1.6 million employees, Indian Railways is the country's single largest employer.[13] Staff are classified into gazetted (Group A and B) and non-gazetted (Group C and D) employees.[14] The recruitment of Group A gazetted employees is carried out by the Union Public Service Commission through exams conducted by it.[15] The recruitment to Group 'C' and 'D' employees on the Indian Railways is done through 19 Railway Recruitment Boards which are controlled by the Railway Recruitment Control Board (RRCB).[16] The training of all cadres is entrusted and shared between six centralised training institutes.
See also: Centralised Training Institutes of the Indian Railways [edit] Subsidiaries

A WAP5 locomotive

Indian Railways manufactures much of its rolling stock and heavy engineering components at its six manufacturing plants, called Production Units, which are managed directly by the ministry. As with most developing economies, the main reason for this was the policy of import substitution of expensive technology related products when the general state of the national engineering industry was immature. Each of these six production units is headed by a General Manager, who also reports directly to the Railway Board. There exist independent organisations under the control of the Railway Board for electrification, modernisation and research and design, each of which is headed by a General Manager. A number of Public Sector Undertakings, which perform railway-related functions ranging from consultancy to ticketing, are also under the administrative control of the Ministry of railways.

[edit] Locomotives
Main article: Locomotives in India

Indian railways uses a number of different Diesel and Electric locomotives, Steam locomotives were once very common but are now only used on heritage routes.

[edit] Technical details

[edit] Track and gauge

Indian railways uses four gauges, the 1,676mm broad gauge which is wider than the 1,435mm standard gauge; the 1,000mm 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. The total length of track used by Indian Railways was about 111,600 km (69,300 mi) while the total route length of the network was 64,061 km (39,806 mi) on 31 March 2010.[17] About 31% of the route-kilometre and 46% of the total track kilometre was electrified on 31 March 2010.[17]

Broad 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 96,851 km of track length (86.8% of entire track length of all the gauges) and 52,500 km of route-kilometre (81.95% of entire route-kilometre of all the gauges) on 31 March 2010. In some regions with less traffic, the metre gauge (1,000mm) is common, although the Unigauge project is in progress to convert all tracks to broad gauge. The metre gauge had 11,676 km of track length (10.5% of entire track length of all the gauges) and 9,000 km of route-kilometre (14.04% of entire route-kilometre of all the gauges) on 31 March 2010. 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 had a total of 2,500 route-kilometre on 31 March 2010. The Kalka-Shimla Railway, the Nilgiri Mountain Railway and the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway are three notable hill lines that use narrow gauge.[18] Those three will not be converted under the Unigauge project. The share of broad gauge in the total route-kilometre has been steadily rising, increasing from 47% (25,258 route-km) in 1951 to more than 83% in 2010 whereas the share of metre gauge has declined from 45% (24,185 route-km) to less than 13% 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 18% (by just 10,000 km from 53,596 route-km in 1951) in the last 60 years. This compares very poorly with Chinese railways, which increased from about 27,000 route-km at the end of second world war to about 90,000 route-km in 2010, 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 20,059 route-km of Indian railways. This is an indication of the poor state of Indian railways where the funds allocated to new railway lines are meagre, construction of new uneconomic railway lines are taken up due to political interference without ensuring

availability of funds and the projects incur huge cost and time overruns due to poor projectmanagement and paucity of funds. Double decker AC trains have been introduced in India. The first double deckar train was Flying Rani introduced in 2005 while the first double decker AC train in the Indian Railways was introduced in November 2010, running between the Dhanbad and Howrah stations having 10 coaches and 2 power cars. Sleepers (ties) used are made of prestressed concrete, or steel or cast iron posts, though teak sleepers are still in use on 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, where the difference may exceed 70C.
[edit] Traction

As of March 2010, 20,059 km of the total 64,215 km route length is electrified.[19] Since 1960, almost all electrified sections on IR use 25,000 V AC traction through overhead catenary delivery.[20][21] A major exception is the entire Mumbai section, which uses 1,500 V DC.[21] and is currently undergoing change to the 25,000 V AC system. Another exception is the Kolkata Metro, which uses 750 V DC delivered through a third rail. Traction voltages are changed at two places close to Mumbai. Central Railway trains passing through Igatpuri switch from AC to DC using a neutral section that may be switched to either voltage while the locomotives are decoupled and swapped. Western Railway trains switch power on the fly, in a section between Virar (DC) and Vaitarna (AC), where the train continues with its own momentum for about 30 m through an unelectrified section of catenary called a dead zone. [21] All electric engines and EMUs operating in this section are the necessary AC/DC dual system type (classified "WCAM" by IndianRailways).

[edit] Railway links to adjacent countries

Bhutan - railways under construction - Same gauge Nepal- yes -Break-of-gaugeGauge conversion under unigauge project Pakistan - same Broad Gauge Bangladesh - Same Broad Gauge

[edit] Services

[edit] Passenger

A DMU Train

Indian Railways operates about 9,000 passenger trains and transports 20 million passengers daily across twenty-eight states and two union territories. Sikkim and Meghalaya are the only states not connected by rail. A standard passenger train consists of eighteen coaches, but popular trains can have up to 26 coaches.

24 Coached Malwa Express

The newly launched Chennai-Salem Express

Coaches are designed to accommodate anywhere from 18 to 108 passengers, but during the holiday seasons and/or on busy routes, more passengers may travel in unreserved coaches. Most regular trains have coaches connected through vestibules. However, 'unreserved coaches' are not connected with the rest of the train via any vestibule.

An un-vestibulated coach of the Indian train

Reservation against cancellation service is a provision for shared berth in case the travel ticket is not confirmed.[22] The last timetabled passenger service running under steam locomotive power ended in 2000, in Gujarat.[23] All current passenger service is provided using electric or diesel locomotives, except for the rack section of the Nilgiri Mountain Railway (NMR) which still relies on Swiss-built X class steamers to do the job.

[edit] Types of passenger services

Trains are classified by their average speed.[24] A faster train has fewer stops ("halts") than a slower one and usually caters to long-distance travel.
Ran k 1 Train Duronto Express Description These are the non-stop point to point rail services (except for operational stops) introduced for the first time in 2009. These trains connects the metros and major state capitals of India and are faster than Rajdhani Express. The Duronto services consists of classes of accommodation namely first AC, two-tier AC, threetier AC, AC 3 Tier Economy, Sleeper Class, General Class. These are all air-conditioned trains linking major cities to New Delhi. The Rajdhanis have high priority and are one of the fastest trains in India, travelling at about 140 km/h (87 mph). There are only a few stops on a Rajdhani route.

Rajdhani Express

Shatabdi and Jan Shatabdi Express Garib Rath

The Shatabdi trains are AC intercity seater-type trains for travel during day. Jan-Shatabdi trains consists of both AC and non-AC classes. Fully air conditioned trains, designed for those who cannot afford to travel in the expensive Shatabti and Rajdhani Express. Garib Rath means "Chariot of the Poor". The maximum speed is 130 km/h.

Superfast These are trains that have an average speed greater than Mail/Express 55 km/h (34 mph). Tickets for these trains have an additional super-fast surcharge. Mail/Express These are the most common kind of trains in India. They have more stops than their super-fast counterparts, but they stop only at relatively important intermediate stations. Passenger and Fast Passenger Suburban trains These are slow trains that stop at most stations along the route and are the cheapest trains. The trains generally have unreserved seating accommodation but some night trains have sleeper and 3A compartments. These trains operate in urban areas, usually stop at all stations and have unreserved seating accommodation.

[edit] Suburban rail

The Delhi Metro railway

Chennai MRTS

Many cities have their own dedicated suburban networks to cater to commuters. Currently, suburban networks operate in Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Delhi, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Pune and Lucknow-Kanpur. Hyderabad, Pune and Lucknow-Kanpur do not have dedicated suburban tracks but share the tracks with long distance trains. New Delhi, Kolkata, and Chennai have their own metro networks, namely the New Delhi Metro, the Kolkata Metro,and the Chennai MRTS, with dedicated tracks mostly laid on a flyover.

Mumbai's suburban trains handle 6.3 million commuters daily.[25]

Suburban trains that handle commuter traffic are mostly electric multiple units. They usually have nine coaches or sometimes twelve to handle rush hour traffic. One unit of an EMU train consists of one power car and two general coaches. Thus a nine coach EMU is made up of three units having one power car at each end and one at the middle. The rakes in Mumbai run on direct current, while those elsewhere use alternating current.[26] A standard coach is designed to accommodate 96 seated passengers, but the actual number of passengers can easily double or triple with standees during rush hour. [edit] Accommodation classes

An 'Open' type [3+3] Chair Car

Several long trains are composed of two to three classes of travel, such as a 1st and 2nd classes which have different pricing systems for various amenities. The 1st Class refers to coaches with separate cabins, coaches can be air-conditioned or non air-conditioned.

An AC 1 Class coach

Further, other AC classes can have 2 or 3 tier berths, with higher prices for the former, 3-tier non-AC coaches or 2nd class seating coaches, which are popular among passengers going on shorter journeys. In air-conditioned sleeper classes passengers are provided with sheets, pillows and blankets. Meals and refreshments are provided, to all the passengers of reserved classes, either through the on-board pantry service or through special catering arrangements in trains without pantry car. Unreserved coach passengers have options of purchasing from licensed vendors either on board or on the platform of intermediate stops. The amenities depend on the popularity and length of the route. Lavatories are communal and feature both the Indian style as well as the Western style. The following table lists the classes in operation. Not all classes may be attached to a rake though.
Class[27] Description[27][28]

1A

The First class AC: This is the most expensive class, where the fares are on par with airlines. Bedding is included with the fare in IR. This air conditioned coach is present only on popular routes between metropolitan cities and can carry 18 passengers. The coaches are carpeted, have sleeping accommodation and have privacy features like personal coupes. AC-Two tier: Air conditioned coaches with sleeping berths, ample leg room, curtains and individual reading lamps. Berths are usually arranged in two tiers in bays of six, four across the width of the coach then the gangway then two berths longways, with curtains provided to give some privacy from those walking up and down. Bedding is included with the fare. A broad gauge coach can carry 48 passengers. First class: Same as 1AC, without the air conditioning. This class is not very common. AC three tier: Air conditioned coaches with sleeping berths. Berths are usually arranged as in 2AC but with three tiers across the width and two longways as before giving eight bays of eight. They are slightly less well appointed, usually no reading lights or curtained off gangways. Bedding is included with fare. It carries 64 passengers in broad gauge. AC three tier (Economy): Air conditioned coaches with sleeping berths, present in Garib Rath Trains. Berths are usually arranged as in 3AC but with three tiers across the width and three longways. They are slightly less well appointed, usually no reading lights or curtained off gangways. Bedding is not included with fare. AC chair car: An air-conditioned seater coach with a total of five seats in a row used for day travel between cities. Executive class chair car: An air-conditioned seater coach with a total of four seats in a row used for day travel between cities. Sleeper class: The sleeper class is the most common coach, and usually ten or more coaches could be attached. These are regular sleeping coaches with three berths vertically stacked. In broad gauge, it carries 72 passengers per coach. Railways have modified certain Sleeper Coaches on popular trains to accommodate 81 passengers in place of regular 72 passengers. This was done in order to facilitate benefits like clear the Passenger rush and simultaneously earn more revenue. But this has got lukewarm response with criticism from the travellers and railways has decided to remove them. Seater class: same as AC Chair car, but with bench style seats and without

2A

FC 3A

3E

CC EC SL

2S

the air-conditioning. UR Unreserved: The cheapest accommodation, with seats made of pressed wood and are rarely cushioned. Although entry into the compartment is guaranteed, a sitting seat is not guaranteed. Tickets issued are valid on any train on the same route if boarded within 24 hours of buying the ticket. These coaches are usually very crowded.

A typical sleeper class coach

At the rear of the train is a special compartment known as the guard's cabin. It is fitted with a transceiver and is where the guard usually gives the all clear signal before the train departs. A standard passenger rake generally has four general compartments, two at the front and two behind, of which one is exclusively for ladies. The exact number varies according to the demand and the route. A luggage compartment can also exist at the front or the back. In some trains a separate mail compartment is present. In long-distance trains a pantry car is usually included in the centre.
[edit] Train Numbering

Effective December 20, 2010, the railways will deploy a 5 digit numbering system instead of the 4 digit system. The need is due to the fact that the Indian Railways runs 10,000 trains daily.[29] Only a prefix of the digit 1 will be added to the four-digit numbers of the existing trains to make the transition smoother. The special trains run to clear festivals and holiday rush shall have the prefix of 0 (zero) [edit] Notable trains and achievements

A train on the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway

There are two UNESCO World Heritage Sites on IR the Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus[30] and the Mountain railways of India. The latter is not contiguous, but actually consists of three separate railway lines located in different parts of India:[31]
The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, a narrow gauge railway in West Bengal. The Nilgiri Mountain Railway, a metre gauge railway in the Nilgiri Hills in Tamil Nadu The Kalka-Shimla Railway, a narrow gauge railway in the Shivalik mountains in Himachal Pradesh. The Maharaha Railways , a narrow gauge line of just 0.6m width from Gwalior to Sheopur of 198 km. in length is world's longest narrow gauge railway line is in the UNESCO world heritage tentative list. The Neral-Matheran Railway , a narrow gauge railway connecting Matheran is also a historic line.

The Palace on Wheels is a specially designed train, frequently hauled by a steam locomotive, for promoting tourism in Rajasthan. On the same lines, the Maharashtra government introduced the Deccan Odyssey covering various tourist destinations in Maharashtra and Goa, and was followed by the Government of Karnataka which introduced the Golden Chariot train connecting popular tourist destinations in Karnataka and Goa. However, neither of them has been able to enjoy the popular success of the Palace on Wheels. The Samjhauta Express is a train that runs between India and Pakistan. However, hostilities between the two nations in 2001 saw the line being closed. It was reopened when the hostilities subsided in 2004. Another train connecting Khokhrapar (Pakistan) and Munabao (India) is the Thar Express that restarted operations on February 18, 2006; it was earlier closed down after the 1965 Indo-Pak war. In 2003 the Kalka Shimla Railway was featured in the Guinness Book of World Records for offering the steepest rise in altitude in the space of 96 kilometre.[32]

A Beyer Garratt 6594 Engine seen at the National Rail Museum

The Lifeline Express is a special train popularly known as the "Hospital-on-Wheels" which provides healthcare to the rural areas. This train has a carriage that serves as an operating room, a second one which serves as a storeroom and an additional two that serve as a patient ward. The

train travels around the country, staying at a location for about two months before moving elsewhere. Among the famous locomotives, the Fairy Queen is the oldest operating locomotive in the world today, though it is operated only for specials between Delhi and Alwar. John Bull, a locomotive older than Fairy Queen, operated in 1981 commemorating its 150th anniversary. Kharagpur railway station also has the distinction of being the world's longest railway platform at 1,072 m (3,517 ft). The Ghum station along the Darjeeling Toy Train route is the second highest railway station in the world to be reached by a steam locomotive.[33] The MumbaiPune Deccan Queen has the oldest running dining car in IR. The Himsagar Express, between Kanyakumari and Jammu Tawi, has the longest run in terms of distance and time on Indian Railways network. It covers 3,745 km (2,327 mi) in about 74 hours and 55 minutes. The Bhopal Shatabdi Express is the fastest train in India today having a maximum speed of 150 km/h (93 mph) on the FaridabadAgra section. The fastest speed attained by any train is 184 km/h (114 mph) in 2000 during test runs. The Rajdhani Express and Shatabdi Express are the superfast, fully air-conditioned trains that give the unique opportunity of experiencing Indian Railways at its best. In July 2009, a new nonstop train service called Duronto Express was announced by the railway minister Mamata Banerjee.[34] [edit] Fares and ticketing Fares on the Indian Railways across categories are among the cheapest in the world. In the past few years, despite a recessionary environment, the Indian Railways have not raised fares on any class of service. On the contrary, there has been a minor dip in fares in some categories. Ticketing services are available at all major and minor railway stations across India. In 2003, Indian Railways launched online ticketing services through the IRCTC website.[35] Apart from Etickets, passengers can also book I-tickets that are basically regular printed tickets, except that they are booked online and delivered by post. According to comScore, the Indian Railways website was the top visited Indian travel site in April 2010, with 7.7 million visitors.[36] [edit] Tourism
Main article: IRCTC#Tourism

IRCTC takes care of the tourism operations of the Indian Railways. The Indian Railways operates several luxury trains such as Palace on Wheels, Golden Chariot, Royal Orient Express and Deccan Odyssey; that cater mostly to foreign tourists. For domestic tourists too, there are several packages available that cover various important tourist and pilgrimage destinations across India.

[edit] Freight

A single line rail bridge

IR carries a huge variety of goods ranging from mineral ores, fertilizers and petrochemicals, agricultural produce, iron & steel, multimodal traffic and others. Ports and major urban areas have their own dedicated freight lines and yards. Many important freight stops have dedicated platforms and independent lines. Indian Railways makes 70% of its revenues and most of its profits from the freight sector, and uses these profits to cross-subsidise the loss-making passenger sector. However, competition from trucks which offer cheaper rates has seen a decrease in freight traffic in recent years. Since the 1990s, Indian Railways has switched from small consignments to larger container movement which has helped speed up its operations. Most of its freight earnings come from such rakes carrying bulk goods such as coal, cement, food grains and iron ore. Indian Railways also transports vehicles over long distances. Trucks that carry goods to a particular location are hauled back by trains saving the trucking company on unnecessary fuel expenses. Refrigerated vans are also available in many areas. The "Green Van" is a special type used to transport fresh food and vegetables. Recently Indian Railways introduced the special 'Container Rajdhani' or CONRAJ, for high priority freight. The highest speed notched up for a freight train is 120 kilometres per hour (75 mph) for a 5,500 metric tonne load. Recent changes have sought to boost the earnings from freight. A privatization scheme was introduced recently to improve the performance of freight trains. Companies are being allowed to run their own container trains. The first length of an 11,000-kilometre (6,800 mi) freight corridor linking India's biggest cities has recently been approved. The railways has increased load limits for the system's 230,000 freight wagons by 11%, legalizing something that was already happening. Due to increase in manufacturing transport in India that was augmented by the increase in fuel cost, transportation by rail became advantageous financially. New measures such as speeding up the turnaround times have added some 24% to freight revenues.

[edit] Dedicated Freight Corridor Under the Eleventh Five Year Plan of India(20072012), Ministry of Railways is constructing a new Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) covering about 2762 route km long two routes - the Eastern Corridor from Ludhiana to Sone Nagar and the Western Corridor from Jawaharlal Nehru Port at Nhava Sheva, Navi Mumbai to Tughlakabad/Dadri along with interlinking of two corridors at Dadri. Upgrading of transportation technology, increase in productivity and reduction in unit transportation cost are the focus areas for the project.[37] According to initial estimates, the project would cost 20,500 crore (US$4.6 billion).[38] A new company, "Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Limited(DFCCIL)", designated as a `special purpose vehicle`, has been created to undertake planning & development, mobilization of financial resources and construction, maintenance and operation of the Dedicated Freight Corridors. DFCCIL has been registered as a company under the Companies Act 1956 on 30 October 2006.[39]

[edit] Rail budget and finances

A sample ticket

The Railway Budget deals with planned infrastructure expenditure on the railways as well as with the operating revenue and expenditure for the upcoming fiscal years, the public elements of which are usually the induction and improvement of existing trains and routes, planned investment in new and existing infrastructure elements, and the tariff for freight and passenger travel. The Parliament discusses the policies and allocations proposed in the budget. The budget needs to be passed by a simple majority in the Lok Sabha (Lower House). The comments of the Rajya Sabha (Upper House) are non-binding. Indian Railways is subject to the same audit control as other government revenue and expenditures. Based on anticipated traffic and the projected tariff, requirement of resources for capital and revenue expenditure of railways is worked out. While the revenue expenditure is met entirely by railways itself, the shortfall in the capital (plan) expenditure is met partly from borrowings (raised by Indian Railway Finance Corporation) and the rest from Budgetary support from the Central Government. Indian Railways pays dividend to the Central Government for the capital invested by the Central Government. As per the Separation Convention (on the recommendations of the Acworth Committee), 1924, the Railway Budget is presented to the Parliament by the Union Railway Minister, two days prior to the General Budget, usually around 26 February. Though the Railway Budget is separately presented to the Parliament, the figures relating to the receipt and expenditure of the Railways

are also shown in the General Budget, since they are a part and parcel of the total receipts and expenditure of the Government of India. This document serves as a balance sheet of operations of the Railways during the previous year and lists out plans for expansion for the current year. The formation of policy and overall control of the railways is vested in Railway Board, comprising the Chairman, the Financial Commissioner and other functional members of Traffic, Engineering, Mechanical, Electrical and Staff departments. Indian Railways, which a few years ago was operating at a loss, has, in recent years, been generating positive cash flows and been meeting its dividend obligations to the government, with (unaudited) operating profits going up substantially.[40] The railway reported a cash surplus of 900 crore (US$199.8 million) in 2005, 14,000 crore (US$3.1 billion) in 2006, 20,000 crore (US$4.4 billion) in 2007 and 25,000 crore (US$5.6 billion) for the 2007-2008 fiscal year. Its operating ratio improved to 76% while, in the last four years, its plan size increased from 13,000 crore (US$2.9 billion) to 30,000 crore (US$6.7 billion). The proposed investment for the 2008-2009 fiscal year is 37,500 crore (US$8.3 billion), 21% more than for the previous fiscal year.[3] Budget Estimates-2008 for Freight, Passenger, Sundry other Earnings and other Coaching Earnings have been kept at 52,700 crore (US$11.7 billion), 21,681 crore (US$4.8 billion), 5,000 crore (US$1.1 billion) and 2,420 crore (US$537.2 million) respectively. Maintaining an overall double digit growth, Gross Traffic Earnings have been projected as 93,159 crore in 200910 (19.1 billion USD at current rate), exceeding the revised estimates for the current fiscal by 10,766 crore (US$2.4 billion).[3] Around 20% of the passenger revenue is earned from the upper class segments of the passenger segment (the air-conditioned classes).[41] The Sixth Pay Commission was constituted by the Government of India in 2005 to review the pay structure of government employees, and submitted its recommendations in April 2008. Based on its recommendations, the salaries of all Railways officers and staff were to be revised with retrospective effect w.e.f. January 1, 2006, resulting in an expenditure of over 13,000 crore (US$2.9 billion) in 2008-09 and 14,000 crore (US$3.1 billion) in 200910. Consequently, staff costs have risen from 44% of ordinary working expenses to 52%.[42]

[edit] Issues
See also: List of Indian rail incidents

Many railway stations are in gross disrepair, dirty, outdated and overcrowded, especially when compared to stations in developed countries. Sometimes passengers are seen on trains hanging out windows and even on the roof creating safety problems.[43] The interior of many train compartments are poorly maintained from rust, dirt and common wear and tear. Given the political infighting, corruption and inefficiencies, it is understandable that there are overcrowding, cleanliness and other maintenance issues. Although accidents such as derailment and collisions are less common in recent times,[44] many are run over by trains, especially in crowded areas. Indian Railways have accepted the fact that given the size of operations, eliminating accidents is an unrealistic goal, and at best they can only minimize the accident rate. Human error is the primary cause, leading to 83% of all train accidents in India.[45] While

accident rates are low - 0.55 accidents per million train kilometre,[45] the absolute number of people killed is high because of the large number of people making use of the network.[46] While strengthening and modernisation of railway infrastructure is in progress, much of the network still uses old signalling and has antiquated bridges.[45] Lack of funds is a major constraint for speedy modernisation of the network, which is further hampered by diversion of funds meant for infrastructure to lower-prioritised purposes due to political compulsions.[46] In order to solve this problem, the Ministry of Railways in 2001 created a non-lapsible safety fund of 17,000 crore (US$3.8 billion) exclusively for the renewal of overaged tracks, bridges, rolling stock and signalling gear.[47] In 2003, the Ministry also prepared a Corporate Safety Plan for the next ten years with the objective of realising a vision of an accident-free and casualty-free railway system. The plan, with an outlay of 31,835 crore (US$7.1 billion), also envisaged development of appropriate technology for higher level of safety in train operation.[48]

[edit] Reforms and upgrades

One line Tunnel at Guntur division

Outdated communication, safety and signaling equipment, which used to contribute to failures in the system, is being updated with the latest technology. A number of train accidents happened on account of a system of manual signals between stations, so automated signaling is getting a boost at considerable expense. It is felt that this would be required given the gradual increase in train speeds and lengths, that would tend to make accidents more dangerous. In the latest instances of signaling control by means of interlinked stations, failure-detection circuits are provided for each track circuit and signal circuit with notification to the signal control centres in case of problems. [49] Though currently available only in a small subset of the overall IR system, anti-collision devices are to be extended to the entire system.[50] Aging colonial-era bridges and century-old tracks also require regular maintenance and upgrading.

Comparison of different gauges common in India with the standard one, which is not common in India

The fastest trains of Indian Railways, Rajdhani Express and Shatabadi Express face competition from low-cost airlines since they run at a maximum speed of only 150 kilometres per hour (93 mph).[51] At least six corridors are under consideration for the introduction of high speed bullet trains to India with expert assistance from France and Japan. IR is in the process of upgrading stations, coaches, tracks, services, safety, and security, and streamlining its various software management systems including crew scheduling, freight, and passenger ticketing. Crew members will be able to log in using biometric scanners at kiosks while passengers can avail themselves of online booking.[52] Initially, various upgrade and overhaul work will be performed at more than five hundred stations, some of it by private contract. All metre gauge lines in the country will be converted to broad gauge (see Project Unigauge). New LHB stainless steel coaches, manufactured in India, have been installed in Rajdhani and Shatabdi express trains.[50] These coaches enhance the safety and riding comfort of passengers besides having more carrying capacity, and in time will replace thousands of old model coaches throughout Indian Railways. More durable and conforming polyurethane paint is now being used to enhance the quality of rakes and significantly reduce the cost of repainting. Improved ventilation and illumination are part of the new scheme of things, along with the decision to install air brake systems on all coaches. New manufacturing units are being set up to produce state-of-the-art locomotives and coaches.[50] IR is also expanding its telemedicine network facilities to further give its employees in far-flung and remote areas access to specialized medicine. IR has also piloted Internet connectivity on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Shatabdi Express,[53] powered by Techno Sat Communications It is estimated that modernisation of IR and bringing it up to international standards would require US$280 billion in new upgrades and investment from 2010 to 2020.[54]

Sanitation in trains and stations throughout the system is getting more attention with the introduction of eco-friendly, discharge-free, green (or bio-) toilets developed by IIT Kanpur[citation needed] . Updated eco-friendly refrigerant is being used in AC systems while fire detection systems will be installed on trains in a phased manner. New rodent-control and cleanliness procedures are working their way into the many zones of IR. Central Railway's 'Operation Saturday' is gradually making progress, station by station, in the cleanup of its Mumbai division. Augmentation of capacity has also been carried out in order to meet increasing demand. The number of coaches on each train have been increased to 24, from 16, which increased costs by 28% but increased revenues by 78%. The railways were permitted to carry 68 tons per wagon, up from the earlier limit of 54 tons per wagon, thereby cutting costs. The turnaround time for freight wagons was reduced from 7 days to 5 by operating the goods shed 24X7, electrifying every feeder line (this reduced time spent switching the engine from diesel to electric or from electric to diesel). Reducing the turnaround time meant that the Railways could now load 800 trains daily, instead of 550 trains daily. The minimum tonnage requirements were reduced allowing companies to unload their cargo at multiple stops.[55]

[edit] See also

Railways in India portal

List of countries by rail transport network size List of railway stations in India Rail transport in India

[edit] Notes
is less than 15% of the national budget. Though the Railway budget can no longer be justified as a separate budget presentation, it is still watched eagerly as the annual fare and tariff settings are declared on this day

[edit] See also

Rail transport in India Indian Railway Organisational Structure

Mamata Banerjee
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search

Mamata Banerjee

Minister of Railways Government of India Incumbent Assumed office 22 May 2009 Preceded by

Lalu Prasad Yadav

5 January 1955 (1955-01-05) Born (age 56) Kolkata, West Bengal, India Nationality Indian

Political pa rty

All India Trinamool Congress

Spouse(s) None New Delhi, India

(Official) (Private)

Residence

Kolkata, West Bengal

Alma mate Jogesh Chandra Chaudhuri Law r College Advocate Social Worker Hinduism Mamata Banerjee

Profession

Religion Website

Mamata Banerjee (Bengali: , [mmota bnarji]; born 5 January 1955) is the leader of the Trinamool Congress and Leader of the Opposition in the state of West Bengal.[1] She is the founder and chairperson of the party and is the current Railway Minister of the Republic of India.[2][3] Mamata is popularly known as "Didi" the elder sister to all her followers in West Bengal. Her oratory was all about connecting with ordinary people with ordinary dreams. She is noted for her opposition to Special Economic Zones and forceful land acquisition for industrialization in West Bengal at the cost of agriculturalists and farmers.[1]

Contents
[hide] 1 Biography 2 Political career 2.1 Indian National Congress 2.2 Trinamool Congress 2.2.1 Railway Minister, first tenure 2.2.2 Split with NDA

3 Nandigram protests

4 2009 Indian election 4.1 Railway Minister, second tenure 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Biography
Mamata Banerjee was born to Shri Promileswar Banerjee and Smt. Gayatri Banerjee on 5 January 1955, in Calcutta (now Kolkata), West Bengal, India. She grew up from a lower middleclass family and then started her political career with the Congress. And, as a young woman in the 1970s, she quickly rose in the ranks to become the general secretary of the state Mahila Congress (197680).[1] She was a college-going adult in the mid-seventies when politics in Bengal had begun to accommodate the riffraff. Uninhibited, she jumped up on the bonnet of Jaiprakash Narayan's car. Throughout her political life she maintained an austere lifestyle and never spends money on clothes, cosmetics and jewellery and slung a cotton bag on her shoulder.
[4][5]

She graduated in arts from the Jogamaya Devi College, an affiliated undergraduate women's college of the historic University of Calcutta, in Kolkata.[6] Later she earned a master's degree from the same university. Her B.Ed. was done from the Shri Shikshayatan College, which is affiliated with the same university. Later, she earned a law degree LL.B. from the Jogesh Chandra Choudhury College of Law, Kolkata.[7]

[edit] Political career

[edit] Indian National Congress

She started her political career with Congress(I), and as a young woman in the 1970s, she quickly rose in the ranks of the local Congress group, and remained the General Secretary of Mahila Congress (I), West Bengal, from 1976 to 1980.[8] In the 1984 general election, she became one of India's youngest parliamentarians ever, beating veteran Communist politician Somnath Chatterjee, from the Jadavpur parliamentary Constituency in West Bengal. She also became the General-Secretary of the All India Youth Congress. Losing her seat in 1989 in an anti-Congress wave, she was back in 1991 general elections, having settled into the Calcutta South constituency. She retained the Kolkata South seat in the 1996, 1998, 1999, 2004 and 2009 general elections. In the Rao government formed in 1991, Mamata Banerjee was made the Union Minister of State for Human Resources Development, Youth Affairs and Sports, and Women and Child Development. As the sports minister, she announced that she would resign, and protested in a rally at the Brigade Parade Ground in Kolkata, against Government's indifference towards her proposal to improve sports in the country(this never happened).[9] She was discharged of her portfolios in 1993. In April 1996, she alleged that Congress was behaving as a stooge of the CPIM in West Bengal. She claimed that she was the lone voice of protest and wanted a "clean Congress". At a public rally at Alipore in Kolkata, Mamata Banerjee wrapped a black shawl around her neck and threatened to make a noose with it.[10] In July 1996, she squatted at the well of Lok Sabha to protest against the hike in petroleum price, though she was a part of the Government. In that very time she clasped the coller of Amar singh, MP of Samajwadi Party, in the well of the parliament. In February 1997, on the day of railway budget presentation in Lok

Sabha, Mamata Banerjee threw her shawl at the railway minister Ram Vilas Paswan for ignoring West Bengal and announced her resignation. The speaker, P. A. Sangma, did not accept her resignation and asked her to apologize. Later she came back as Santosh Mohan Deb mediated.
[edit] Trinamool Congress

Flag of Trinamool Congress

In 1997, Mamata Banerjee came out of the Congress Party in West Bengal and established the All India Trinamool Congress. It quickly became the primary opposition to the long-standing Communist government in the state. On 11 December 1998, she controversially held a Samajwadi Party MP, Daroga Prasad Saroj, by the collar and dragged him out of the well of the Lok Sabha to prevent him from protesting against the Women's Reservation bill.[11] In 1999, she joined the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government and was allocated the Railways Ministry. [edit] Railway Minister, first tenure In 2000, Mamata Banerjee presented her first Railway Budget. In it she fulfilled many of her promises to her home state West Bengal.[12] She introduced a new biweekly New Delhi-Sealdah Rajdhani Express train and four express trains connecting various parts of West Bengal, namely the Howrah-Purulia Rupasi Bangla Express, Sealdah-New Jalpaiguri Express, Shalimar-Bankura Arannyak Express and the Sealdah-Amritsar Superfast Express (weekly).[12] She also increased the frequency of the Pune-Howrah Azad Hind Express and extension of at least three express train services. Work on the Digha-Howrah Express service also hastened during her brief tenure.
[13]

She also focused on developing tourism, enabling the Darjeeling-Himalayan section with two additional locomotives and proposing the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Limited. She also commented that India should play a pivotal role in the Trans-Asian Railway and that rail links between Bangladesh and Nepal would be reintroduced. In all, she introduced 19 new trains for the 20002001 fiscal year.[13] [edit] Split with NDA In early 2001, after making allegations against the BJP, she walked out of the NDA cabinet and allied with the Congress Party for West Bengal's 2001 elections, amidst speculation that the move could unseat the Communist government. She returned to the cabinet in January 2004, holding the Ministry of Coal and Mines portfolios until the 2004 Elections, in which she was the only Trinamool Congress member to win a Parliament seat from West Bengal.

On 20 October 2005, she protested against the industrialization policy of the Buddhadev Bhattacharya government in West Bengal. Benny Santoso, CEO of the Indonesia-based Salim Group had pledged a large investment to West Bengal, and the West Bengal government had given him farmland in Howrah, sparking protest. Despite soaking rain, Mamata and other Trinamool Congress members stood in front of the Taj Hotel where Santoso had arrived, shut out by the police. Later, she and supporters followed Santoso's convoy. A planned "black flag" protest was avoided, when the government had Santoso arrive 3 hours ahead of schedule.[14][15] Mamata Banerjee suffered further setbacks in 2005, when her party lost control of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation and the sitting Mayor defected from her party. In 2006, the Trinamool Congress was defeated in West Bengal's Assembly Elections, losing more than half of its sitting members. On 4 August 2006, she hurled her resignation paper at the deputy speaker Charanjit Singh Atwal in Lok Sabha. The provocation was the speaker's (Somnath Catterjee) rejection of her adjournment motion on illegal infiltration by Bangladeshi's in West Bengal. The motion was turned down by the speaker on the ground that it was not in proper format.[16][17] In November 2006, Mamata Banerjee was forcibly stopped on her way to Singur for a rally against a proposed Tata Motors car project. Mamata reached the West Bengal assembly and protested at the venue. She addressed a press conference at the assembly and announced a 12hour shutdown by her party on Friday.[18] The Trinamul Congress MLAs protested by damaging furniture and microphones in the West Bengal Assembly.[18][19] A major strike was called on 14 December 2006. Now in parliament election 2009 where TMC was with alliance with UPA and people of WestBengal acted majorly against the Left front and elected Congress-TMC alliance in 26 seats, which made Mamata Banerjee again the Indian Railway Minister for next 5 years. In the 2010 Municipal Elections in West Bengal, TMC won KOLKATA CORPORATION in a margin of 62 seats.Also won Bidhan Nagar Corporation in 16-9 seats margin. TMC also hold the record number of seats won by a single party at the kolkata municipal elections

[edit] Nandigram protests

Main article: Nandigram violence

The West Bengal government wanted to start a chemical hub in the Nandigram area for employment generation. Rumour was spread by Trinamool Congress and Media that The Haldia Development authority headed by Mr. Laxman Seth hosted a notice giving the idea of land acquisition in Nandigram.But no such notice was given and not a single piece of land was acquird by Government in Nandigram.[20][21] Trinamool Congress started a blockade. The Chief minister demanded the notice be torn off.[22] On 14 March the trinamooli hooligans started throwing bombs to police and in retaliation the cops started firing.In police firing and by the bombs thrown by Trinamooli goons killed 14 villagers, when cops were sent to remove the blockade of around 6 months by Mamata Banerjee's violent movement there. Her party agitated local people to stand against authority.[23] Many common people were homeless due to this political carnage.[24] A large number of Intellectuals with vested interests protested on the streets and this incident gave birth of a new hope for movement to ouster the left from government headed by the CPI(M).[25][26][27] Mamata Banerjee wrote letters to the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil to stop the violence allegedly promoted by CPI(M) in Nandigram.Maoist leader Kishanji admotted later on that his men helped

trinamool workers in Nandigram.[28][29][30] Agitation in Nandigram has subsided, after the State Govt. shelved the proposed chemical hub project. Mamata Banerjee gained a huge political benefit from all this.[31]

[edit] 2009 Indian election

Trinamool congress performed well in the 2009 parliamentary election, bagging 19 MP seats, among them 5 women (including her), reiterating her faith in the Women's Reservation Bill. Its allies Congress and SUCI also got 6 and 1 MP seats respectively. This is the best performance by any opposition party in West Bengal since the start of the left regime. Till date the congress victory of 16 seats in 1984, by the sympathy vote after the death of Mrs. Indira Gandhi, was considered the best opposition show.
[edit] Railway Minister, second tenure

In 2009, Mamata Banerjee became Railway Minister for the second time. After becoming railway minister for the second time, Mamata Banerjee declared many new initiatives in the Railway Budget 2009, which reflects Banerjee's clear inclination towards her home state (West Bengal) though eventually she took measures to show her willingness to work for the entire country. She decided to develop about 50 stations as world class stations with international level facilities. These will be developed, through innovative financing and in Public Private Partnership mode. Besides, she also declared railways decision to develop more 375 stations as Adarsh(Ideal) Stations. She also announced the construction of Multi-functional Complexes in station premises for providing rail users facilities like shopping, food stalls and restaurants, book stalls, PCO/STD/ISD/Fax booths, medicine & variety stores, budget hotels, underground parking etc. She announced that this complexes will be built in Public-Private Partnership. Besides, she also decided to set up Scholarships for higher education of girl children of group D staff for promoting their economic independence. She proposed to open seven Nursing Colleges on Railway land.[32] She also introduced some new concept of Trains like Duronto, Yuva in budget. Now Duronto is the fastest train service in India.[33] To relieve women passengers during rush hour,Mamata started Ladies Special Train on 19 July between Bandel and Howrah. [34] Later, some more Ladies Special has been introduced by her, e.g. Kalyani-Sealdah, PanvelMumbai CST.[35] Mamata Banerjee flagged off the Duronto Express a non-stop train, fastest train of India between Sealdah and New Delhi on 18 September.[36] Super fast Duronto Express train between Chennai and New Delhi was introduced on 21 September. She also took steps to spread railway in terror hit regions of Kashmir. Anantnag-Qadigund Railway line was inaugurated in October.
[37]

On 7 February 2010, Banerjee will start as many as nineteen new train services.[38] Due to repeated sexual harassment and/or sexual assault of India's women commuters, eight trains will be designated as women-only.[39]

[edit] References

Rail transport in India

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search This article is about general features common to all forms of rail transport in India. For the national railway network in India, see Indian Railways.

Map showing the Indian rail network and travelling times between major stations

Rail transport is a commonly used mode of long-distance transportation in India. Almost all rail operations in India are handled by a state-owned organisation, Indian Railways, Ministry of Railways. The rail network traverses the length and breadth of the country, covering a total length of 64,015 kilometres (39,777 mi).[1] It is said to be the 4th largest railway network in the world,[2] transporting over 6 billion passengers and over 350 million tonnes of freight annually.[1] Its operations cover twenty eight states and three union territories and also provide limited service to Nepal, Bangladesh and Pakistan. Both passenger and freight traffic has seen steady growth, and as per the 2009 budget presented by the Railway Minister, the Indian Railways carried over 7 billion passengers in 2009 Railways were introduced to India in 1853,[3] and by the time of India's independence in 1947 they had grown to forty-two rail systems. In 1951 the systems were nationalised as one unit Indian Railwaysto form one of the largest networks in the world. The broad gauge is the majority and original standard gauge in India; more recent networks of metre and narrow gauge are being replaced by broad gauge under Project Unigauge. The steam locomotives have been replaced over the years with diesel and electric locomotives. Locomotives manufactured at several places in India are assigned codes identifying their gauge, kind of power and type of operation. Colour signal lights are used as signals, but in some remote areas of operation, the older semaphores and disc-based signalling are still in use.

Accommodation classes range from general through first class AC. Trains have been classified according to speed and area of operation. All trains are officially identified by a five-digit code (changed from four digits from 20th December 2010[4]), though many are commonly known by unique names. The ticketing system has been computerised to a large extent, and there are reserved as well as unreserved categories of tickets.

Contents
[hide] 1 History 2 Locomotives 3 Signalling systems 4 Production units 5 Nomenclature 6 Hierarchy of trains 7 Suburban rail 8 Ticketing 9 International links 9.1 Proposed rail links 10 Private railways 11 See also 12 Notes 13 References 14 External links

[edit] History
Main article: History of rail transport in India Further information: 2010 in rail transport in India

Extent of Great Indian Peninsular Railway network in 1870. The GIPR was one of the largest rail companies at that time.

Map of the Madras and South Mahratta Railway lines in 1914.

Extent of the railway network in 1909.

Commemorative logo released by the Indian Railways in 2003 to mark 150 years of its existence.

A plan for a rail system in India was first put forward in 1832. The first rail line of the Indian sub-continent came up near Chintadripet Bridge (presently in Chennai) in Madras Presidency in 1836 as an experimental line.[5][6] In 1837, a 3.5-mile long rail line was established between Red Hills and stone quarries near St. Thomas Mount.[7] In 1844, the Governor-General of India Lord Hardinge allowed private entrepreneurs to set up a rail system in India. The East India Company (and later the British Government) encouraged new railway companies backed by private investors under a scheme that would provide land and guarantee an annual return of up to five percent during the initial years of operation. The companies were to build and operate the lines under a 99 year lease, with the government having the option to buy them earlier.[8] Two new railway companies, Great Indian Peninsular Railway (GIPR) and East Indian Railway (EIR), were created in 1853-54 to construct and operate two 'experimental' lines near Bombay and Calcutta respectively.[8] The first train in India had become operational on 22 December 1851 for localised hauling of canal construction material in Roorkee.[9] A year and a half later, on 16 April 1853, the first passenger train service was inaugurated between Bori Bunder in Bombay and Thane. Covering a distance of 34 kilometres (21 mi), it was hauled by three locomotives, Sahib, Sindh, and Sultan.[10] In 1854 Lord Dalhousie, the then Governor-General of India, formulated a plan to construct a network of trunk lines connecting the principal regions of India. Encouraged by the government guarantees, investment flowed in and a series of new rail companies were established, leading to rapid expansion of the rail system in India.[11] Soon various native states built their own rail systems and the network spread to the regions that became the modern-day states of Assam, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh. The route mileage of this network increased from 1,349 kilometres (838 mi) in 1860 to 25,495 kilometres (15,842 mi) in 1880 - mostly radiating inland from the three major port cities of Bombay, Madras, and Calcutta.[12] Most of the railway construction was done by Indian companies. The railway line from Lahore to Delhi was done B.S.D. Bedi and Sons (Baba Shib Dayal Bedi), this included the building of the Jamuna Bridge. By 1895, India had started building its own locomotives, and in 1896 sent engineers and locomotives to help build the Uganda Railway.[citation needed] At the beginning of the twentieth century India had a multitude of rail services with diverse ownership and management, operating on broad, metre and narrow gauge networks.[13] In 1900 the government took over the GIPR network, while the company continued to manage it. With the arrival of the First World War, the railways were used to transport troops and foodgrains to the port city of Bombay and Karachi en route to UK, Mesopotamia, East Africa etc. By the end of the First World War, the railways had suffered immensely and were in a poor state.[14] In 1923, both GIPR and EIR were nationalized with the state assuming both ownership and management control.[13] The Second World War severely crippled the railways as rolling stock was diverted to the Middle East, and the railway workshops were converted into munitions workshops.[15] After independence in 1947, forty-two separate railway systems, including thirty-two lines owned by the former Indian princely states, were amalgamated as a single unit, which was christened as the Indian Railways. The existing rail networks were abandoned in favour of zones in 1951 and a total of six zones came into being in 1952.[13]

As the economy of India improved, almost all railway production units were 'indigenised' (produced in India). By 1985, steam locomotives were phased out in favour of diesel and electric locomotives. The entire railway reservation system was streamlined with computerisation between 1987 and 1995. In 2003, the Indian Railways celebrated 150 years of its existence. Various zones of the railways celebrated the event by running heritage trains on routes similar to the ones on which the first trains in the zones ran. The Ministry of Railways commemorated the event by launching a special logo celebrating the completion of 150 years of service.[16][17] Also launched was a new mascot for the 150th year celebrations, named "Bholu the guard elephant".[18]

[edit] Locomotives
Main article: Indian locomotives

A DMU Train

The Nilgiri Mountain Railway, one of the oldest running steam locomotives, in India

The government has spent a lot of money to boost foreign direct investment. Seen here is a multi billion dollar rail link in central Kashmir, 2nd highest in the world

Indian Railways use a specialised classification code for identifying its locomotives. The code is usually three or four letters, followed by a digit identifying the model (either assigned chronologically or encoding the power rating of the locomotive).[19] This could be followed by other codes for minor variations in the base model. The three (or four) letters are, from left to right, the gauge of tracks on which the locomotive operates, the type of power source or fuel for the locomotive, and the kind of operation the locomotive can be used for.[19] The gauge is coded as 'W' for broad gauge, 'Y' for metre gauge, 'Z' for the 762 mm narrow gauge and 'N' for the 610 mm narrow gauge. The power source code is 'D' for diesel, 'A' for AC traction, 'C' for DC traction and 'CA' for dual traction (AC/DC). The operation letter is 'G' for freight-only operation, 'P' for passenger trains-only operation, 'M' for mixed operation (both passenger and freight) and 'S' for shunting operation. A number alongside it indicates the power rating of the engine.[19] For example '4' would indicate a power rating of above 4,000 hp (2,980 kW) but below 5,000 hp (3,730 kW). A letter following the number is used to give an exact rating. For instance 'A' would be an additional 100 horsepower (75 kW); 'B' 200 hp (150 kW) and so on. For example, a WDM-3D is a broad-gauge, diesel-powered, mixed mode (suitable for both freight and passenger duties) and has a power rating of 3400 hp (2.5 MW). The most common diesel engine used is the WDM-2, which entered production in 1962. This 2,600 hp (1.9 MW) locomotive was designed by Alco and manufactured by the Diesel Locomotive Works, Varanasi, and is used as a standard workhorse.[20] It is being replaced by more modern engines, ranging in power up to 4,000 hp (3 MW). There is a wide variety of electric locomotives used, ranging between 2,800 to 6,350 hp (2.1 to 4.7 MW).[20] They also accommodate the different track voltages in use. Most electrified sections in the country use 25,000 volt AC, but railway lines around Mumbai use the older 1,500 V DC system.[21] Thus, Mumbai and surrounding areas are the only places where one can find AC/DC dual locomotives of the WCAM and WCAG series. All other electric locomotives are pure AC ones from the WAP, WAG and WAM series. Some specialised electric multiple units on the Western Railway also use dual-power systems. There are also some very rare battery-powered locomotives, primarily used for shunting and yard work.

The only steam engines still in service in India operate on two heritage lines (Darjeeling and Ooty), and on the tourist train Palace on Wheels.[22] Plans are afoot to re-convert the NeralMatheran to steam. The oldest steam engine in the world in regular service, the Fairy Queen, operates between Delhi and Alwar.

[edit] Signalling systems

See also: Railway signal and Railway signalling

The Indian Railways makes use of colour signal lights, but in some remote areas of operation, the older semaphores and discs-based signalling (depending on the position or colour) are still in use.[23] Except for some high-traffic sections around large cities and junctions, the network does not use automatic block systems. However, the signals at stations are almost invariably interlocked with the setting of points (routes) and so safety does not depend on the skill of the station masters. With the planned introduction of Cab signalling/Anti collision devices the element of risk on account of drivers overshooting signals will also be eliminated. Coloured signalling makes use of multi-coloured lighting and in many places is automatically controlled. There are three modes:[23]
Two aspect signalling, which uses a red (bottom) and green (top) lamp Three aspect signalling, which uses an additional amber lamp in the centre Four (multiple) aspect signalling makes use of four lamps, the fourth is amber and is placed above the other three.

Multiple aspect signals, by providing several intermediate speed stages between 'clear' and 'on', allow high-speed trains sufficient time to brake safely if required. This becomes very important as train speeds rise. Without multiple-aspect signals, the stop signals have to be placed very far apart to allow sufficient braking distance and this reduces track utilisation. At the same time, slower trains can also be run closer together on track with multiple aspect signals. Semaphores make use of a mechanical arm to indicate the line condition. Several subtypes are used:[23]
Two aspect lower quadrant Three aspect modified lower quadrant Multiple aspect upper quadrant Disc-based: These signals are located close to levers used to operate points. They are all two-aspect signals.

[edit] Production units

The Chittaranjan Locomotive Works in Chittaranjan makes electric locomotives. The Diesel Locomotive Works in Varanasi makes diesel locomotives. The Integral Coach Factory in Perambur makes integral coaches. These have a monocoque construction, and the floor is an integral unit with the undercarriage. The Rail Coach Factory in Kapurthala also makes coaches. The Rail Wheel Factory at Yelahanka manufactures wheels and axles. Some electric locomotives have been supplied by BHEL, Jhansi, and locomotive components are manufactured in several other plants around the country.[19]

[edit] Nomenclature

The Secunderabad Railway Station is one of the major stations in India

Trains are sorted into various categories that dictate the number of stops along their route, the priority they enjoy on the network, and the fare structure. Each express train is identified by a five-digit number, the first digit as 1 for long-distance trains. The second digit indicates the zone that operates the train, the third the division within the zone that controls the train and is responsible for its regular maintenance and cleanliness, and the last two digits are the train's serial number.[24] The system was changed from four digits from 20th December 2010[4], in order to accommodate an increasing number of trains. For super-fast trains, the second digit is always 2 (the first remains 1),[24] the third digit is the zone, the fourth is the division and only the last digit is the serial number within the division. Trains travelling in opposite directions along the same route are usually labelled with consecutive numbers.[24] However, there is considerable variation in train numbers and some zones, such as Central Railway, has a less systematic method for numbering trains.[24] Most express trains also have a unique name that is usually exotic and taken from landmarks, famous people, rivers and so on.[25][26]

[edit] Hierarchy of trains

Trains are classified by their average speed.[27] A faster train has fewer stops ("halts") than a slower one and usually caters to long-distance travel.
Ran k 1 Train Duronto Express Description These are the non-stop point to point rail services (except for operational stops) introduced for the first time in 2009. These trains connect the metros and major state capitals of India and are faster than Rajdhani Expresses. The Duronto services consists of three classes of accommodation, namely, first AC, two-tier AC, three-tier AC. These are all air-conditioned trains linking major cities to New Delhi. The Rajdhanis have high priority and are one of the fastest trains in India, travelling at about 140 km/h (87 mph). There are

Rajdhani Express

only a few stops on a Rajdhani route. 3 Shatabdi and Jan Shatabdi Express Superfast Express Express and Mail trains The Shatabdi trains are AC intercity seater-type trains for day travel. Jan-Shatabdi trains consists of both AC and non-AC classes.

These are trains that have an average speed greater than 55 km/h (34 mph). Tickets for these trains have an additional super-fast surcharge. These are the most common kind of trains in India. They have more stops than their superfast counterparts, but they stop only at relatively important intermediate stations.

These are slow trains that stop at most stations along the route Passenger and are the cheapest trains. The trains generally have unreserved and Fast seating accommodation but some night trains have sleeper and 3A Passenger accommodation. Suburban trains These trains operate in urban areas, usually stop at all stations and have unreserved seating accommodation.

[edit] Suburban rail

The Delhi Metro railway

Chennai MRTS

Many cities have their own dedicated suburban networks to cater to commuters. Currently, suburban networks operate in Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Delhi, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Pune and Lucknow-Kanpur. Mumbai, Hyderabad, Pune and Lucknow-Kanpur do not have dedicated suburban tracks but share the tracks with long distance trains. New Delhi, Kolkata, and Chennai have their own metro networks, namely the New Delhi Metro, the Kolkata Metro,and the Chennai MRTS, with dedicated tracks mostly laid on a flyover.

Mumbai's suburban trains handle 6.3 million commuters daily.[28]

Suburban trains that handle commuter traffic are mostly electric multiple units. They usually have nine coaches or sometimes twelve to handle rush hour traffic. One unit of an EMU train consists of one power car and two general coaches. Thus a nine coach EMU is made up of three units having one power car at each end and one at the middle. The rakes in Mumbai run on direct current, while those elsewhere use alternating current.[29] A standard coach is designed to accommodate 96 seated passengers, but the actual number of passengers can easily double or triple with standees during rush hour.

[edit] Ticketing

A ticket reservation office in Guntur Division.

India has some of the lowest train fares in the world, and passenger traffic is heavily subsidised by more expensive higher class fares.[30] Until the late 1980s, Indian Railway ticket reservations were done manually. In late 1987, the Railways started using a computerised ticketing system. The entire ticketing system went online in 1995 to provide up to date information on status and availability. Today the ticketing network is computerised to a large extent, with the exception of some remote places. Computerized tickets can be booked for any two points in the country. Tickets can also be booked through the internet and via mobile phones, though this method carries an additional surcharge. Discounted tickets are available for senior citizens (above sixty years) and some other categories of passengers including the disabled, students, sportspersons, persons afflicted by serious diseases, or persons appearing for competitive examinations. One compartment of the lowest class of accommodation is earmarked for ladies in every passenger carrying train. Some berths or seats in sleeper class and second class are also earmarked for ladies.[31] Season tickets permitting unlimited travel on specific sections or specific trains for a specific time period may also be available. Foreign tourists can buy an Indrail Pass,[32] which is modeled on the Eurail Pass, permitting unlimited travel in India for a specific time period.

An Indian Railway Ticket from Chennai to Vijayawada by Howrah Mail.

For long-distance travel, reservation of a berth can be done for comfortable travel up to 90 days prior to the date of intended travel.[31] Details such as the name, age and concession (if eligible) are required and are recorded on the ticket. The ticket price usually includes the base fare, which depends on the classification of the train (example: super-fast surcharge if the train is classified as a super-fast), the class in which one wishes to travel and the reservation charge for overnight journeys. If a seat is not available, then the ticket is given a wait listed number; else the ticket is confirmed, and a berth number is printed on the ticket. A person receiving a wait listed ticket must wait until there are enough cancellations to enable him to move up the list and obtain a confirmed ticket.[31] [32] If his ticket is not confirmed on the day of departure, he may not board the train. Some of the tickets are assigned to the RAC or Reservation against Cancellation, which is between the waiting list and the confirmed list.[31][32] These allow the ticket holder to board the train and obtain an allotted seat decided by a ticket collector, after the ticket collector has ascertained that there is a vacant (absentee) seat.

Reserved Railway Tickets can be booked through the website of Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Limited,[33] and also through mobile Phones and SMS. Tickets booked through this site are categorised in to iTickets and eTickets. iTickets are booked by a passenger and then printed and delivered to the passenger for carrying during journey. eTickets are printed by the passenger and carried while travelling. While traveling on an eTicket, one must carry one of the authorised valid Photo Identity Cards. Cancellation of eTickets are also done online, without the requirement for the passenger to go to any counter. Unreserved tickets are available for purchase on the platform at any time before departure. An unreserved ticket holder may only board the general compartment class. All suburban networks issue unreserved tickets valid for a limited time period. For frequent commuters, a season pass (monthly or quarterly) guarantees unlimited travel between two stops.

[edit] International links

India has rail links with Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh.[34] It also plans to install a rail system in southern Bhutan. A move to link the railways of India and Sri Lanka never materialised. Before the Partition of India there were eight rail links between what are now India and Pakistan. However, currently there are only two actively maintained rail links between the two countries. The first one is at Wagah in Punjab. The Samjhauta Express plies this route from Amritsar in India to Lahore in Pakistan.[34] The second one, the Thar Express, opened in 2006 runs between Munabao (in Rajasthan in India) and Khokhrapar (in Sindh in Pakistan). Other discused links are FerozepurSamasata, FerozepurLahore, AmritsarLahore, AmritsarSialkot and Jammu Sialkot.[34][35] After the creation of East Pakistan (later Bangladesh), many trains that used to run between Assam and Bengal had to be rerouted through the Chicken's Neck. As of March 2010, there exists one passenger link between India and Bangladesh, the Maitree Express, which plies between Kolkata and Dhaka twice a week.[36] A metre gauge link exists between Mahisasan (Mohishashon) and Shahbazpur. Another link is between Radhikapur and Birol. These two links are used occasionally for freight.[34][35] A rail link between Akhaura in Bangladesh and Agartala in India has also been proposed.[37][38] There are two links between India and Nepal: Raxaul Jn., BiharSirsiya, Parsa and Jaynagar, BiharKhajuri, Dhanusa.[35] The former is broad gauge, while the latter is narrow gauge.
[edit] Proposed rail links Indian Railways has planned to install a rail system in southern that would be connected to India. Bhutan

On April 9, 2010, Union Minister of India, Shashi Tharoor announced that the central government is considering a rail link from Manipur to Myanmar.[39] Vietnam via

Indian Railways and rail authorities in

China are interested in constructing

a high-speed rail link that would link New Delhi with Kunming, China via Myanmar[40]

[edit] Private railways

Though the Indian Railways enjoys a near monopoly in India, a few private railways do exist, left over from the days of the Raj, usually small sections on private estates, etc. There are also some railway lines owned and operated by companies for their own purposes, by plantations, sugar mills, collieries, mines, dams, harbours and ports, etc. The Bombay Port Trust runs a BG railway of its own, as does the Madras Port Trust.[41] The Calcutta Port Commission Railway is a BG railway. The Vishakhapatnam Port Trust has BG and NG, 2 ft 6 in (762 mm), railways. The Bhilai Steel Plant has a BG railway network.[41] The Tatas (a private concern) operate funicular railways at Bhira and at Bhivpuri Road (as well as the KamshetShirawta Dam railway line, which is not a public line). These are not common carriers, so the general public cannot travel using these. The Pipavav Rail Corporation holds a 33-year concession for building and operating a railway line from Pipavav to Surendranagar.[41] The Kutch Railway Company, a joint venture of the Gujarat state government and private parties, is involved (along with the Kandla Port Trust and the Gujarat Adani Port) to build a GandhidhamPalanpur railway line.[41] These railway lines are principally used to carry freight and not for passenger traffic. Although generally IR has decided the freight tariffs on these lines, recently (February 2005) there have been proposals to allow the operating companies freedom to set freight tariffs and generally run the lines without reference to IR.

[edit] See also

Railways in India portal

India portal

High-speed rail History of rail transport in India Indian Railways Indian locomotives Kashmir Railway List of railway stations in India

List of Indian rail accidents Rail transport Railway signal Railway signalling Trains Transport in India

[show]v d eRapid Rail Transit in India

In operationDelhi Metro Kolkata Metro

Chennai Metro Jaipur Metro

M e t r o

Hyderabad Metro Mumbai Metro Under Construction Namma Metro (Bangalore) RMRG (Gurgaon)

Bhopal Metro Chandigarh Metro Kanpur Metro Kochi Metro Ludhiana Metro Lucknow Metro Planned MEGA (Gandhinagar & Ahmedabad) Pune Metro Navi Mumbai Metro

Under ConstructionMumbai Monorail

M o n o r a i l

Bangalore Monorail Chennai Monorail Delhi Monorail Planned Ahmedabad Monorail Kolkata Monorail Navi Mumbai Monorail Patna Monorail Pune Monorail

E l e v a t e d U

In operationChennai MRTS

r b a n R a i l

[show]v d eTransport in India

R o National Highways Authority of India National Highways Development Project a Ministry of Road Transport and Highways List of National Highways in India Indian d Expressways

R a Indian Railways High-speed rail in India Ministry of Railways Dedicated Freight i Corridor Corporation of India List of railway stations in India l

A i Multi-modal International Cargo Hub and Airport at Nagpur List of airports in India List r of commercial airlines in India Low cost airlines in India

W a t Shipping Corporation of India Ports in India Ministry of Shipping Inland Waterways e Authority of India r

MIndian licence plates Driving licence in India Road signs in India i

s c e l l a n e o u s
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rail_transport_in_India" Categories: Rail transport in India Hidden categories: All articles with unsourced statements | Articles with unsourced statements from December 2008

Rail transport
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search "Railway" and "Railroad" redirect here. For other meanings, see Railway (disambiguation)

BNSF Railway freight service in the United States

German InterCityExpress
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Rail transport is a means of conveyance of passengers and goods by way of wheeled vehicles running on rail tracks. In contrast to road transport, where vehicles merely run on a prepared surface, rail vehicles are also directionally guided by the tracks they run on. Track usually consists of steel rails installed on sleepers/ties and ballast, on which the rolling stock, usually fitted with metal wheels, moves. However, other variations are also possible, such as slab track where the rails are fastened to a concrete foundation resting on a prepared subsurface. Rolling stock in railway transportation systems generally has lower frictional resistance when compared with highway vehicles, and the passenger and freight cars (carriages and wagons) can be coupled into longer trains. The operation is carried out by a railway company, providing transport between train stations or freight customer facilities. Power is provided by locomotives which either draw electrical power from a railway electrification system or produce their own power, usually by diesel engines. Most tracks are accompanied by a signalling system. Railways are a safe land transportation system when compared to other forms of transportation.[1] Railway transportation is capable of high levels of passenger and cargo utilization and energy efficiency, but is often less flexible and more capital-intensive than highway transportation is, when lower traffic levels are considered. The oldest, man-hauled railways date to the 6th century B.C, with Periander, one of the Seven Sages of Greece, credited with its invention. With the British development of the steam engine, it was possible to construct mainline railways, which were a key component of the industrial revolution. Also, railways reduced the costs of shipping, and allowed for fewer lost goods. The change from canals to railways allowed for "national markets" in which prices varied very little from city to city. Studies have shown that the invention and development of the railway in Europe was one of the most important technological inventions of the late 19th century for the United States, without which, GDP would have been lower by 7.0% in 1890. In the 1880s, electrified trains were introduced, and also the first tramways and rapid transit systems came into being. Starting during the 1940s, the non-electrified railways in most countries had their steam locomotives replaced by diesel-electric locomotives, with the process being almost complete by 2000. During the 1960s, electrified high-speed railway systems were introduced in Japan and a

few other countries. Other forms of guided ground transportation outside the traditional railway definitions, such as monorail or maglev, have been tried but have seen limited use.

Contents
[hide] 1 History 1.1 Pre-steam 1.2 Age of steam 1.3 Electrification and dieselisation 2.1 Haulage 2.2 Motive power 2.3 Passenger trains 2.4 Freight train 3.1 Right of way 3.2 Trackage 3.3 Signalling 3.4 Electrification 3.5 Stations 4.1 Ownership 4.2 Financing 4.3 Safety 5.1 Energy 5.2 Usage

2 Trains

3 Infrastructure

4 Operations

5 Impact

6 See also 7 References

[edit] History
Main article: History of rail transport

[edit] Pre-steam

Horsecar in Brno, Czech Republic

The earliest evidence of a railway was a 6-kilometre (3.7 mi) Diolkos wagonway, which transported boats across the Corinth isthmus in Greece during the 6th century BC. Trucks pushed by slaves ran in grooves in limestone, which provided the track element. The Diolkos ran for over 600 years.[2] Railways began reappearing in Europe after the Dark Ages. The earliest known record of a railway in Europe from this period is a stained-glass window in the Minster of Freiburg im Breisgau in Germany, dating from around 1350.[3] In 1515, Cardinal Matthus Lang wrote a description of the Reisszug, a funicular railway at the Hohensalzburg Castle in Austria. The line originally used wooden rails and a hemp haulage rope, and was operated by human or animal power. The line still exists, albeit in updated form, and is probably the oldest railway still to operate.[4][5] By 1550, narrow gauge railways with wooden rails were common in mines in Europe.[6] By the 17th century, wooden wagonways were common in the United Kingdom for transporting coal from mines to canal wharfs for transshipment to boats. The world's oldest continually working railway, built in 1758, is the Middleton Railway in Leeds. In 1764, the first gravity railroad in the United States was built in Lewiston, New York.[7] The first permanent was the 1810 Leiper Railroad.[8] The first iron plate rail way made with cast iron plates on top of wooden rails, was taken into use in 1768.[9] This allowed a variation of gauge to be used. At first only balloon loops could be used for turning, but later, movable points were taken into use that allowed for switching.[10] From the 1790s, iron edge rails began to appear in the United Kingdom.[11] In 1803, William Jessop opened the Surrey Iron Railway in south London, arguably the world's first horse-drawn public railway.[12] The invention of the wrought iron rail by John Birkinshaw in 1820 allowed the short, brittle, and often uneven, cast iron rails to be extended to 15 feet (4.6 m) lengths.[13] These were succeeded by steel in 1857.[11] The railroad era in the United States began in 1830 when Peter Coopers locomotive, Tom Thumb, first steamed along 13 miles of Baltimore and Ohio railroad track. In 1833 the nations second railroad ran 136 miles from Charleston to Hamburg in South Carolina. Not until the 1850s, though, did railroads offer long distance service at reasonable rates. A journey from Philadelphia to Charleston involved eight different gauges, which meant that passengers and

freight had to change trains seven times. Only at Bowling Green, Kentucky, did northern and southern railroads connect to one another.
[edit] Age of steam

A British steam locomotive-hauled train

The development of the steam engine spurred ideas for mobile steam locomotives that could haul trains on tracks. The first was patented by James Watt in 1769 and revised in 1782, but these heavy low-pressure engines were not suitable for use in locomotives. In 1804, using highpressure steam, Richard Trevithick demonstrated the first locomotive-hauled train in Merthyr Tydfil, United Kingdom.[14][15] Accompanied with Andrew Vivian, it ran with mixed success,[16] breaking some of the brittle cast-iron plates.[17] Two years later, the first passenger horse-drawn railway was opened nearby between Swansea and Mumbles.[18] In 1811, John Blenkinsop designed the first successful and practical railway locomotive[19]a rack railway worked by a steam locomotive between Middleton Colliery and Leeds on the Middleton Railway. The locomotive, The Salamanca, was built the following year.[20]:20 In 1825, George Stephenson built the Locomotion for the Stockton and Darlington Railway, north east England, which was the first public steam railway in the world. In 1829, he built The Rocket which was entered in and won the Rainhill Trials. This success led to Stephenson establishing his company as the pre-eminent builder of steam locomotives used on railways in the United Kingdom, the United States and much of Europe.[20]:2430 In 1830, the first intercity railway, the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, opened. The gauge was that used for the early wagonways and had been adopted for the Stockton and Darlington Railway.[21] The 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 12 in) width became known as the international standard gauge, used by about 60% of the world's railways. This spurred the spread of rail transport outside the UK. The Baltimore and Ohio that opened in 1830 was the first to evolve from a single line to a network in the United States.[22] By 1831, a steam railway connected Albany and Schenectady, New York, a distance of 16 miles, which was covered in 40 minutes.[23] In 1867, the first elevated railway was built in New York. The symbolically important first transcontinental railway was completed in 1869.[24]

[edit] Electrification and dieselisation

Elevated section of the Chicago L

Luas in Dublin, Ireland

Experiments with electrical railways were started by Robert Davidson in 1838. He completed a battery-powered carriage capable of 6.4 km/h (4 mph). The Giant's Causeway Tramway was the first to use electricity fed to the trains en-route, using a third rail, when it opened in 1883. Overhead wires were taken into use in 1888. At first, this was taken into use on tramways that, until then, had been horse-drawn tramcars. The first conventional electrified railway was the Roslag Line in Sweden. During the 1890s, many large cities, such as London, Paris and New York used the new technology to build rapid transit for urban commuting. In smaller cities, tramways became common and were often the only mode of public transport until the introduction of buses in the 1920s. In North America, interurbans became a common mode to reach suburban areas. At first, all electric railways used direct current but, in 1904, the Spubeital Line in Austria opened with alternating current.[25] Steam locomotives require large pools of labour to clean, load, maintain and run. After World War II, dramatically increased labour costs in developed countries made steam an increasingly costly form of motive power. At the same time, the war had forced improvements in internal

combustion engine technology that made diesel locomotives cheaper and more powerful. This caused many railway companies to initiate programmes to convert all unelectrified sections from steam to diesel locomotion. Following the large-scale construction of motorways after the war, rail transport became less popular for commuting and air transport started taking large market shares from long-haul passenger trains. Most tramways were either replaced by rapid transits or buses, while high transshipment costs caused short-haul freight trains to become uncompetitive. The 1973 oil crisis led to a change of mind set and most tram systems that had survived into the 1970s remain today. At the same time, containerization allowed freight trains to become more competitive and participate in intermodal freight transport. With the 1962 introduction of the Shinkansen highspeed rail in Japan, trains could again have a dominant position on intercity travel. During the 1970s, the introduction of automated rapid transit systems allowed cheaper operation. The 1990s saw an increased focus on accessibility and low-floor trains. Many tramways have been upgraded to light rail and many cities that closed their old tramways have reopened new light railway systems.

[edit] Trains
Main article: Train

A train is a connected series of rail vehicles that move along the track. Propulsion for the train is provided by a separate locomotive or from individual motors in self-propelled multiple units. Most trains carry a revenue load, although non-revenue cars exist for the railway's own use, such as for maintenance-of-way purposes. The engine driver controls the locomotive or other power cars, although people movers and some rapid transits are driverless.
[edit] Haulage Main articles: Locomotive and Multiple unit

Russian 2TE10U diesel locomotive

Traditionally, trains are pulled using a locomotive. This involved a single or multiple powered vehicles being located at the front of the train and providing sufficient adhesion to haul the weight of the full train. This remains dominant for freight trains and is often used for passenger trains. A push-pull train has the end passenger car equipped with a driver's cab so the engine driver can remotely control the locomotive. This allows one of the locomotive-hauled trains

drawbacks to be removed, since the locomotive need not be moved to the end of the train each time the train changes direction. A railroad car is a vehicle used for the haulage of either passengers or freight. A multiple unit has powered wheels throughout the whole train. These are used for rapid transit and tram systems, as well as many both short- and long-haul passenger trains. A railcar is a single, self-powered car. Multiple units have a driver's cab at each end of the unit and were developed following the ability to build electric motors and engines small enough to build under the coach. There are only a few freight multiple units, most of which are high-speed post trains.
[edit] Motive power

A RegioSwinger multiple unit of the Croatian Railways

Steam locomotives are locomotives with a steam engine that provides adhesion. Coal, petroleum, or wood is burned in a firebox. The heat boils water in the fire-tube boiler to create pressurized steam. The steam travels through the smokebox before leaving via the chimney. In the process, it powers a piston that transmits power directly through a connecting rod (US: main rod) and a crankpin (US: wristpin) on the driving wheel (US main driver) or to a crank on a driving axle. Steam locomotives have been phased out in most parts of the world for economical and safety reasons although many are preserved in working order by heritage railways. Electric locomotives draw power from a stationary source via an overhead wire or third rail. Some also or instead use a battery. A transformer in the locomotive converts the high voltage, low current power to low voltage, high current used in the electric motors that power the wheels. Modern locomotives use three-phase AC induction motors. Electric locomotives are the most powerful traction. They are also the cheapest to run and provide less noise and no local air pollution. However, they require high capital investments both for the overhead lines and the supporting infrastructure. Accordingly, electric traction is used on urban systems, lines with high traffic and for high-speed rail. Diesel locomotives use a diesel engine as the prime mover. The energy transmission may be either diesel-electric, diesel-mechanical or diesel-hydraulic but diesel-electric is dominant. Electro-diesel locomotives are built to run as diesel-electric on unelectrified sections and as electric locomotives on electrified sections. Alternative methods of motive power include magnetic levitation, horse-drawn, cable, gravity, pneumatics and gas turbine.

[edit] Passenger trains Main article: Passenger train

Interior view of the top deck of a VR InterCity2 double-deck carriage

A passenger train travels between stations where passengers may embark and disembark. The oversight of the train is the duty of a guard/train manager. Passenger trains are part of public transport and often make up the stem of the service, with buses feeding to stations. Intercity trains are long-haul trains that operate with few stops between cities. Trains typically have amenities such as a dining car. Some lines also provide over-night services with sleeping cars. Some long-haul trains been given a specific name. Regional trains are medium distance trains that connect cities with outlying, surrounding areas, or provide a regional service, making more stops and having lower speeds. Commuter trains serve suburbs of urban areas, providing a daily commuting service. Airport rail links provide quick access from city centres to airports. Rapid transit is built in large cities and has the highest capacity of any passenger transport system. It is grade separated and commonly built underground or elevated. At street level, smaller trams can be used. Light rails are upgraded trams that have step-free access, their own right-of-way and sometimes sections underground. Monorail systems operate as elevated, medium capacity systems. A people mover is a driverless, grade-separated train that serves only a few stations, as a shuttle. High-speed rail operates at much higher speeds than conventional railways, the limit being regarded at 200 to 320 km/h. High-speed trains are used mostly for long-haul service and most systems are in Western Europe and East Asia. The speed record is 574.8 km/h (357.2 mph), set by a modified French TGV.[26][27] Magnetic levitation trains such as the Shanghai airport train use under-riding magnets which attract themselves upward towards the underside of a guideway and this line has achieved somewhat higher peak speeds in day-to-day operation than conventional high-speed railways, although only over short distances.
[edit] Freight train Main article: Freight train

Bulk cargo of minerals

A freight train hauls cargo using freight cars specialized for the type of goods. Freight trains are very efficient, with economy of scale and high energy efficiency. However, their use can be reduced by lack of flexibility, if there is need of transshipment at both ends of the trip due to lack of tracks to the points of pick-up and delivery. Authorities often encourage the use of cargo rail transport due to its environmental profile. Container trains have become the dominant type in the US for non-bulk haulage. Containers can easily be transshipped to other modes, such as ships and trucks, using cranes. This has succeeded the boxcar (wagon-load), where the cargo had to be loaded and unloaded into the train manually. In Europe, the sliding wall wagon has largely superseded the ordinary covered wagons. Other types of cars include refrigerator cars, stock cars for livestock and autoracks for road vehicles. When rail is combined with road transport, a roadrailer will allow trailers to be driven onto the train, allowing for easy transition between road and rail. Bulk handling represents a key advantage for rail transport. Low or even zero transshipment costs combined with energy efficiency and low inventory costs allow trains to handle bulk much cheaper than by road. Typical bulk cargo includes coal, ore, grains and liquids. Bulk is transported in open-topped cars and tank cars.

[edit] Infrastructure
Main article: Permanent way

Left: Railway turnouts; Right: Chicago Transit Authority control tower 18 guides elevated Chicago 'L' north and southbound Purple and Brown lines intersecting with east and westbound Pink and Green lines and the looping Orange line above the Wells and Lake street intersection in the loop at an elevated right of way. [edit] Right of way Main article: Right-of-way

Railway tracks are laid upon land owned or leased by the railway company. Owing to the desirability of maintaining modest grades, rails will often be laid in circuitous routes in hilly or mountainous terrain. Route length and grade requirements can be reduced by the use of alternating cuttings, bridges and tunnelsall of which can greatly increase the capital expenditures required to develop a right of way, while significantly reducing operating costs and allowing higher speeds on longer radius curves. In densely urbanized areas, railways are sometimes laid in tunnels to minimize the effects on existing properties.
[edit] Trackage Main article: Rail tracks

Long freight train crossing the Stoney Creek viaduct on the Canadian Pacific Railway in southern British Columbia

Track consists of two parallel steel rails, anchored perpendicular to members called ties (sleepers) of timber, concrete, steel, or plastic to maintain a consistent distance apart, or gauge. The track guides the conical, flanged wheels, keeping the cars on the track without active steering and therefore allowing trains to be much longer than road vehicles. The rails and ties are usually placed on a foundation made of compressed earth on top of which is placed a bed of ballast to distribute the load from the ties and to prevent the track from buckling as the ground settles over time under the weight of the vehicles passing above. The ballast also serves as a means of drainage. Some more modern track in special areas is attached by direct fixation without ballast. Track may be prefabricated or assembled in place. By welding rails together to form lengths of continuous welded rail, additional wear and tear on rolling stock caused by the small surface gap at the joints between rails can be counteracted; this also makes for a quieter ride (passenger trains). On curves the outer rail may be at a higher level than the inner rail. This is called superelevation or cant. This reduces the forces tending to displace the track and makes for a more comfortable ride for standing livestock and standing or seated passengers. A given amount of superelevation will be the most effective over a limited range of speeds. Turnouts, also known as points and switches, are the means of directing a train onto a diverging section of track. Laid similar to normal track, a point typically consists of a frog (common crossing), check rails and two switch rails. The switch rails may be moved left or right, under the control of the signalling system, to determine which path the train will follow.

Spikes in wooden ties can loosen over time, but split and rotten ties may be individually replaced with new wooden ties or concrete substitutes. Concrete ties can also develop cracks or splits, and can also be replaced individually. Should the rails settle due to soil subsidence, they can be lifted by specialized machinery and additional ballast tamped under the ties to level the rails. Periodically, ballast must be removed and replaced with clean ballast to ensure adequate drainage. Culverts and other passages for water must be kept clear lest water is impounded by the trackbed, causing landslips. Where trackbeds are placed along rivers, additional protection is usually placed to prevent streambank erosion during times of high water. Bridges require inspection and maintenance, since they are subject to large surges of stress in a short period of time when a heavy train crosses.
[edit] Signalling Main article: Railway signalling

Great Western Railway semaphore-type signal

Railway signalling is a system used to control railway traffic safely to prevent trains from colliding. Being guided by fixed rails with low friction, trains are uniquely susceptible to collision since they frequently operate at speeds that do not enable them to stop quickly or within the driver's sighting distance. Most forms of train control involve movement authority being passed from those responsible for each section of a rail network to the train crew. Not all methods require the use of signals, and some systems are specific to single track railways. The signalling process is traditionally carried out in a signal box, a small building that houses the lever frame required for the signalman to operate switches and signal equipment. These are placed at various intervals along the route of a railway, controlling specified sections of track. More recent technological developments have made such operational doctrine superfluous, with the centralization of signalling operations to regional control rooms. This has been facilitated by the increased use of computers, allowing vast sections of track to be monitored from a single location. The common method of block signalling divides the track into zones guarded by

combinations of block signals, operating rules, and automatic-control devices so that only one train may be in a block at any time.
[edit] Electrification Main article: Railway electrification system

The electrification system provides electrical energy to the trains, so they can operate without a prime mover onboard. This allows lower operating costs, but requires large capital investments along the lines. Mainline and tram systems normally have overhead wires, which hang from poles along the line. Grade-separated rapid transit sometimes use a ground third rail. Power may be fed as direct or alternating current. The most common currencies are 600 and 750 V for tram and rapid transit systems, and 1,500 and 3,000 V for mainlines. The two dominant AC systems are 15 kV AC and 25 kV AC.
[edit] Stations Main article: Train station

Secunderabad Railway Station in Hyderabad, India

A railway station serves as an area where passengers can board and alight from trains. A goods station is a yard which is exclusively used for loading and unloading cargo. Large passenger stations have at least one building providing conveniences for passengers, such as purchasing tickets and food. Smaller stations typically only consist of a platform. Early stations were sometimes built with both passenger and goods facilities.[28] Platforms are used to allow easy access to the trains, and are connected to each other via underpasses, footbridge and level crossings. Some large stations are built as cul-de-sac, with trains only operating out from one direction. Smaller stations normally serve local residential areas, and may have connection to feeder bus services. Large stations, in particular central stations, serve as the main public transport hub for the city, and have transfer available between rail services, and to rapid transit, tram or bus services.

[edit] Operations
Main article: Rail transport operations

[edit] Ownership Main article: Railway company

In the United States, railways, such as Union Pacific, are privately owned

Traditionally, the infrastructure and rolling stock are owned and operated by the same company. This has often been by a national railway, while other companies have had private railways. Since the 1980s, there has been an increasing tendency to split up railway companies, with separate companies owning the stock from those owning the infrastructure, particularly in Europe, where this is required by the European Union. This has allowed open access by any train operator to any portion of the European railway network.
[edit] Financing

The main source of income for railway companies is from ticket revenue (for passenger transport) and shipment fees for cargo. Discounts and monthly passes are sometimes available for frequent travellers. Freight revenue may be sold per container slot or for a whole train. Sometimes, the shipper owns the cars and only rents the haulage. For passenger transport, advertisement income can be significant. Government may choose to give subsidies to rail operation, since rail transport has fewer externalities than other dominant modes of transport. If the railway company is state-owned, the state may simply provide direct subsidies in exchange for an increased production. If operations have been privatized, several options are available. Some countries have a system where the infrastructure is owned by a government agency or companywith open access to the tracks for any company that meets safety requirements. In such cases, the state may choose to provide the tracks free of charge, or for a fee that does not cover all costs. This is seen as analogous to the government providing free access to roads. For passenger operations, a direct subsidy may be paid to a public-owned operator, or public service obligation tender may be helt, and a timelimited contract awarded to the lowest bidder.
[edit] Safety Main articles: List of rail accidents pre-1900; 19001949; 19501999; 2000 2009; 2010present.

Train crash at Montparnasse Station, Paris, France, in 1895

Rail transport is one of the safest forms of land travel.[29] Trains can travel at very high speed, but they are heavy, are unable to deviate from the track and require a great distance to stop. Possible accidents include derailment (jumping the track), a collision with another train or collision with an automobile or other vehicle at level crossings. The latter accounts for the majority of rail accidents and casualties. The most important safety measures to prevent accidents are strict operating rules, e.g. railway signalling and gates or grade separation at crossings. Train whistles, bells or horns warn of the presence of a train, while trackside signals maintain the distances between trains. An important element in the safety of many high-speed inter-city networks such as Japan's Shinkansen is the fact that trains only run on dedicated railway lines, without level crossings. This effectively eliminates the potential for collision with automobiles, other vehicles and pedestrians, vastly reduces the likelihood of collision with other trains and helps ensure services remain timely.

[edit] Impact
[edit] Energy

Rail transport is an energy-efficient [30] but capital-intensive, means of mechanized land transport. The tracks provide smooth and hard surfaces on which the wheels of the train can roll with a minimum of friction. As an example, a typical modern wagon can hold up to 113 tonnes of freight on two four-wheel bogies. The contact area between each wheel and the rail is a strip no more than a few millimetres wide, which minimizes friction. The track distributes the weight of the train evenly, allowing significantly greater loads per axle and wheel than in road transport, leading to less wear and tear on the permanent way. This can save energy compared with other forms of transportation, such as road transport, which depends on the friction between rubber

tires and the road. Trains have a small frontal area in relation to the load they are carrying, which reduces air resistance and thus energy usage. In addition, the presence of track guiding the wheels allows for very long trains to be pulled by one or a few engines and driven by a single operator, even around curves, which allows for economies of scale in both manpower and energy use; by contrast, in road transport, more than two articulations causes fishtailing and makes the vehicle unsafe.
[edit] Usage

Railway tracks running through Stanhope, United Kingdom

Due to these benefits, rail transport is a major form of passenger and freight transport in many countries. In India, China, South Korea and Japan, many millions use trains as regular transport. It is widespread in European countries. Freight rail transport is widespread and heavily used in North America, but intercity passenger rail transport on that continent is relatively scarce outside the Northeast Corridor.[31] Africa and South America have some extensive networks such as in South Africa, Northern Africa and Argentina; but some railways on these continents are isolated lines. Australia has a generally sparse network befitting its population density, but has some areas with significant networks, especially in the southeast. In addition to the previously existing east-west transcontinental line in Australia, a line from north to south has been constructed. The highest railway in the world is the line to Lhasa, in Tibet, partly running over permafrost territory. The western Europe region has the highest railway density in the world, and has many individual trains which operate through several countries despite technical and organizational differences in each national network. Of 236 countries and dependencies globally, 143 have rail transport (including several with very little), of which about 90 have passenger services.[citation needed]

[edit] See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Railroad

Look up railway in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Trains portal

Environmental design in rail transportation International Union of Railways List of rail transport topics List of railway companies Megaproject Passenger rail terminology Rail transport by country

[edit] References
1. ^ According to this source, railways are safest on both a per-mile and per-hour basis,
whereas airline transportation is safe only on a per-mile basis

2. ^ Lewis, M. J. T. "Railways in the Greek and Roman World" (pdf).

http://www.sciencenews.gr/docs/diolkos.pdf. Retrieved 11 April 2009.

3. ^ Hylton, Stuart (2007). The Grand Experiment: The Birth of the Railway Age 18201845. Ian Allan Publishing.

4. ^ Kriechbaum, Reinhard (15 May 2004). "Die groe Reise auf den Berg" (in German).
der Tagespost. http://www.die-tagespost.de/Archiv/titel_anzeige.asp?ID=8916. Retrieved 22 April 2009.

5. ^ "Der Reiszug - Part 1 - Presentation". Funimag.

http://www.funimag.com/funimag10/RESZUG01.HTM. Retrieved 22 April 2009.

6. ^ Georgius Agricola (1913). De re metallica. ISBN 0486600068. 7. ^ Porter, Peter (1914). Landmarks of the Niagara Frontier. The Author.
ISBN 0665783477.

8. ^ Morlok, Edward K. (11 May 2005). "First permanent railroad in the U.S. and its
connection to the University of Pennsylvania". http://www.seas.upenn.edu/~morlok/morlokpage/transp_data.html. Retrieved 19 September 2007.

9. ^ at Coalbrookdale Railways (pt 1). Encyclopedia Britannica. 1902.

ISBN 187252463X. http://www.1902encyclopedia.com/R/RAI/railway-01.html. Retrieved 2011-02-15.

10. ^ Vaughan, A. (1997). Railwaymen, Politics and Money. London: John Murray.
ISBN 0719557461.

11. ^ a b Marshall, John (1979). The Guiness Book of Rail Facts & Feats. ISBN 0-90042456-7.

12. ^ "Surrey Iron Railway 200th - 26th July 2003". Early Railways. Stephenson
Locomotive Society. http://www.stephensonloco.fsbusiness.co.uk/surreyiron.htm. Retrieved 19 September.

13. ^ Skempton, A.W. (2002). A biographical dictionary of civil engineers in Great Britain
and Ireland, John Birkinshaw. pp. 5960. ISBN 9780727729392. http://books.google.com/books?id=jeOMfpYMOtYC&pg=PA59.

14. ^ http://www.museumwales.ac.uk/en/rhagor/article/trevithic_loco/ 15. ^ "Steam train anniversary begins". BBC. 21 February 2004.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/3509961.stm. Retrieved 13 June 2009. "A south Wales town has begun months of celebrations to mark the 200th anniversary of the invention of the steam locomotive. Merthyr Tydfil was the location where, on 21 February 1804, Richard Trevithick took the world into the railway age when he set one of his high-pressure steam engines on a local iron master's tram rails"

16. ^ Payton, Philip (2004). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University
Press.

17. ^ Chartres, J.. "Richard Trevithick". In Cannon, John. Oxford Companion to British
History. p. 932.

18. ^ "Early Days of Mumbles Railway". BBC. 15 February 2007.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/southwest/sites/swansea/pages/mumbles_trainanniv.sht ml. Retrieved 19 September 2007.

19. ^ "John Blenkinsop". Encyclopdia Britannica. http://www.britannica.com/eb/article9001800. Retrieved 10 September 2007.

20. ^ a b Ellis, Hamilton (1968). The Pictorial Encyclopedia of Railways. Hamlyn Publishing
Group.

21. ^ "Liverpool and Manchester".

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/RAliverpool.htm. Retrieved 19 September 2007.

22. ^ Dilts, James D. (1996). The Great Road: The Building of the Baltimore and Ohio, the
Nation's First Railroad, 1828-1853. Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press. p. 26. ISBN 978-0804726290. http://books.google.com/? id=JjrCWPwvHzIC&lpg=PR18&dq=dilts%20b%26o&pg=PA26#v=onepage&q=first.

23. ^ "The Journal of Ebenezer Mattoon Chamberlain 1832-5", Indiana Magazine of

History, Vol. XV, September, 1919, No. 3, p.233ff.

24. ^ Ambrose, Stephen E. (2000). Nothing Like It In The World; The men who built the
Transcontinental Railroad 1863-1869. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-684-84609-8. http://books.google.com/?id=TZp_GT7PscIC&lpg=PP1&dq=ambrose%20nothing %20like%20it&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q=.

25. ^ Tokle, Bjrn (2003) (in Norwegian). Communication gjennom 100 r. Meldal: Chr.
Salvesen & Chr. Thams's Communications Aktieselskab. p. 54.

26. ^ Associated Press (4 April 2007). "French train breaks speed record". CNN. Archived
from the original on 7 April 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20070407194558/http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/euro pe/04/03/TGVspeedrecord.ap/index.html. Retrieved 3 April 2007.

27. ^ Fouquet, Helene and Viscousi, Gregory (3 April 2007). "French TGV Sets Record,
Reaching 357 Miles an Hour (Update2)". Bloomberg. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news? pid=20601085&sid=aW23Aw20niIo&refer=europe. Retrieved 19 September 2007.

28. ^ "The Inception of the English Railway Station". Architectural History (SAHGB
Publications Limited) 4: 6376. 1961. doi:10.2307/1568245. JSTOR 10.2307/1568245.

29. ^ U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics (2010) National Transportation Statistics.

Table 2-1: Transportation Fatalities by Mode. (Report). Retrieved 2010-02-14.

30. ^ American Association of Railroads. "Railroad Fuel Efficiency Sets New Record".
http://www.progressiverailroading.com/news/article.asp?id=16740. Retrieved 12 April 2009.

31. ^ "Public Transportation Ridership Statistics". American Public Transportation

Association. 2007. Archived from the original on 15 August 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20070815101950/http://www.apta.com/research/stats/rid ership/. Retrieved 10 September 2007.

[hide]v d ePublic transport

Bus

Bus rapid transit Express bus service Guided bus Intercity bus Open top bus Paratransit Public light bus Shuttle bus service Tour bus service Transit bus Trolleybus

Rail

Cable railway Commuter rail Heavy rail Heritage railway Heritage streetcar High-speed rail Inter-city rail Interurban Light rail Maglev Medium-capacity rail transport system Monorail Rapid transit Regional rail Rubber-tyred metro Tram Tram-train

Other transport

Aerial tramway Auto rickshaw Boda-boda Bicycle sharing Carsharing Cycle rickshaw Gondola lift Hackney carriage Horsecar Horse-drawn vehicle Motorcycle taxi People mover Rickshaw Share taxi Slugging Taxicab Vehicle for hire

Ship

Cable ferry Ferry Hovercraft Hydrofoil Ocean liner Water taxi

Locations

Bus bulb Bus garage Bus lane Bus stand Bus station Bus stop Bus terminus Bus turnout Hub Interchange station Kassel kerb Layover Metro station Park and ride Queue jump Taxicab stand Train station Tram stop Transit mall

Revenue/fa res

Bus advertising Contract of carriage Dead mileage Farebox recovery ratio Free travel pass Free public transport Manual fare collection Money train Proof-of-payment Ticket machine Transit pass

Scheduling

Public transport timetable On-time performance Short turn Clock-face scheduling

Other

Boarding Destination sign Exit fare Fare evasion Hail and ride Prohibited activities Public transport security Request stop Transit police

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rail_transport" Categories: Rail transport | Trains Hidden categories: All articles with unsourced statements | Articles with unsourced statements from September 2008 | Use dmy dates from February 2011

Government of India
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search
Republic of India

Politics and Government of India

Union Government[show]

This article is part of the series:

Constitution of India Fundamental Rights Executive President Vice President Prime Minister The Cabinet

Parliament Rajya Sabha Lok Sabha The The Chairman Speaker

Judiciary Supreme Court of India Chief Justice of India High Courts District Courts
Elections[show]

Election Commission Chief Election Commissioner

Political Parties[show]

National Parties State Parties National Coalitions Left Front National Democratic Alliance (NDA) United Progressive Alliance (UPA)

Local & State Govt.[show]

Governor State Legislature Vidhan Sabha Vidhan Parishad Panchayat Gram panchayat Panchayat samiti Zilla Parishad

Other countries Politics Portal Government of India Portal view talk edit

The Government of India, officially known as the Union Government, and also known as the Central Government, was established by the Constitution of India, and is the governing authority of a union of 28 states and seven union territories, collectively called the Republic of India. It is seated in New Delhi, the capital of India. The government comprises three branches: the executive, the legislative and the judiciary. The executive branch headed by the President, who is the Head of State and exercises his or her power directly or through officers subordinate to him.[1] The Legislative branch or the Parliament consists of the lower house, the Lok Sabha, and the upper house, the Rajya Sabha, as well as the president. The Judicial branch has the Supreme Court at its apex, 21 High Courts, and numerous civil, criminal and family courts at the district level. The basic civil and criminal laws governing the citizens of India are set down in major parliamentary legislation, such as the Civil Procedure Code, the Indian Penal Code, and the Criminal Procedure Code. The union and individual state governments consist of executive, legislative and judicial branches. The legal system as applicable to the federal and individual state governments is based on the English Common and Statutory Law. India accepts International Court of Justice jurisdiction with several reservations. By the 73rd and 74th amendments to the constitution, the Panchayat Raj system has been institutionalised for local governance.

Contents
[hide] 1 Parliamentary government 1.1 Individual responsibility 1.2 Collective responsibility 2.1 President 2.2 Cabinet Secretary

2 Executive Branch

3 Judicial branch

3.1 National judiciary 4.1 Corruption 4.2 Inefficiency 4.3 Spending priorities 4.4 Deficits 5.1 Taxation 5.2 General budget

4 Reform

5 Finance

6 References 7 External links 8 Further reading

[edit] Parliamentary government

Sansad Bhavan

India has a parliamentary system of government based largely on that of the United Kingdom (Westminster system). However, eminent scholars including the first President Dr Rajendra Prasad have raised the question "how far we are entitled to invoke and incorporate into our written Constitution by interpretation the conventions of the British Constitution".[2] The legislature is the Parliament. It is bicameral, consisting of two houses: the directly-elected 545-member Lok Sabha ("House of the People"), the lower house, and the 250-member indirectly-elected and appointed Rajya Sabha ("Council of States"), the upper house. The parliament enjoys parliamentary supremacy. All the members of the Council of Ministers as well as the Prime Minister are members of Parliament. If they are not, they must be elected within a period of six months from the time they assume their respective office. The Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers are responsible to the Lok Sabha, individually as well as collectively.

[edit] Individual responsibility

Every individual minister is in charge of a specific ministry or ministries (or specific other portfolio). He is responsible for any act of failure in all the policies relating to his department. In case of any lapse, he is individually responsible to the Parliament. If a vote of no confidence is passed against the individual minister, he has to resign. Individual responsibility can amount to collective responsibility. Therefore, the Prime Minister, in order to save his government, can ask for the resignation of such a minister and the people have a say.
[edit] Collective responsibility

The Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers are jointly accountable to the Lok Sabha. If there is a policy failure or lapse on the part of the government, all the members of the council are jointly responsible. If a vote of no confidence is passed against the government, then all the ministers headed by the Prime Minister have to resign.

[edit] Executive Branch

Executive branch of government is the part of government that has sole authority and responsibility for the daily administration of the state bureaucracy.The division of power into separate branches of government is central to the republican idea of the separation of powers. The separation of powers system is designed to distribute authority away from the executive branch - an attempt to preserve individual liberty in response to tyrannical leadership throughout history.
[edit] President

The Rashtrapati Bhawan where President,Vice President,Cabinet Secretary and other Secretaries meet.

The executive power is vested on mainly the President of India by Article 53(1) of the constitution. The President enjoys all constitutional powers and exercises them directly or through officers subordinate to him as per the aforesaid Article 53(1).The President is to act in accordance with aid and advise tendered by the head of government (Prime Minister of India) and his or her Council of Ministers (the cabinet) as described in Article 74 (Constitution of India). The Constitution vests in the President of India all the executive powers of the Central Government. The President appoints the Prime Minister the person most likely to command the

support of the majority in the Lok Sabha (usually the leader of the majority party or coalition). The President then appoints the other members of the Council of Ministers, distributing portfolios to them on the advice of the Prime Minister. The Council of Ministers remains in power during the 'pleasure' of the President. In practice, however, the Council of Ministers must retain the support of the Lok Sabha. If a President were to dismiss the Council of Ministers on his or her own initiative, it might trigger a constitutional crisis. Thus, in practice, the Council of Ministers cannot be dismissed as long as it commands the support of a majority in the Lok Sabha. The President is responsible for making a wide variety of appointments. These include:
Governors of States The Chief Justice, other judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts of India. The Attorney General The President's Officer The Comptroller and Auditor General The Chief Election Commissioner and Cabinet Secretary The Chairman and other Members of the Union Public Service Commission

Ambassadors and High Commissioners to other countries. The President also receives the credentials of Ambassadors and High Commissioners from other countries. The President is the de jure Commander in Chief of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India can grant a pardon to or reduce the sentence of a convicted person for one time, particularly in cases involving punishment of death. The decisions involving pardoning and other rights by the president are independent of the opinion of the Prime Minister or the Lok Sabha majority. In most other cases, however, the President exercises his or her executive powers on the advice of the Prime Minister.
[edit] Cabinet Secretary

The Cabinet Secretariat of India.

The head of executive officers is Cabinet Secretary after President of India.The Cabinet Secretary is under the direct charge of the Prime Minister. The administrative head of the

Cabinet Secretariat is the Cabinet Secretary who is also the ex-officio Chairman of the Civil Services Board, and thus the head of the Indian Administrative Service. As a matter of convention the senior most civil servant is appointed as a Cabinet Secretary. He belongs to the Indian Administrative Service. The incumbent has a fixed tenure of 4 years. The Cabinet Secretary is the head of all the civil services under the constitution like IAS,IPS,IRS,IFS,PCS,PPS etc. Thus, he is the head of all the All India services including the Indian Police Service(IPS), Indian Administrative Service(IAS), Indian Foreign Service(IFS), Indian Revenue Service(IRS) and the Indian Forest Service(IFS). He ranks tenth in the Table of Precedence of India. The current Cabinet Secretary is Shri K.M.Chandrasekhar. The following are the functions of a Cabinet Secretary: Provide assistance to the Council of Ministers Act as advisor and conscience keeper of the civil services Handle senior appointments Prepare of the agenda of the Cabinet Attend the meetings of the Cabinet Ensure that the Cabinet decisions are implemented Advise the Prime Minister Act as the Chairman of the Committee of Secretaries on Administration Act as the Chairman of the Chief Secretaries Committee Provide an element of continuity and stability to administration during crises In the Government of India Allocation of Business Rules, 1961 "Cabinet Secretariat" finds a place in the First Schedule to the Rules. The subjects allotted to this Secretariat are, firstly, secretarial assistance to Cabinet and Cabinet Committees, and secondly, the administration of the Rules of Business. The Cabinet Secretariat is responsible for the administration of the Government of India Transaction of Business Rules, 1961 and the Government of India Allocation of Business Rules 1961, facilitating smooth transaction of business in Ministries/Departments of the Government by ensuring adherence to these rules. The Secretariat assists in decision-making in Government by ensuring Inter-Ministerial coordination, ironing out differences amongst Ministries/Departments and evolving consensus through the instrumentality of the standing/adhoc Committees of Secretaries. Through this mechanism new policy initiatives are also promoted. The Cabinet Secretariat ensures that the President of India, the Vice-President and Ministers are kept informed of the major activities of all Departments by means of a monthly summary of their activities. Management of major crisis situations in the country and coordinating activities of the various Ministries in such a situation is also one of the functions of the Cabinet Secretariat. The Cabinet Secretariat has 3 wings: Civil, Military and Intelligence. The Civil wing is the main wing and provides aid, advise and assistance to the Union Cabinet. The Military wing provides secretarial assistance to the Defence Committee of the Cabinet, the Military Affairs Committee, the National Defence Council and other committees dealing with defence matters. The Intelligence wing deals with matters pertaining to the Joint Intelligence Committee of the Union Cabinet. The chief of Research and Analysis Wing R&AW also officially first reports to the Cabinet Secretary, and is officially designated Secretary R in the Cabinet Secretariat. The Cabinet Secretary is arguably India's most powerful bureaucrat and right hand of Prime Minister of India.

[edit] Judicial branch

Supreme Court of India.

India's independent judicial system began under the British, and its concepts and procedures resemble those of Anglo-Saxon countries. The Supreme Court of India consists of a Chief Justice and 30 associate justices, all appointed by the President on the advice of the Chief Justice of India. In the 1960s, India moved away from using juries for most trials, finding them to be corrupt and ineffective, instead almost all trials are conducted by judges. Unlike its US counterpart, the Indian justice system consists of a unitary system at both state and federal level. The judiciary consists of the Supreme Court of India, High Courts of India at the state level, and District Courts and Sessions Courts at the district level.
[edit] National judiciary Main article: Supreme Court of India

The Supreme Court of India has original, appellate and advisory jurisdiction. Its exclusive original jurisdiction extends to any dispute between the Government of India and one or more states, or between the Government of India and any state or states on one side and one or more states on the other, or between two or more states, if and insofar as the dispute involves any question (whether of law or of fact) on which the existence or extent of a legal right depends. In addition, Article 32 of the Indian Constitution gives an extensive original jurisdiction to the Supreme Court in regard to enforcement of Fundamental Rights. It is empowered to issue directions, orders or writs, including writs in the nature of habeas corpus, mandamus, prohibition, quo warranto and certiorari to enforce them. The Supreme Court has been conferred with power to direct transfer of any civil or criminal case from one State High Court to another State High Court, or from a court subordinate to another State High Court. Public Interest Litigation (PIL) : Although the proceedings in the Supreme Court arise out of the judgments or orders made by the Subordinate Courts, of late the Supreme Court has started entertaining matters in which interest of the public at large is involved, and the Court may be moved by any individual or group of persons either by filing a Writ Petition at the Filing Counter of the Court, or by addressing a letter to Hon'ble The Chief Justice of India highlighting the question of public importance for invoking this jurisdiction.

[edit] Reform

[edit] Corruption Main article: Corruption in India

Overview of the index of perception of corruption, 2007

In 2009, nearly a quarter of the 543 elected members of parliament had been charged with crimes, including rape or murder.[3] There are many institutional efforts such as the Right to Information Act, computerization/eGovernance, the establishment of Lokayukta who can be Cabinet Secretary to check corruption.
[edit] Inefficiency

Indian government is among the most bureaucratic in the world. The current government has concluded that most spending fails to reach its intended recipients.[4] Lant Pritchett calls India's public sector "one of the world's top ten biggest problems - of the order of AIDS and climate change".[4] The Economist article about Indian civil service (2008) said that Indian central government employs around 3 million people and states another 7 million, including "vast armies of paper-shuffling peons".[4] The Economist states that "India has some of the hardestworking bureaucrats in the world, but its administration has an abysmal record of serving the public".[5] Unannounced visits by government inspectors showed that 25% of public sector teachers and 40% of public sector medical workers could not be found at the workplace. Teacher absence rates ranged from 15% in Maharashtra to 71% in Bihar. Despite worse absence rates, public sector teachers enjoy salaries at least five times higher than private sector teachers. India's absence rates are among the worst in the world.[6][7][8][9] Many experiments with computerization have failed due to corruption and other factors.[10][11] In 2008, Tanmoy Chakrabarty noted that "There are vested interests everywhere, politicians fear that they will lose control with e-government, and this is coming in the way of successful implementation of e-government projects in India. [...] Out of the 27 projects under the NEGP, only one (the MCA21 program) has been completed. There is tremendous gap between conceptualization and implementation".[11]
[edit] Spending priorities See also: Subsidies in India

The government subsidizes everything from gasoline to food.[12][dead link] Loss-making state-owned enterprises are supported by the government.[12][dead link] Farmers are given electricity for free.[12]

[dead link]

Overall, a 2005 article by International Herald Tribune stated that subsidies amounted to 14% of GDP.[12][dead link] As much as 39 percent of subsidized kerosene is stolen.[12][dead link] Moreover, these subsidies cause economic distortions.[12][dead link] On the other hand, India spends relatively little on education, health, or infrastructure. Urgently needed infrastructure investment has been much lower than in China. According to the UNESCO, India has the lowest public expenditure on higher education per student among developing and developed countries.[13]
[edit] Deficits

As per the CIA World Factbook, India ranks 23rd in the world, with respect to the Public Debt, with a total of 61.30% of GDP, just before United States, which ranks 24th (2008 estimated).[14]

[edit] Finance
[edit] Taxation Main article: Taxation in India

Regional office of the State Bank of India (SBI), India's largest bank, in Mumbai. The government of India is the largest shareholder in SBI.

India has a three-tier tax structure, wherein the constitution empowers the union government to levy income tax, tax on capital transactions (wealth tax, inheritance tax), sales tax, service tax, customs and excise duties and the state governments to levy sales tax on intrastate sale of goods, tax on entertainment and professions, excise duties on manufacture of alcohol, stamp duties on transfer of property and collect land revenue (levy on land owned). The local governments are empowered by the state government to levy property tax and charge users for public utilities like water supply, sewage etc.[15][16] More than half of the revenues of the union and state governments come from taxes, of which half come from Indirect taxes. More than a quarter of the union government's tax revenues is shared with the state governments.[17] The tax reforms, initiated in 1991, have sought to rationalise the tax structure and increase compliance by taking steps in the following directions:
Reducing the rates of individual and corporate income taxes, excises, customs and making it more progressive Reducing exemptions and concessions

Simplification of laws and procedures Introduction of permanent account number (PAN) to track monetary transactions 21 of the 28 states introduced value added tax (VAT) on April 1, 2005 to replace the complex and multiple sales tax system[16][18]

The non-tax revenues of the central government come from fiscal services, interest receipts, public sector dividends, etc., while the non-tax revenues of the States are grants from the central government, interest receipts, dividends and income from general, economic and social services.
[19]

Inter-state share in the federal tax pool is decided by the recommendations of the Finance Commission to the President. Total tax receipts of Centre and State amount to approximately 18% of national GDP. This compares to a figure of 3745% in the OECD.
[edit] General budget

The Finance minister of India presents the annual union budget in the Parliament on the last working day of February. The budget has to be passed by the Lok Sabha before it can come into effect on April 1, the start of India's fiscal year. The Union budget is preceded by an economic survey which outlines the broad direction of the budget and the economic performance of the country for the outgoing financial year. This economic survey involves all the various NGOs, women organizations, business people, old people associations etc. The 2009 Union budget of India had a total estimated expenditure for 2009-10 was 1,020,838 crore (US$226.6 billion), of which 695,689 crore (US$154.4 billion) was towards Non Plan and 325,149 crore (US$72.2 billion) towards Plan expenditure. Total estimated revenue was 619,842 crore (US$137.6 billion), including revenue receipts of 614,497 crore (US$136.4 billion) and capital receipts of 5,345 crore (US$1.2 billion), excluding borrowings. The resulting fiscal deficit was 400,996 crore (US$89 billion) while revenue deficit was 282,735 crore (US$62.8 billion).The gross tax receipts were budgeted at 641,079 crore (US$142.3 billion) and non-tax revenue receipts at 140,279 crore (US$31.1 billion). India's non-development revenue expenditure has increased nearly fivefold in 200304 since 199091 and more than tenfold since 19851986. Interest payments are the single largest item of expenditure and accounted for more than 40% of the total non development expenditure in the 200304 budget. Defence expenditure increased fourfold during the same period and has been increasing due to India's desire to project its military prowess beyond South Asia. In 2007, India's defence spending stood at US$26.5 billion.[20]

[edit] References
India portal

1. ^ Ministry of Law and Justice, Govt of India: Constitution of India, updated up to 94th
Amendment Act, page 26,http://lawmin.nic.in/coi/coiason29july08.pdf

2. ^ Why we need an executive president : Rajinder Puri, Outlook India, para 11,
http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?235067

3. ^ Washington Post:When the Little Ones Run the Show (quote from the New Delhi
based Association for Democratic Reform) retrieved 14 May 2009

4. ^ a b c India's civil service: Battling the babu raj Mar 6th 2008 The Economist 5. ^ "India's civil service: Battling the babu raj". The Economist. March 6, 2008.
http://www.economist.com/world/asia/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10804248.

6. ^ Teachers and Medical Worker Incentives in India by Karthik Muralidharan 7. ^ Combating India's truant teachers. BBC 8. ^ Private Schools in Rural India: Some Facts (presentation) / Public and Private
Schools in Rural India (a paper). Karthik Muralidharan, Michael Kremer.

9. ^ Teacher absence in India: A snapshot 10. ^ Subhash Bhatnagar (Indian Institute of Management). "Transparency and
Corruption: Does E-Government Help?". http://www.iimahd.ernet.in/~subhash/pdfs/CHRIDraftPaper2003.pdf.

11. ^ a b Swati Prasad (2008). "'Corruption' slowing India's e-govt growth". ZDNet Asia.
http://www.zdnetasia.com/news/business/0,39044229,62044787,00.htm.

12. ^ a b c d e f "India should redirect subsidies to those who need them". The
International Herald Tribute. 2005. http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/10/25/bloomberg/sxmuk.php.

13. ^ "Higher education spending: India at the bottom of BRIC". Rediff. 2005.
http://www.rediff.com/money/2007/feb/05edu.htm.

14. ^ CIA World Factbook 15. ^ Service tax and expenditure tax are not levied in Jammu and Kashmir; Intra-state
sale happens when goods or the title of goods move from one state to another.

16. ^ a b Bernardi, Luigi and Fraschini, Angela (2005). Tax System And Tax Reforms In
India. Working paper n. 51. http://ideas.repec.org/p/uca/ucapdv/45.html.

17. ^ Tax revenue was 88% of total union government revenue in 195051 and has
come down to 73% in 200304, as a result of increase in non-tax revenue. Tax revenues were 70% of total state government revenues in 2002 to 2003. Indirect taxes were 84% of the union governments total tax revenue and have come down to 62% in 200304, mostly due to cuts in import duties and rationalisation. The states share in union government's tax revenue is 28.0% for the period 2000 to 2005 as per the recommendations of the eleventh finance commission. In addition, states that do not levy sales tax on sugar, textiles and tobacco, are entitled to 1.5% of the proceeds.Datt, Ruddar & Sundharam, K.P.M. (2005). Indian Economy. S.Chand. pp. 938, 942, 946. ISBN 81-219-0298-3.

18. ^ "Indif_real_GDP_per_capitaa says 21 of 29 states to launch new tax". Daily Times.

March 25, 2005. http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_25-32005_pg5_13.

19. ^ Datt, Ruddar & Sundharam, K.P.M.. "55". Indian Economy. pp. 943945. 20. ^ Kamdar, Mira (April 3, 2008). "India's budget may backfire | The Australian".
Theaustralian.news.com.au.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23474033-23850,00.html. Retrieved 2008-11-03.

Jump to: navigation, search This article is about the organisation. For general information on railways in India, see Rail transport in India.
Indian Railways

Departmental Undertaking of The Type Ministry of Railways, Government of India Industry Founded Headquart ers Area served Rail transport 16 April 1857 (1857-04-16)[1]

New Delhi, Delhi, India

India

Key people Mamata Banerjee

(Ministry of Railways)

E. Ahamed & K.H. Muniyappa

(Ministers of State)

Vivek Sahai
(Chairman, Railway Board)
[2]

Products

Rail transport, Cargo transport, Services, more... 88,355 crore (US$19.61 billion) (2009-10)[3] 951 crore (US$211.12 million) (2009-10)[3] Republic of India (100%)
(2009)
[4]

Revenue

Net income Owner(s)

Employees 1,600,000

Divisions

16 Railway Zones (excluding Konkan Railway) Indianrailways.gov.in

Website

Indian Railways (Hindi: Bhratya Rail), abbreviated as IR (Hindi: ..), is the stateowned railway company of India, which owns and operates most of the country's rail transport. It is overseen by the Ministry of Railways of the Government of India. Indian Railways has more than 64,015 kilometres (39,777 mi)[5] of track and 7,083 stations. It has the world's fourth largest railway network after those of the United States, Russia and China. [5] The railways traverse the length and breadth of the country and carry over 25 million passengers and 2.5 million tons of freight daily.[6][7] It is one of the world's largest commercial or utility employers, with more than 1.6 million employees.[6][8] As to rolling stock, IR owns over 230,000 (freight) wagons, 60,000 coaches and 9,000 locomotives.[6] Railways were first introduced to India in 1853. By 1947, the year of India's independence, there were forty-two rail systems. In 1951 the systems were nationalised as one unit, 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.

Contents
[hide]

1 Organisational structure 1.1 Railway zones 1.2 Recruitment and training 1.3 Subsidiaries

2 Locomotives 3 Technical details 3.1 Track and gauge 3.2 Traction

4 Railway links to adjacent countries 5 Services 5.1 Passenger 6 Types of passenger services 7 Suburban rail 7.1 Accommodation classes 7.2 Train Numbering 7.2.1 Notable trains and achievements 7.2.2 Fares and ticketing 7.2.3 Tourism 7.3.1 Dedicated Freight Corridor

7.3 Freight

8 Rail budget and finances 9 Issues 10 Reforms and upgrades 11 See also 12 Notes 13 References 14 External links

[edit] Organisational structure

Main article: Indian Railway organisational structure

Indian Railways is a department owned and controlled by the Government of India, via the Ministry of Railways. As of December 2010, the Railway Ministry is headed by Mamata Banerjee, the Union Minister for Railways, and assisted by two ministers of State for Railways. Indian Railways is administered by the Railway Board, which has a financial commissioner, five members and a chairman.[9]

[edit] Railway zones

A schematic map of the Indian Railways network, showing the various zones.

The headquarters of the Indian Railways in New Delhi

Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, Mumbai First Railway Station in India. Also World Heritage Site

Indian Railways is divided into 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 finally 17 in 2010. Each zonal railway is made up of a certain number of divisions, each having a divisional headquarters. There are a total of sixty-seven divisions.[10][11] The Delhi Metro is being built and operated by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Limited (DMRC). The Government of India and the Government of Delhi jointly set up a company called the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) on March 5, 1995 with E. Sreedharan as the managing director.He is Padma Vibhushan awardee(Second highest honour) by Government of India[17] It is no way connected to Indian Railways.[12] Each of the seventeen zones, Including Kolkata Metro, is headed by a General Manager (GM) 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 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
Sl. No Abbr Name . Date Headquart Establish ed ers

Divisions

1.

Central East Central East Coast Eastern North Central North Eastern North Western

CR

1951, November Mumbai 5 2002, Hajipur October 1

Mumbai, Bhusawal, Pune, Solapur, Nagpur Danapur, Dhanbad, Mughalsarai, Samastipur, Sonpur

2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

ECR ECoR ER NCR

2003, April Bhubanesw Khurda Road, Sambalpur, 1 ar Visakhapatnam 1952, April Kolkata 2003, April Allahabad 1 Gorakhpur Howrah, Sealdah, Asansol, Malda Allahabad, Agra, Jhansi Izzatnagar, Lucknow, Varanasi Jaipur, Ajmer, Bikaner, Jodhpur Alipurduar, Katihar, Rangia, Lumding,

NER 1952 NWR

2002, Jaipur October 1

Northeast NFR 1958,15th Guwahati

Frontier 9. 10. Northern NR South Central SCR

Jan 1952, April Delhi 14

Tinsukia Delhi, Ambala, Firozpur, Lucknow, Moradabad

1966, Secunderab Secunderabad, Hyderabad, Guntakal, October 2 ad Guntur, Nanded, Vijayawada 2003, April Bilaspur 1 Kolkata Bilaspur, Raipur, Nagpur Adra, Chakradharpur, Kharagpur, Ranchi Hubli, Bangalore, Mysore Chennai, Tiruchirappalli, Madurai, Palakkad, Salem, Trivandrum(Thiruvananthapuram) Jabalpur, Bhopal, Kota Mumbai Central, Ratlam, Ahmedabad, Rajkot, Bhavnagar, Vadodara

South 11. East Central 12. 13. South Eastern South Western

SECR

SER 1955 SWR

2003, April Hubli 1 1951, April Chennai 14 2003, April Jabalpur 1 1951, November Mumbai 5 2010, December Kolkata 25

14. Southern SR West Central

15.

WCR

16. Western

WR

Kolkata 17. Metro

Kolkata Metro

[edit] Recruitment and training

WDM-3A diesel passenger and freight locomotive of Indian Railways at Shantiniketan, India

With approximately 1.6 million employees, Indian Railways is the country's single largest employer.[13] Staff are classified into gazetted (Group A and B) and non-gazetted (Group C and D) employees.[14] The recruitment of Group A gazetted employees is carried out by the Union Public Service Commission through exams conducted by it.[15] The recruitment to Group 'C' and 'D' employees on the Indian Railways is done through 19 Railway Recruitment Boards which are controlled by the Railway Recruitment Control Board (RRCB).[16] The training of all cadres is entrusted and shared between six centralised training institutes.
See also: Centralised Training Institutes of the Indian Railways [edit] Subsidiaries

A WAP5 locomotive

Indian Railways manufactures much of its rolling stock and heavy engineering components at its six manufacturing plants, called Production Units, which are managed directly by the ministry. As with most developing economies, the main reason for this was the policy of import substitution of expensive technology related products when the general state of the national engineering industry was immature. Each of these six production units is headed by a General Manager, who also reports directly to the Railway Board. There exist independent organisations under the control of the Railway Board for electrification, modernisation and research and design, each of which is headed by a General Manager. A number of Public Sector Undertakings, which perform railway-related functions ranging from consultancy to ticketing, are also under the administrative control of the Ministry of railways.

[edit] Locomotives
Main article: Locomotives in India

Indian railways uses a number of different Diesel and Electric locomotives, Steam locomotives were once very common but are now only used on heritage routes.

[edit] Technical details

[edit] Track and gauge

Indian railways uses four gauges, the 1,676mm broad gauge which is wider than the 1,435mm standard gauge; the 1,000mm 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. The total length of track used by Indian Railways was about 111,600 km (69,300 mi) while the total route length of the network was 64,061 km (39,806 mi) on 31 March 2010.[17] About 31% of the route-kilometre and 46% of the total track kilometre was electrified on 31 March 2010.[17]

Broad 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 96,851 km of track length (86.8% of entire track length of all the gauges) and 52,500 km of route-kilometre (81.95% of entire route-kilometre of all the gauges) on 31 March 2010. In some regions with less traffic, the metre gauge (1,000mm) is common, although the Unigauge project is in progress to convert all tracks to broad gauge. The metre gauge had 11,676 km of track length (10.5% of entire track length of all the gauges) and 9,000 km of route-kilometre (14.04% of entire route-kilometre of all the gauges) on 31 March 2010. 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 had a total of 2,500 route-kilometre on 31 March 2010. The Kalka-Shimla Railway, the Nilgiri Mountain Railway and the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway are three notable hill lines that use narrow gauge.[18] Those three will not be converted under the Unigauge project. The share of broad gauge in the total route-kilometre has been steadily rising, increasing from 47% (25,258 route-km) in 1951 to more than 83% in 2010 whereas the share of metre gauge has declined from 45% (24,185 route-km) to less than 13% 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 18% (by just 10,000 km from 53,596 route-km in 1951) in the last 60 years. This compares very poorly with Chinese railways, which increased from about 27,000 route-km at the end of second world war to about 90,000 route-km in 2010, 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 20,059 route-km of Indian railways. This is an indication of the poor state of Indian railways where the funds allocated to new railway lines are meagre, construction of new uneconomic railway lines are taken up due to political interference without ensuring

availability of funds and the projects incur huge cost and time overruns due to poor projectmanagement and paucity of funds. Double decker AC trains have been introduced in India. The first double deckar train was Flying Rani introduced in 2005 while the first double decker AC train in the Indian Railways was introduced in November 2010, running between the Dhanbad and Howrah stations having 10 coaches and 2 power cars. Sleepers (ties) used are made of prestressed concrete, or steel or cast iron posts, though teak sleepers are still in use on 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, where the difference may exceed 70C.
[edit] Traction

As of March 2010, 20,059 km of the total 64,215 km route length is electrified.[19] Since 1960, almost all electrified sections on IR use 25,000 V AC traction through overhead catenary delivery.[20][21] A major exception is the entire Mumbai section, which uses 1,500 V DC.[21] and is currently undergoing change to the 25,000 V AC system. Another exception is the Kolkata Metro, which uses 750 V DC delivered through a third rail. Traction voltages are changed at two places close to Mumbai. Central Railway trains passing through Igatpuri switch from AC to DC using a neutral section that may be switched to either voltage while the locomotives are decoupled and swapped. Western Railway trains switch power on the fly, in a section between Virar (DC) and Vaitarna (AC), where the train continues with its own momentum for about 30 m through an unelectrified section of catenary called a dead zone. [21] All electric engines and EMUs operating in this section are the necessary AC/DC dual system type (classified "WCAM" by IndianRailways).

[edit] Railway links to adjacent countries

Bhutan - railways under construction - Same gauge Nepal- yes -Break-of-gaugeGauge conversion under unigauge project Pakistan - same Broad Gauge Bangladesh - Same Broad Gauge

[edit] Services

[edit] Passenger

A DMU Train

Indian Railways operates about 9,000 passenger trains and transports 20 million passengers daily across twenty-eight states and two union territories. Sikkim and Meghalaya are the only states not connected by rail. A standard passenger train consists of eighteen coaches, but popular trains can have up to 26 coaches.

24 Coached Malwa Express

The newly launched Chennai-Salem Express

Coaches are designed to accommodate anywhere from 18 to 108 passengers, but during the holiday seasons and/or on busy routes, more passengers may travel in unreserved coaches. Most regular trains have coaches connected through vestibules. However, 'unreserved coaches' are not connected with the rest of the train via any vestibule.

An un-vestibulated coach of the Indian train

Reservation against cancellation service is a provision for shared berth in case the travel ticket is not confirmed.[22] The last timetabled passenger service running under steam locomotive power ended in 2000, in Gujarat.[23] All current passenger service is provided using electric or diesel locomotives, except for the rack section of the Nilgiri Mountain Railway (NMR) which still relies on Swiss-built X class steamers to do the job.

[edit] Types of passenger services

Trains are classified by their average speed.[24] A faster train has fewer stops ("halts") than a slower one and usually caters to long-distance travel.
Ran k 1 Train Duronto Express Description These are the non-stop point to point rail services (except for operational stops) introduced for the first time in 2009. These trains connects the metros and major state capitals of India and are faster than Rajdhani Express. The Duronto services consists of classes of accommodation namely first AC, two-tier AC, threetier AC, AC 3 Tier Economy, Sleeper Class, General Class. These are all air-conditioned trains linking major cities to New Delhi. The Rajdhanis have high priority and are one of the fastest trains in India, travelling at about 140 km/h (87 mph). There are only a few stops on a Rajdhani route.

Rajdhani Express

Shatabdi and Jan Shatabdi Express Garib Rath

The Shatabdi trains are AC intercity seater-type trains for travel during day. Jan-Shatabdi trains consists of both AC and non-AC classes. Fully air conditioned trains, designed for those who cannot afford to travel in the expensive Shatabti and Rajdhani Express. Garib Rath means "Chariot of the Poor". The maximum speed is 130 km/h.

Superfast These are trains that have an average speed greater than Mail/Express 55 km/h (34 mph). Tickets for these trains have an additional super-fast surcharge. Mail/Express These are the most common kind of trains in India. They have more stops than their super-fast counterparts, but they stop only at relatively important intermediate stations. Passenger and Fast Passenger Suburban trains These are slow trains that stop at most stations along the route and are the cheapest trains. The trains generally have unreserved seating accommodation but some night trains have sleeper and 3A compartments. These trains operate in urban areas, usually stop at all stations and have unreserved seating accommodation.

[edit] Suburban rail

The Delhi Metro railway

Chennai MRTS

Many cities have their own dedicated suburban networks to cater to commuters. Currently, suburban networks operate in Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Delhi, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Pune and Lucknow-Kanpur. Hyderabad, Pune and Lucknow-Kanpur do not have dedicated suburban tracks but share the tracks with long distance trains. New Delhi, Kolkata, and Chennai have their own metro networks, namely the New Delhi Metro, the Kolkata Metro,and the Chennai MRTS, with dedicated tracks mostly laid on a flyover.

Mumbai's suburban trains handle 6.3 million commuters daily.[25]

Suburban trains that handle commuter traffic are mostly electric multiple units. They usually have nine coaches or sometimes twelve to handle rush hour traffic. One unit of an EMU train consists of one power car and two general coaches. Thus a nine coach EMU is made up of three units having one power car at each end and one at the middle. The rakes in Mumbai run on direct current, while those elsewhere use alternating current.[26] A standard coach is designed to accommodate 96 seated passengers, but the actual number of passengers can easily double or triple with standees during rush hour. [edit] Accommodation classes

An 'Open' type [3+3] Chair Car

Several long trains are composed of two to three classes of travel, such as a 1st and 2nd classes which have different pricing systems for various amenities. The 1st Class refers to coaches with separate cabins, coaches can be air-conditioned or non air-conditioned.

An AC 1 Class coach

Further, other AC classes can have 2 or 3 tier berths, with higher prices for the former, 3-tier non-AC coaches or 2nd class seating coaches, which are popular among passengers going on shorter journeys. In air-conditioned sleeper classes passengers are provided with sheets, pillows and blankets. Meals and refreshments are provided, to all the passengers of reserved classes, either through the on-board pantry service or through special catering arrangements in trains without pantry car. Unreserved coach passengers have options of purchasing from licensed vendors either on board or on the platform of intermediate stops. The amenities depend on the popularity and length of the route. Lavatories are communal and feature both the Indian style as well as the Western style. The following table lists the classes in operation. Not all classes may be attached to a rake though.
Class[27] Description[27][28]

1A

The First class AC: This is the most expensive class, where the fares are on par with airlines. Bedding is included with the fare in IR. This air conditioned coach is present only on popular routes between metropolitan cities and can carry 18 passengers. The coaches are carpeted, have sleeping accommodation and have privacy features like personal coupes. AC-Two tier: Air conditioned coaches with sleeping berths, ample leg room, curtains and individual reading lamps. Berths are usually arranged in two tiers in bays of six, four across the width of the coach then the gangway then two berths longways, with curtains provided to give some privacy from those walking up and down. Bedding is included with the fare. A broad gauge coach can carry 48 passengers. First class: Same as 1AC, without the air conditioning. This class is not very common. AC three tier: Air conditioned coaches with sleeping berths. Berths are usually arranged as in 2AC but with three tiers across the width and two longways as before giving eight bays of eight. They are slightly less well appointed, usually no reading lights or curtained off gangways. Bedding is included with fare. It carries 64 passengers in broad gauge. AC three tier (Economy): Air conditioned coaches with sleeping berths, present in Garib Rath Trains. Berths are usually arranged as in 3AC but with three tiers across the width and three longways. They are slightly less well appointed, usually no reading lights or curtained off gangways. Bedding is not included with fare. AC chair car: An air-conditioned seater coach with a total of five seats in a row used for day travel between cities. Executive class chair car: An air-conditioned seater coach with a total of four seats in a row used for day travel between cities. Sleeper class: The sleeper class is the most common coach, and usually ten or more coaches could be attached. These are regular sleeping coaches with three berths vertically stacked. In broad gauge, it carries 72 passengers per coach. Railways have modified certain Sleeper Coaches on popular trains to accommodate 81 passengers in place of regular 72 passengers. This was done in order to facilitate benefits like clear the Passenger rush and simultaneously earn more revenue. But this has got lukewarm response with criticism from the travellers and railways has decided to remove them. Seater class: same as AC Chair car, but with bench style seats and without

2A

FC 3A

3E

CC EC SL

2S

the air-conditioning. UR Unreserved: The cheapest accommodation, with seats made of pressed wood and are rarely cushioned. Although entry into the compartment is guaranteed, a sitting seat is not guaranteed. Tickets issued are valid on any train on the same route if boarded within 24 hours of buying the ticket. These coaches are usually very crowded.

A typical sleeper class coach

At the rear of the train is a special compartment known as the guard's cabin. It is fitted with a transceiver and is where the guard usually gives the all clear signal before the train departs. A standard passenger rake generally has four general compartments, two at the front and two behind, of which one is exclusively for ladies. The exact number varies according to the demand and the route. A luggage compartment can also exist at the front or the back. In some trains a separate mail compartment is present. In long-distance trains a pantry car is usually included in the centre.
[edit] Train Numbering

Effective December 20, 2010, the railways will deploy a 5 digit numbering system instead of the 4 digit system. The need is due to the fact that the Indian Railways runs 10,000 trains daily.[29] Only a prefix of the digit 1 will be added to the four-digit numbers of the existing trains to make the transition smoother. The special trains run to clear festivals and holiday rush shall have the prefix of 0 (zero) [edit] Notable trains and achievements

A train on the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway

There are two UNESCO World Heritage Sites on IR the Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus[30] and the Mountain railways of India. The latter is not contiguous, but actually consists of three separate railway lines located in different parts of India:[31]
The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, a narrow gauge railway in West Bengal. The Nilgiri Mountain Railway, a metre gauge railway in the Nilgiri Hills in Tamil Nadu The Kalka-Shimla Railway, a narrow gauge railway in the Shivalik mountains in Himachal Pradesh. The Maharaha Railways , a narrow gauge line of just 0.6m width from Gwalior to Sheopur of 198 km. in length is world's longest narrow gauge railway line is in the UNESCO world heritage tentative list. The Neral-Matheran Railway , a narrow gauge railway connecting Matheran is also a historic line.

The Palace on Wheels is a specially designed train, frequently hauled by a steam locomotive, for promoting tourism in Rajasthan. On the same lines, the Maharashtra government introduced the Deccan Odyssey covering various tourist destinations in Maharashtra and Goa, and was followed by the Government of Karnataka which introduced the Golden Chariot train connecting popular tourist destinations in Karnataka and Goa. However, neither of them has been able to enjoy the popular success of the Palace on Wheels. The Samjhauta Express is a train that runs between India and Pakistan. However, hostilities between the two nations in 2001 saw the line being closed. It was reopened when the hostilities subsided in 2004. Another train connecting Khokhrapar (Pakistan) and Munabao (India) is the Thar Express that restarted operations on February 18, 2006; it was earlier closed down after the 1965 Indo-Pak war. In 2003 the Kalka Shimla Railway was featured in the Guinness Book of World Records for offering the steepest rise in altitude in the space of 96 kilometre.[32]

A Beyer Garratt 6594 Engine seen at the National Rail Museum

The Lifeline Express is a special train popularly known as the "Hospital-on-Wheels" which provides healthcare to the rural areas. This train has a carriage that serves as an operating room, a second one which serves as a storeroom and an additional two that serve as a patient ward. The

train travels around the country, staying at a location for about two months before moving elsewhere. Among the famous locomotives, the Fairy Queen is the oldest operating locomotive in the world today, though it is operated only for specials between Delhi and Alwar. John Bull, a locomotive older than Fairy Queen, operated in 1981 commemorating its 150th anniversary. Kharagpur railway station also has the distinction of being the world's longest railway platform at 1,072 m (3,517 ft). The Ghum station along the Darjeeling Toy Train route is the second highest railway station in the world to be reached by a steam locomotive.[33] The MumbaiPune Deccan Queen has the oldest running dining car in IR. The Himsagar Express, between Kanyakumari and Jammu Tawi, has the longest run in terms of distance and time on Indian Railways network. It covers 3,745 km (2,327 mi) in about 74 hours and 55 minutes. The Bhopal Shatabdi Express is the fastest train in India today having a maximum speed of 150 km/h (93 mph) on the FaridabadAgra section. The fastest speed attained by any train is 184 km/h (114 mph) in 2000 during test runs. The Rajdhani Express and Shatabdi Express are the superfast, fully air-conditioned trains that give the unique opportunity of experiencing Indian Railways at its best. In July 2009, a new nonstop train service called Duronto Express was announced by the railway minister Mamata Banerjee.[34] [edit] Fares and ticketing Fares on the Indian Railways across categories are among the cheapest in the world. In the past few years, despite a recessionary environment, the Indian Railways have not raised fares on any class of service. On the contrary, there has been a minor dip in fares in some categories. Ticketing services are available at all major and minor railway stations across India. In 2003, Indian Railways launched online ticketing services through the IRCTC website.[35] Apart from Etickets, passengers can also book I-tickets that are basically regular printed tickets, except that they are booked online and delivered by post. According to comScore, the Indian Railways website was the top visited Indian travel site in April 2010, with 7.7 million visitors.[36] [edit] Tourism
Main article: IRCTC#Tourism

IRCTC takes care of the tourism operations of the Indian Railways. The Indian Railways operates several luxury trains such as Palace on Wheels, Golden Chariot, Royal Orient Express and Deccan Odyssey; that cater mostly to foreign tourists. For domestic tourists too, there are several packages available that cover various important tourist and pilgrimage destinations across India.

[edit] Freight

A single line rail bridge

IR carries a huge variety of goods ranging from mineral ores, fertilizers and petrochemicals, agricultural produce, iron & steel, multimodal traffic and others. Ports and major urban areas have their own dedicated freight lines and yards. Many important freight stops have dedicated platforms and independent lines. Indian Railways makes 70% of its revenues and most of its profits from the freight sector, and uses these profits to cross-subsidise the loss-making passenger sector. However, competition from trucks which offer cheaper rates has seen a decrease in freight traffic in recent years. Since the 1990s, Indian Railways has switched from small consignments to larger container movement which has helped speed up its operations. Most of its freight earnings come from such rakes carrying bulk goods such as coal, cement, food grains and iron ore. Indian Railways also transports vehicles over long distances. Trucks that carry goods to a particular location are hauled back by trains saving the trucking company on unnecessary fuel expenses. Refrigerated vans are also available in many areas. The "Green Van" is a special type used to transport fresh food and vegetables. Recently Indian Railways introduced the special 'Container Rajdhani' or CONRAJ, for high priority freight. The highest speed notched up for a freight train is 120 kilometres per hour (75 mph) for a 5,500 metric tonne load. Recent changes have sought to boost the earnings from freight. A privatization scheme was introduced recently to improve the performance of freight trains. Companies are being allowed to run their own container trains. The first length of an 11,000-kilometre (6,800 mi) freight corridor linking India's biggest cities has recently been approved. The railways has increased load limits for the system's 230,000 freight wagons by 11%, legalizing something that was already happening. Due to increase in manufacturing transport in India that was augmented by the increase in fuel cost, transportation by rail became advantageous financially. New measures such as speeding up the turnaround times have added some 24% to freight revenues.

[edit] Dedicated Freight Corridor Under the Eleventh Five Year Plan of India(20072012), Ministry of Railways is constructing a new Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) covering about 2762 route km long two routes - the Eastern Corridor from Ludhiana to Sone Nagar and the Western Corridor from Jawaharlal Nehru Port at Nhava Sheva, Navi Mumbai to Tughlakabad/Dadri along with interlinking of two corridors at Dadri. Upgrading of transportation technology, increase in productivity and reduction in unit transportation cost are the focus areas for the project.[37] According to initial estimates, the project would cost 20,500 crore (US$4.6 billion).[38] A new company, "Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Limited(DFCCIL)", designated as a `special purpose vehicle`, has been created to undertake planning & development, mobilization of financial resources and construction, maintenance and operation of the Dedicated Freight Corridors. DFCCIL has been registered as a company under the Companies Act 1956 on 30 October 2006.[39]

[edit] Rail budget and finances

A sample ticket

The Railway Budget deals with planned infrastructure expenditure on the railways as well as with the operating revenue and expenditure for the upcoming fiscal years, the public elements of which are usually the induction and improvement of existing trains and routes, planned investment in new and existing infrastructure elements, and the tariff for freight and passenger travel. The Parliament discusses the policies and allocations proposed in the budget. The budget needs to be passed by a simple majority in the Lok Sabha (Lower House). The comments of the Rajya Sabha (Upper House) are non-binding. Indian Railways is subject to the same audit control as other government revenue and expenditures. Based on anticipated traffic and the projected tariff, requirement of resources for capital and revenue expenditure of railways is worked out. While the revenue expenditure is met entirely by railways itself, the shortfall in the capital (plan) expenditure is met partly from borrowings (raised by Indian Railway Finance Corporation) and the rest from Budgetary support from the Central Government. Indian Railways pays dividend to the Central Government for the capital invested by the Central Government. As per the Separation Convention (on the recommendations of the Acworth Committee), 1924, the Railway Budget is presented to the Parliament by the Union Railway Minister, two days prior to the General Budget, usually around 26 February. Though the Railway Budget is separately presented to the Parliament, the figures relating to the receipt and expenditure of the Railways

are also shown in the General Budget, since they are a part and parcel of the total receipts and expenditure of the Government of India. This document serves as a balance sheet of operations of the Railways during the previous year and lists out plans for expansion for the current year. The formation of policy and overall control of the railways is vested in Railway Board, comprising the Chairman, the Financial Commissioner and other functional members of Traffic, Engineering, Mechanical, Electrical and Staff departments. Indian Railways, which a few years ago was operating at a loss, has, in recent years, been generating positive cash flows and been meeting its dividend obligations to the government, with (unaudited) operating profits going up substantially.[40] The railway reported a cash surplus of 900 crore (US$199.8 million) in 2005, 14,000 crore (US$3.1 billion) in 2006, 20,000 crore (US$4.4 billion) in 2007 and 25,000 crore (US$5.6 billion) for the 2007-2008 fiscal year. Its operating ratio improved to 76% while, in the last four years, its plan size increased from 13,000 crore (US$2.9 billion) to 30,000 crore (US$6.7 billion). The proposed investment for the 2008-2009 fiscal year is 37,500 crore (US$8.3 billion), 21% more than for the previous fiscal year.[3] Budget Estimates-2008 for Freight, Passenger, Sundry other Earnings and other Coaching Earnings have been kept at 52,700 crore (US$11.7 billion), 21,681 crore (US$4.8 billion), 5,000 crore (US$1.1 billion) and 2,420 crore (US$537.2 million) respectively. Maintaining an overall double digit growth, Gross Traffic Earnings have been projected as 93,159 crore in 200910 (19.1 billion USD at current rate), exceeding the revised estimates for the current fiscal by 10,766 crore (US$2.4 billion).[3] Around 20% of the passenger revenue is earned from the upper class segments of the passenger segment (the air-conditioned classes).[41] The Sixth Pay Commission was constituted by the Government of India in 2005 to review the pay structure of government employees, and submitted its recommendations in April 2008. Based on its recommendations, the salaries of all Railways officers and staff were to be revised with retrospective effect w.e.f. January 1, 2006, resulting in an expenditure of over 13,000 crore (US$2.9 billion) in 2008-09 and 14,000 crore (US$3.1 billion) in 200910. Consequently, staff costs have risen from 44% of ordinary working expenses to 52%.[42]

[edit] Issues
See also: List of Indian rail incidents

Many railway stations are in gross disrepair, dirty, outdated and overcrowded, especially when compared to stations in developed countries. Sometimes passengers are seen on trains hanging out windows and even on the roof creating safety problems.[43] The interior of many train compartments are poorly maintained from rust, dirt and common wear and tear. Given the political infighting, corruption and inefficiencies, it is understandable that there are overcrowding, cleanliness and other maintenance issues. Although accidents such as derailment and collisions are less common in recent times,[44] many are run over by trains, especially in crowded areas. Indian Railways have accepted the fact that given the size of operations, eliminating accidents is an unrealistic goal, and at best they can only minimize the accident rate. Human error is the primary cause, leading to 83% of all train accidents in India.[45] While

accident rates are low - 0.55 accidents per million train kilometre,[45] the absolute number of people killed is high because of the large number of people making use of the network.[46] While strengthening and modernisation of railway infrastructure is in progress, much of the network still uses old signalling and has antiquated bridges.[45] Lack of funds is a major constraint for speedy modernisation of the network, which is further hampered by diversion of funds meant for infrastructure to lower-prioritised purposes due to political compulsions.[46] In order to solve this problem, the Ministry of Railways in 2001 created a non-lapsible safety fund of 17,000 crore (US$3.8 billion) exclusively for the renewal of overaged tracks, bridges, rolling stock and signalling gear.[47] In 2003, the Ministry also prepared a Corporate Safety Plan for the next ten years with the objective of realising a vision of an accident-free and casualty-free railway system. The plan, with an outlay of 31,835 crore (US$7.1 billion), also envisaged development of appropriate technology for higher level of safety in train operation.[48]

[edit] Reforms and upgrades

One line Tunnel at Guntur division

Outdated communication, safety and signaling equipment, which used to contribute to failures in the system, is being updated with the latest technology. A number of train accidents happened on account of a system of manual signals between stations, so automated signaling is getting a boost at considerable expense. It is felt that this would be required given the gradual increase in train speeds and lengths, that would tend to make accidents more dangerous. In the latest instances of signaling control by means of interlinked stations, failure-detection circuits are provided for each track circuit and signal circuit with notification to the signal control centres in case of problems. [49] Though currently available only in a small subset of the overall IR system, anti-collision devices are to be extended to the entire system.[50] Aging colonial-era bridges and century-old tracks also require regular maintenance and upgrading.

Comparison of different gauges common in India with the standard one, which is not common in India

The fastest trains of Indian Railways, Rajdhani Express and Shatabadi Express face competition from low-cost airlines since they run at a maximum speed of only 150 kilometres per hour (93 mph).[51] At least six corridors are under consideration for the introduction of high speed bullet trains to India with expert assistance from France and Japan. IR is in the process of upgrading stations, coaches, tracks, services, safety, and security, and streamlining its various software management systems including crew scheduling, freight, and passenger ticketing. Crew members will be able to log in using biometric scanners at kiosks while passengers can avail themselves of online booking.[52] Initially, various upgrade and overhaul work will be performed at more than five hundred stations, some of it by private contract. All metre gauge lines in the country will be converted to broad gauge (see Project Unigauge). New LHB stainless steel coaches, manufactured in India, have been installed in Rajdhani and Shatabdi express trains.[50] These coaches enhance the safety and riding comfort of passengers besides having more carrying capacity, and in time will replace thousands of old model coaches throughout Indian Railways. More durable and conforming polyurethane paint is now being used to enhance the quality of rakes and significantly reduce the cost of repainting. Improved ventilation and illumination are part of the new scheme of things, along with the decision to install air brake systems on all coaches. New manufacturing units are being set up to produce state-of-the-art locomotives and coaches.[50] IR is also expanding its telemedicine network facilities to further give its employees in far-flung and remote areas access to specialized medicine. IR has also piloted Internet connectivity on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Shatabdi Express,[53] powered by Techno Sat Communications It is estimated that modernisation of IR and bringing it up to international standards would require US$280 billion in new upgrades and investment from 2010 to 2020.[54]

Sanitation in trains and stations throughout the system is getting more attention with the introduction of eco-friendly, discharge-free, green (or bio-) toilets developed by IIT Kanpur[citation needed] . Updated eco-friendly refrigerant is being used in AC systems while fire detection systems will be installed on trains in a phased manner. New rodent-control and cleanliness procedures are working their way into the many zones of IR. Central Railway's 'Operation Saturday' is gradually making progress, station by station, in the cleanup of its Mumbai division. Augmentation of capacity has also been carried out in order to meet increasing demand. The number of coaches on each train have been increased to 24, from 16, which increased costs by 28% but increased revenues by 78%. The railways were permitted to carry 68 tons per wagon, up from the earlier limit of 54 tons per wagon, thereby cutting costs. The turnaround time for freight wagons was reduced from 7 days to 5 by operating the goods shed 24X7, electrifying every feeder line (this reduced time spent switching the engine from diesel to electric or from electric to diesel). Reducing the turnaround time meant that the Railways could now load 800 trains daily, instead of 550 trains daily. The minimum tonnage requirements were reduced allowing companies to unload their cargo at multiple stops.[55]

[edit] See also

Railways in India portal

List of countries by rail transport network size List of railway stations in India Rail transport in India

[edit] Notes
1. ^ "Times Of India". The Times Of India. 2010-04-15.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/patna/ECR-to-observe-Railway-Weektoday/articleshow/5807165.cms.

2. ^ "Railway Unit". Official webpage of Indian Railways.

http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=62207. Retrieved 2009-06-06.

3. ^ a b c d "Railways fiscal 2009/10 budget". http://www.businessstandard.com/india/news/indian-railways-profit-falls-93-in-two-years/17/56/86704/on. Retrieved February 24, 2010.

4. ^ "Personnel". Indian Railways Yearbook 2008-2009.

http://streamlinesupplychain.wordpress.com/2008/12/14/chinese-railways-versusindian-railways/. Retrieved 2010-01-10.

5. ^ a b Based on 2009 figures. The network is the third largest to be managed by a

single operator. Country Comparison:: RAILWAYS CIA, The World Factbook Accessed 2010-09-8

6. ^ a b c Indian Railways Year Book (2006-2007). Ministry of Railways, Government of

India. 2007. pp. 23. http://www.indianrailways.gov.in/deptts/stateco/YearBook_06_07.htm. Retrieved 2008-12-23.

7. ^ Indian Railways Year Book (2006-2007). Ministry of Railways, Government of India.

2007. p. 53. http://www.indianrailways.gov.in/deptts/stat-eco/YearBook_06_07.htm. Retrieved 2008-12-23.

8. ^ Guinness Book of World Records. Guinness World Records, Ltd. 2005. p. 93.
ISBN 1892051222.

9. ^ "Organisation Structure". Official webpage of Indian Railways.

http://www.indianrailways.gov.in/orgn.htm. Retrieved 2009-07-18.
[dead link]

10. ^ R.R. Bhandari (2005). Indian Railways: Glorious 150 years. Ministry of Information
and Broadcasting, Government of India. pp. 4452. ISBN 81-230-1254-3.

11. ^ "Zones and their Divisions in Indian Railways". Indian Railways.

http://www.indianrail.gov.in/ir_zones.pdf. Retrieved 15 September 2009 format=PDF.

12. ^ "Geography: Railway zones". Indian Railways Fan Club.

http://www.irfca.org/faq/faq-geog.html. Retrieved 2008-12-23.

13. ^ "Railways earns from freight; spends little on development". Business Standard.
2009-07-03. http://www.business-standard.com/railbudget09/storypage.php? autono=66484&tp=on. Retrieved 2009-09-03.

14. ^ "Rule 106, Chapter 1". INDIAN RAILWAY ESTABLISHMENT CODE (Vol - I). Indian
Railways. http://www.indianrailways.gov.in/FinanceCode/est-code-I/estbl-vol1-chap1p01-p24.htm#106. Retrieved 2009-09-03. [dead link]

15. ^ "Rule 201, Chapter 2". INDIAN RAILWAY ESTABLISHMENT CODE (Vol - I). Indian
Railways. http://www.indianrailways.gov.in/FinanceCode/est-code-I/estbl-vol1-chap2p01-p23.htm#201. Retrieved 2009-09-03. [dead link]

16. ^ "Rule 109, Chapter 1". Indian Railways Establishment Manual Volume-I. Indian
Railways. http://www.indianrailways.gov.in/financecode/est-manual-I/IREMCh1_Data.htm#109. Retrieved 2009-09-03. [dead link]

17. ^ a b compiled and edited by Research, Reference and Training Division. (2010). India
Yearbook 2010. Publications Division, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Govt. of India. p. 961. ISBN 81 230 1557 7.

18. ^ "Toy Trains Of India". Our Trips - Royal Train Tours. India Calling Tours (P) Limited.
http://www.triptoindia.com/toy-trains-of-india-royal-train-tours-of-india-calling-tourstrip-to-india.html. Retrieved 2007-05-12.

19. ^ "General Information". Central Organisation for Railway Electrification. Ministry of

Railways, Government of India. http://www.core.railnet.gov.in/general/general1.htm. Retrieved 2009-07-18. [dead link]

20. ^ "Historical Background of Railway electrification". Central Organisation for Railway

Electrification. Ministry of Railways, Government of India. http://www.core.railnet.gov.in/general/Brief%20on%20RE.htm. Retrieved 2009-0718. [dead link]

21. ^ a b c "Electric Traction - I". IRFCA.org. Indian Railways Fan Club.

http://www.irfca.org/faq/faq-elec.html. Retrieved 2007-06-19.

22. ^ "Reservation Rules". Indian Railways. 2008.

http://www.indianrail.gov.in/resrules.html. Retrieved 2009-01-05. Retrieved 2011-02-26.
[dead link]

23. ^ "[IRFCA] Indian Steam Pages - Index". Irfca.org. http://www.irfca.org/steam/. 24. ^ "railway operations I". IRFCA.org. Indian Railways Fan Club.
http://www.irfca.org/faq/faq-ops.html. Retrieved 2007-06-11.

25. ^ "Overview Of the existing Mumbai Suburban Railway". Official webpage of Mumbai
Railway Vikas Corporation. Archived from the original on 2008-06-20.

http://web.archive.org/web/20080620033027/http://www.mrvc.indianrail.gov.in/overv iew.htm. Retrieved 2008-12-11.

26. ^ "[IRFCA] Indian Railways FAQ: Electric Traction I". Irfca.org.

http://www.irfca.org/faq/faq-elec.html#volt. Retrieved 2008-11-11.

27. ^ a b "General Information on travelling by IR". IRFCA.org. Indian Railways Fan Club.
http://www.irfca.org/faq/faq-travel.html. Retrieved 2007-06-03.

28. ^ "Class of Travel". indiarail.co.uk. S.D.Enterprises Ltd.

http://www.indiarail.co.uk/indrail.htm. Retrieved 2007-06-03.

29. ^ The Times of India 30. ^ "Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (formerly Victoria Terminus)". World Heritage List.
World Heritage Committee. 2004. http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/945. Retrieved 200901-05.

31. ^ "Mountain Railways of India". World Heritage List. World Heritage Committee.
1999. http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/944/. Retrieved 2009-01-05.

32. ^ "100 years of pine-scented travel".

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2003/20031108/windows/main1.htm. Retrieved 200902-14.

33. ^ "Hill trains". Archived from the original on 2008-08-22.

http://web.archive.org/web/20080822150546/http://www.indianrail.gov.in/dm_hill.htm l. Retrieved 2009-02-14.

34. ^ "'Duronto' trains will be faster than Rajdhani". Indian Express. 2009-07-03.
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/duronto-train-services-for-major-cities/484594/. Retrieved 2009-07-03.

35. ^ "On the right track". Rediff.com.

http://www.rediff.com/search/2003/jul/29train.htm. Retrieved 2009-02-14.

36. ^ "Visitation to Travel Sites in India Surges 50 Percent in Past Year". comScore.com.
http://www.comscore.com/Press_Events/Press_Releases/2010/6/Visitation_to_Travel_S ites_in_India_Surges_50_Percent. Retrieved 2010-06-12.

37. ^ "Strategy of Indian Railways During the Eleventh Five Year Plan". Government of
India. 2007-2008. http://indiabudget.nic.in/es2007-08/chapt2008/chap93.pdf. Retrieved 2010-09-18.

38. ^ "Report of the Task Force: The Delhi-Mumbai & Delhi-Howrah Freight Corridors".
Planning Commission, Government of India. 2007-2008. http://infrastructure.gov.in/pdf/Freight_Corridor.pdf. Retrieved 2010-09-18.

39. ^ "Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Ltd.". Ministry of Railways,

Government of India. 2009. http://dfccil.org/wps/portal/DFCCPortal. Retrieved 201009-18.

40. ^ "Statistical Summary-Indian Railways". 2006-02-23. Archived from the original on

2008-03-28. http://web.archive.org/web/20080328185125/http://www.indianrail.gov.in/summary0 6.htm. Retrieved 2008-04-08.

41. ^ Arun Kumar Das (2005-06-19). "Indian Railway takes the E-route". Online edition of
the Times of India, dated 2005-06-19. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1146548.cms. Retrieved 2008-12-10.

42. ^ "Pay panel award to cost Rlys 13,600 crore (US$3 billion)". The Hindu Business
Line. 2009-02-14.

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2009/02/14/stories/2009021451801500.htm. Retrieved 2009-09-02.

43. ^ Paul Theroux, Ghost Train to the Eastern Star: On the Tracks of the Great Railway
Bazaar, P.156 (First Mariner Books 2008).

44. ^ "Railways take measures to prevent accidents". Press Information Bureau. 200908-06. http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=51548. Retrieved 2009-08-08.

45. ^ a b c Amulya Gopalakrishnan (2003-07-19). "A poor track record". Frontline.

http://www.frontlineonnet.com/fl2015/stories/20030801006911900.htm. Retrieved 2008-12-10.

46. ^ a b Sanjeev Srivastava (2002-04-16). "Indian rail marks 150th anniversary". BBC.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/1931229.stm.

47. ^ "PM clears 17,000 cr. fund to modernise Rlys.". Chennai, India: The Hindu. 200107-03. http://www.hindu.com/2001/07/03/stories/0203000j.htm. Retrieved 2009-0903.

48. ^ "10-year Corporate Safety Plan for rlys.". The Hindu. 2003-08-20.
http://www.hinduonnet.com/2003/08/20/stories/2003082003231300.htm. Retrieved 2009-09-03.

49. ^ "Indian Railways Signalling Systems". http://www.irfca.org/faq/faq-signal.html.

Retrieved 2009-02-14.

50. ^ a b c "HIGHLIGHTS OF RAILWAY BUDGET 2008-09". Official webpage of Indian

Railways. http://www.indianrailways.gov.in/budget-0809/HIGHLIGHTS-0809-ENG.PDF. Retrieved 2008-12-13. [dead link]

51. ^ "Business Travel Still On Track - Cover Story - FE Business Traveller".

Businesstravellerindia.com. http://www.businesstravellerindia.com/200603/coverstory01.shtml. Retrieved 200811-11.

52. ^ "Railways to modernise six stations". The Economic Times. 2007-09-04.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Railways/Railways_to_modernise_six_stations/ar ticleshow/2336488.cms. Retrieved 2009-09-02.

53. ^ "WiFi In Trains Piloted On Shatabdi Express; Music Downloads, Movies On

Demand?". MediaNama.com. http://www.medianama.com/2009/01/223-wifi-in-trainspiloted-on-shatabdi-express-music-downloads-movies-on-demand/. Retrieved 200911-13.

54. ^ Dinesh Trivedi (2007-02-27). "It's a great waste of potential & possibilities". The
Telegraph. http://www.telegraphindia.com/1070227/asp/business/story_7446475.asp. Retrieved 2009-09-02.

55. ^ Bahree, Megha (2008-10-27). "On the right track". Forbes.

http://www.forbes.com/global/2008/1027/024a.html. Retrieved 2009-06-28.

[edit] References
"Indian Railways FAQ". Indian Railways Fan Club. http://www.irfca.org/faq/. Retrieved June 18, 2006. "IR History: Early Days". Indian Railways Fan Club. http://www.irfca.org/faq/faq-hist.html. Retrieved June 19, 2005. "Railway Zones". Indian Railways Fan Club. http://www.irfca.org/faq/faqgeog.html. Retrieved June 19, 2005.

"Railways Reservation". [Railwayreservation.org]. http://www.railwayreservation.org. Retrieved June 16, 2010. "Famous Trains". Indian Railways Fan Club. http://www.irfca.org/faq/faqseltrain.html. Retrieved June 19, 2005. "Freight Trains". Indian Railways Fan Club. http://www.irfca.org/faq/faqfreight.html. Retrieved June 19, 2005. "Miscellaneous material on Indian Railways". Indian Railways Fan Club. http://www.irfca.org/docs/. Retrieved June 18, 2006. "Trivia". Indian Railways Fan Club. http://www.irfca.org/faq/faq-trivia.html. Retrieved June 19, 2005. "Salient Features of Indian Railways". Indian Railways. Archived from the original on June 18, 2005. http://web.archive.org/web/20050618234536/http://www.indianrail.gov.in/abir .html. Retrieved June 19, 2005. "Indian Railway takes the E-route". Times of India. 2005-06-19. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1146548.cms. Retrieved June 19, 2005. "The Rediff Interview". Rediff.com. http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/jul/03inter.htm. Retrieved June 19, 2005. "A poor track record". Frontline magazine online. http://www.frontlineonnet.com/fl2015/stories/20030801006911900.htm. Retrieved June 19, 2005. Various authors (2004). Guinness Book of World Records-2005. Guinness World Records Ltd. ISBN 0-85112-192-6. "Railway Budget 2010-2011". India Rail Info. http://indiarailinfo.com/railbudget. Retrieved February 25, 2010. "5 digit Train Numbering". The Times Of India. 2010-12-19. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Railways-replace-4-digit-numberingsystem-with-5-digit/articleshow/7129929.cms.

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Kolkata Metro
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Kolkata Metro

Info Locale

Kolkata, India Rapid transit

Transit type

Number of lines Number of stations Website

1 in operation, 2 under construction, 2 announced 23 (15 under ground, 2 on surface and 6 elevated) www..mtp.indianrailways.gov.in/ Operation

Began operation

1984

Operator(s) Metro Railway, Kolkata (under Central Government Ministry of Railways) Technical System length Track gauge Electrificati 750V DC through third rail on 5 feet 6 inch Broad Gauge 25 km

The Kolkata Metro or Calcutta Metro (Bengali: Kolkata Mero) is the Underground Mass Rapid Transit Urban Railway network in Kolkata (formerly, Calcutta), India. It was the first underground railway to be built in India, with the first operations commencing in October, 1984 and the full stretch that was initially planned being operational by February, 1995. On 28 December 2010, it became the 17th zone of the Indian Railways.[1] The New Delhi Metro, which opened in 2002, is the second such urban metro rail network in India. However, being the countrys first, and a completely indigenous process, the construction of the Kolkata Metro was more of a trial-and-error affair, in contrast to the Delhi Metro, which has seen the involvement of numerous international consultants. As a result, it took nearly 23 years to completely construct a 17 km underground railway.

The line runs from Dum Dum in the north and continues south through Park Street, Esplanade in the heart of the city till the southern end to New Garia, the station bearing the name Kavi Subhash.

Contents
[hide] 1 History 1.1 Timeline 2.1 Technical Features 2.2 Reservation for women 2.3 Salient features 2.4 Method of construction 2.5 Rolling Stock 3.1 North South Corridor 3.2 Alignment & Interchanges 3.3 Extension of North South Corridor 2 Features

3 Routes

4 Fare Structure 5 Tickets 6 Metro Railway ,Kolkata becomes the 17th new zone under Indian Railways 7 East - West Metro 7.1 Proposed Route 8.1 Dum Dum-Dakshineswar Extension 8.2 Noapara-Barasat Link 8.3 Dum Dum-Airport Link 8.4 Joka-B.B.D. Bagh Link 8.5 New Garia-Airport Link 8 Latest Projects & Plans

9 Incidents and Criticisms 10 See also 11 References 12 External links

[edit] History

Before independence, there was a plan by the British to construct an underground railway in Kolkata. After independence, the burgeoning transport problem of Kolkata drew the attention of the city planners, the State Government and also the Government of India. It was soon realised that something had to be done and done quickly to cope with the situation. Bidhan Chandra Roy, at that time the Chief Minister of West Bengal, conceived the idea in 1949 of building an underground railway for Kolkata to solve the problems to some extent. A survey was done by a team of French experts without any concrete results. Efforts to solve the problem by augmenting the existing fleet of public transport vehicles barely touched the fringe of the problem as the roads account for only 4.2% of the surface area in Calcutta, compared to 25% in Delhi and even 30% in other cities.[2] With a view to finding an alternative solution, the Metropolitan Transport Project (Rlys) (i.e., Railways) was set up in 1973. After detailed studies, the MTP (Rlys) came to the conclusion that there was no other alternative but to construct a Mass Rapid Transit System. The MTP (Rlys) had prepared a Master Plan in 1971 envisaging construction of five rapid-transit lines for the city of Kolkata, totalling a route length of 97.5 km. Of these, the highest priority was given to the busy North-South axis between Dum Dum and Mahanayak Uttam Kumar (Tollygunge) over a length of 16.45 km, and the work on this project was sanctioned on June 1, 1972. The foundation stone of the project was laid by Smt. Indira Gandhi, the then Prime Minister of India, on December 29, 1972, and the construction work started in 1973. At first, 5 lines were planned, but finally 3 selected. Those were Dum Dum - Tollygunj Bidhannagar (Salt Lake Sector V) - Ramrajatala Dakshineshwar - Thakurpukur

Since the commencement of construction, the project had to contend with several problems, such as the unavailability of sufficient funds till 1977-78, relocation of underground utilities, court injunctions, an irregular supply of vital materials, and so on. The laying of the founding stone was done in 1972, but actual construction of line 1 started only in 1978. Line 1 is 17 km. long with 17 stations (see above). Running of the first metro car on the line by 1984 was considered a great engineering challenge.Former railways minister A. B. A. Ghani Khan Chowdhury took a massive effort to perform it. The first section opened between Esplanade & Bhowanipore (Now called Netaji Bhawan). First day Metro Railway Kolkata were started by Sri Tapan Kumar Nath and Sri Sanjay Sil. There were no connections of this stretch with the two depots at Dum Dum & Tollygunge(Now called Mahanayak Uttam Kumar). So metro cars had to be put down on the track near Esplanade by crane, by directly digging the road surface. Initially, only four car trains were run until 1986. There were no magnetic gates or escalators at that time and ordinary revolving gates served as exits. The Metro too operated on only a single line. Two years later, line 1 extended up to Tollygunge, at the southern end. At the same time, the metro service was extended to the double line. Magnetic tickets and more entry gates were also introduced at that time. The number of compartments in each train was increased to eight. Metro service was also started from Dum Dum, at the northern end, to Belgachhia in parallel with the extension of the line to the south. But this short portion was not popular and the service was closed down to be restarted when the entire stretch along the north-south corridor was completed. After 1986, many political incidents hampered the construction, and work almost stopped for nearly six years. After restarting work, the Dum Dum to Shyambazar metro service was started

in 1994. This portion was served by four car trains. Two months later, the Esplanade - Chandni Chowk section was opened, and Chandni Chowk - Central section opened three months later. The service from Dum Dum to Tollygunge started in 1995, with Mahatma Gandhi Road Station, being opened in 1996. During this time, more magnetic gates and escalators were added and the revolving gates were slowly phased out.
[edit] Timeline October 24, 1984: Esplanade - Bhowanipur (now Netaji Bhaban) (3.4 km) November 12, 1984: Dum Dum - Belgachhia (2.15 km) April 29, 1986: Bhowanipur (now Netaji Bhaban) - Tollygunge (now Mahanayak Uttam Kumar) (4.25 km) August 13, 1994: Dum Dum - Shyambazar (3.8 km) October 2, 1994: Esplanade - Chandni Chowk (0.7 km) February 19, 1995: Shyambazar - Girish Park (1.9 km) and Chandni Chowk Central (0.6 km) September 27, 1995: Central - Girish Park (1.8 km) August 22, 2009: Tollygunge (Mahanayak Uttam Kumar) - Garia Bazar (now Kavi Nazrul), 5.85 km October 7, 2010: Garia Bazar (now Kavi Nazrul) - New Garia (now Kavi Subhash), 3 km

[edit] Features
[edit] Technical Features

A metro car is getting ready for journey towards Kavi Subhash (New Garia) at Dum Dum

Metro construction is of a very complex nature requiring application of several new technologies in the fields of civil, electrical, signaling and telecommunication engineering. Indian engineers backed by their own experience and supplemented by their studies abroad, adopted advanced technologies in the following fields for the first time in India.

Cut and cover method of construction using diaphragm walls and sheet piles. Use of extensive decking to keep the traffic flowing over the cut while construction is in progress underneath. Shield tunneling using compressed air and airlocks. Ballast less track using elastic fastenings, rubber pads, epoxy mortar and nylon inserts. Air-conditioning and ventilation system for environmental control of stations and tunnels. Third Rail current collection system for traction. Underground substations with dry type transformers and SF-6 circuit breakers. Tunnel-Train VHF-radio communication system. Micro-processor-based train control and supervisory remote control system for substations. Automatic ticket vending and checking system.

[edit] Reservation for women

Recently, the Kolkata Metro Railway experimented with the practice of reserving two entire compartments for women.[3] This system was found to be ineffective and caused inconvenience for a lot of commuters(including women) and the plan was eventually dropped by the metro authority. But a certain section of seats in each of the 8 compartments is reserved for women.
[edit] Salient features Total route length 25 km (15.5 miles) Stations Gauge Cars per train Train length Maximum permissible speed Average speed Voltage Method of current collection 23 (15 underground, 2 on surface and 6 elevated) 1676 mm (5 ft 6 in), Indian Broad Gauge 8 162.4 m (8-car) 55 km/h (34 mph) 30 km/h (19 mph) 750 V D.C. third rail

Travel Time: Dum Dum 50 minutes (approx.) to Kavi subhash Capacity (per car) Capacity (per train) Headways Total estimated cost of the project Environment control 326 passengers (278 standing, 48 sitting) 2590 passengers (approx.) 68 minutes during peak hours & 1015 minutes at other times 1,825 crore (US$405.2 million) (approx.) Forced ventilation with washed and cooled air in case of non AC rakes and air conditioning in case of AC rakes

[edit] Method of construction Cut and cover method of construction using diaphragm walls and sheet piles. Use of extensive decking to keep the traffic flowing over the cut while construction in progress underneath. Shield tunneling using compressed air and airlocks. Ballast less track using elastic fastenings, rubber pads, epoxy mortar and nylon inserts. Air-conditioning and ventilation system for environmental control of stations and tunnels. Third Rail current collection system for traction.

[edit] Rolling Stock

Kolkata Metro Train (Line 1)

In service 1984-present ICF Chennai (body and nonelectric components), NGEF Bangalore (electric components) 8 cars per trainset approx. 2356 passengers per train Metro Railway, Kolkata (under

Manufactur er

Formation Capacity Operator

supervision of Indian Railways) Line(s) served

Line 1, Kolkata Metro

Specifications Maximum speed Transmissio n Safety system(s) Gauge

55 km/h (in service)

750 V DC using third rail

ATP, ATC

5 ft 6 in (1676 mm) gauge

Kolkata Metro near Dum Dum

The whole fleet is vestibuled. Carbodies and mechanical components were made by ICF Chennai with electrical components made by NGEF, Bangalore. The fleet is unique in that it is the only railroad equipment in India with end-mounted cab doors (except for some of the WAG-6 series locomotives). ICF has specifically designed, manufactured and supplied these cars for the Kolkata Metro Underground Railway System. The special features incorporated are:
Traction power supply through third rail current collection system.

Automatic door opening / closing and continuous monitoring of the transit. Automatic Train Stop (ATS) system which will automatically apply the brakes in case of human failure. Automatic train operation (ATO) with the driver acting as the train supervisor (optional). A public address system is provided on the trains to announce approaching stations. A central dispatcher can contact any of the train crew and also make important announcements directly to passengers over the system.

With all these features, the design and manufacturing process of these cars to a very high standard of reliability and safety has been a challenge. This was achieved without any technical collaboration. The entire fleet is capable of carrying 2356 passengers. In October 2010, the current class of rolling stock has begin to be phased out and replaced by new air-conditioned cars two of which have been already pressed into service. Out of a total of 18 trainsets (non AC) owned by the Kolkata Metro, 11 are supposed to be retired within a few years and the remaining 7 will be rebuilt with new features including air conditioning, which is badly needed. The two state of the art AC rakes have the following features :a. Microprocessor controlled temperature and humidity control inside the trains. b. Fully automatic and digital operation of the train including emergency braking in the event of human failure or an emergency. c. LCD displays inside the motormen's cabins. d. Low external and internal noise level. e. Maximum speed of 80 km/h and Avge speed is 50 km/h. f. Multilingual Electronic LED sign boards both inside and outside the train. g. Public address system. h. Multi Reflector Head lamps. i. LED based tail lamps. j. Third rail system of current collection. k. Continuous monitoring of the transit. The new air-conditioned rolling stock was manufactured by ICF in collaboration with BHEL and Knorr Bremse, Germany. In spite of the impressive proposals and promises, the two AC rakes are reportedly causing problems to Commuters and Metro Railway officials alike. [1]

[edit] Routes
[hide]Kolkata Metro

Towards Barackpore Dum Dum Main Line towards Sealdah Belgachhia Shyambazar

Shobhabazar-Sutanuti Girish Park Mahatma Gandhi Road Central (Kolkata Metro) Chandni Chowk Esplanade Park Street Maidan Rabindra Sadan Netaji Bhavan (Kolkata Metro) Jatin Das Park Kalighat Rabindra Sarobar Mahanayak Uttamkumar (Tollygunge) Netaji (Kundghat) Masterda Surya Sen (Bansdroni) Gitanjali (Naktala) Kavi Nazrul (Garia Bazar)

Shahid Khudiram (Pranabnagar/Dhalai Bridge) Kavi Subhash (New Garia)

Kolkata Metro Map (Update: From Aug 2009, the green dotted section from Tollygunj to Garia is also operational) [edit] North South Corridor

The stations on the metro (south to north) are :

Kavi Subhash (Interchange with New Garia railway station for Sealdah South section Suburban local trains; formerly: New Garia) Shahid Khudiram (Formerly: Briji) Kavi Nazrul (Formerly: Garia Bazar) Gitanjali (Formerly: Naktala) Masterda Surya Sen (Formerly: Bansdroni) Netaji (Formerly: Kudghat) Mahanayak Uttam Kumar (Formerly: Tollygunge)

Rabindra Sarobar Kalighat Jatin Das Park Netaji Bhavan (Formerly: Bhowanipore) Rabindra Sadan Maidan (Proposed name: Gostho Pal) Park Street Esplanade Chandni Chowk Central Mahatma Gandhi Road Girish Park Shobhabazar Sutanuti Shyambazar Belgachhia Dum Dum

[edit] Alignment & Interchanges

Dum Dum station and all the stations from Shahid Khudiram (Briji) to Netaji (Kudghat) are elevated, Mahanayak Uttam Kumar (Tollygunge) station and Kavi Subhash (New Garia) are at ground level, while all the other stations are underground. Dum Dum, Park Street, Mahanayak Uttam Kumar (Tollygunge), Netaji (Kundghat), Masterda Surya Sen (Bansdroni), Geetanjali (Naktala), Kavi Nazrul (Garia Bazar), Shahid Khudiram (Briji) and Kavi Subhash (New Garia) have side platforms; all other stations have island platforms. Central, is an exception as it has both platforms on the sides as well as in the centre. Dum Dum, Kavi Subhash (New Garia), Rabindra Sarobar & Shobhabazar Sutanuti have connections to interchange with standard railway while Belgachhia, Shyambazar, Esplanade & Kalighat have connections to the tram network. Tram lines also serve Shobhabazar Sutanuti, Mahatma Gandhi Road, Central, Jatin Das Park, Rabindra Sarobar & Mahanayak Uttam Kumar (Tollygunge) stations. Previously Park street & Maidan stations were also served by tram. The Eastern Metropolitan Bypass can be accessed from the Shahid Khudiram (Briji) metro station.
[edit] Extension of North South Corridor

Mamata Banerjee during her first tenure as the railway minister initiated the project of Tollygunj - Garia metro extension. During her second tenure (2009present ), she got the inaugurated the extension and also introduced new state-of-the-art Air Conditioned rakes, manufactured indegenously at the Integral Coach Factory, at Perambur near Chennai. The new extension to Garia Bazar in the south opened to public on 23 August 2009. The Garia Bazar station was named after Kavi Nazrul. A final extension from Kavi Nazrul (Garia Bazar) to Kavi Subhash (New Garia) was inaugurated on October 7, 2010, bringing the total number of stations to 23. On the same day two Air-Conditioned rakes were also pressed into service.

[edit] Fare Structure

The Metro fare is distance-based. Fare structure on Metro Railway was last revised with effect from 01.10.2001 after a gap of 3 years. The present fare structure is as below:
ZON DISTANCE FARE ( E (km) ) I II III IV V up to 5 5-10 10-15 15-20 20 and above 4.00 6.00 8.00 10.00 12.00

[edit] Tickets

Kolkata Metro Single Person single journey ticket

Metro Rail, Kolkata introduced Automatic Fare Collection (AFC) system in August/September'94, with magnetic tickets and Passenger Control (PC). Currently, the following types of tickets are available.
Daily Tickets Single trip tickets (1 person) Double-trip tickets (1 person) Single-trip tickets (2 to 7 people) Double-trip tickets (2 to 7 people) Daily Tickets (Day Passes) Minimum Multi Ride (MMR) - Valid for 21 days (12 trips available by paying fare for 11 trips) Limited Multi Ride (LMR) - Valid for 30 days (40 trips available by paying fare for 30 trips)

Multi Ride Tickets

Extended Multi Ride (EMR) - Valid for 90 days (80 trips available by paying fare for 55 trips)

The above tickets are issued for all three zones. Smart Cards In 2005, Metro Kolkata introduced the Smart Card-based ticketing system for daily users. This was started to reduce the cost of magnetic tickets as well as the number in circulation. Therefore there is a discount offered as compared to the price of the normal magnetic tickets.

[edit] Metro Railway ,Kolkata becomes the 17th new zone under Indian Railways
Metro Rail,Kolkata became the 17th new Zone under the Indian Railways on 28th December 2010 . This move by Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee enabled metro rail to become autonomous and take independent decisions.Metro Rail , Kolkata now becomes similar to DMRC. There have been safety concerns arising from ill-managed equipment for the last few years. And many incident stalling metro services have cropped up dramatically in the recent past.

[edit] East - West Metro

East And West Metro, a 4,874.58 crore (US$1.1 billion) project to connect Kolkata with Howrah by an underwater metro line has been cleared by the central government.[4] The total length will be 14.67 km (8.9 km underground and 5.77 km elevated). This line will be constructed and maintained by a separate body named Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation (KMRC).However in January 2011 KMRC and the entire EW metro corridor was taken over by the Ministry of Railways from the Ministry of Urban development and the state Govt. of West Bengal. The WB State Govt. decided to handover the project to Indian Railways because Govt. of WB was going through a huge financial crisis. So now the EW Metro's majority stake is with the Indian Railways and the remaining part is as a loan from the Japan Bank of International Cooperation. The West Bengal government had earlier appointed Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Limited to conduct a feasibility study of the project after which the government had initially put the project on hold due to funding issues.The underwater metro plan was first thought of when the first metro service was inaugurated in Kolkata in 1984 by former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. The route is to cover 12 stations and go under the river through a tunnel. Foundation Stone was laid on 22 February 2009.
[edit] Proposed Route

Construction of line 2 started in March 2009. The East-West Metro will run from Salt Lake Sector 5 (in the east) to Howrah Maidan(in the west). Unlike line 1, which is operated by the Indian Railways, line 2 will be operated by a new company - Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation (KMRC). Trains will be air conditioned, and underground stations will be equipped with platform screen doors. It will run on standard (4' 8.5", 1435mm) gauge, unlike line 1, which uses broad (5' 6", 1676mm) gauge. Proposed stations are - Salt Lake Sector 5, Karunamoyee Housing Estate, Central Park, City Center, Bengal Chemical Office, Yuva Bharati Krirangan, Phoolbagan, Sealdah Station, Central (crossing with line 1), Mahakaran, Howrah Station and Howrah Maidan. Between Mahakaran & Howrah Station, the metro will run 100 ft (30 m). under the Hooghly River (first underwater

metro in India). The line will be elevated between Salt Lake Sector 5 and Yuva Bharati Krirangan, and the remaining stretch will be underground.Transfer stations will be located at Sealdah and Howrah. Completion date is estimated to be October 31, 2014. In future the line may be extended to Newtown (in the east) and to Domjur (in the west).

[edit] Latest Projects & Plans

[edit] Dum Dum-Dakshineswar Extension

The plan to extend the line in the north from Dumdum to Dakshineswar (5.2 km) is under execution. The construction of this line started in February 2010. This line has also been planned to be extended till Barrackpore (12.5 km) in the north[5]. The stations on this stretch will be 1. Ma Sarada Devi (Noapara) 2. Swami Vivekananda (Baranagar) 3. Dakshineswar

The extension to Barrackpore beyond Dakshineswar will have the following proposed stations 1. Kamarhati 2. Agarpara 3. Panihati 4. Titagarh 5. Barrackpore [edit] Noapara-Barasat Link

The project to build a 18.5 km long line from Noapara to Barasat via Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport.[6] is also sanctioned and construction work has commenced on this stretch. The proposed stations on this route are [7]1. Noapara 2. Dum Dum Cantonment 3. Jessore Road 4. Bimanbandar 5. Birati 6. Michael Nagar 7. New Barrackpore 8. Madhyamgram 9. Hridaypur 10.Barasat

[edit] Dum Dum-Airport Link

This is a planned link to connect the Metro to the Airport. This route will run over a length of 8.24 km on the Up section, and 6.40 km on the Down section [7]. The proposed stations are Up Section
1. Dum Dum 2. Noapara 3. Ramakrishna Palli 4. Shanti Nagar 5. Bimanbandar (Airport).

Down Section
1. Bimanbandar (Airport) 2. Jessore Road 3. Dum Dum Cantonment 4. Dum Dum [edit] Joka-B.B.D. Bagh Link

A 16.72km long metro line from Joka (in extreme South Kolkata) and B B D Bagh (in central Kolkata) is also under construction . It is being constructed by RVNL and the tender has gone to Simplex Infrastructures. The proposed stations on this route are[8] 1. Joka 2. Thakurpukur 3. Sakherbazar 4. Behala Chowrasta 5. Behala Bazar 6. Taratalla 7. Majherhat 8. Mominpur 9. Kidderpore 10.Hastings 11.Park Street 12.Esplanade 13.BBD Bag

The proposed Park Street and Esplanade stations won't be the same as the ones on the northsouth Metro route. The Joka-BBD Bag route will meet the north-south services at the Central station, said a senior Metro official. This is where the upcoming East-West Metro is likely to meet the two routes as well. Passengers can take different routes from this station

[edit] New Garia-Airport Link

A connection between New Garia and the Airport(32 km) via E M Bypass , Saltlake and Rajarhat is on the cards in order to help reduce travel time between the southern fringes of Kolkata to the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport. The work on this New GariaAirport was inaugurated by Mamata Banerjee on February 7th, 2011 with a project deadline of six months[9]. The deadline is surely going to be missed as construction work hasn't begun anywhere yet. The 32km link between Kavi Subhas (New Garia) and the airport, to be set up at a cost of Rs 400 crore, will have 24 stations. The stations, as declared till now, will be named after eminent personalities[10].
1. Satyajit Ray Station (Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute) 2. Jyotindra Nandy Station (Mukundapur) 3. Sukanta Bhattacharya Station (Kalikapur) 4. Hemanta Mukhopadhyay Station (Kasba Golpark/Ruby Hospital) 5. Barun Sengupta Station (Science City) 6. Gour Kishore Ghosh Station (Chingrighata) 7. IT Station (Salt Lake Sector V) 8. Kala Kshetra Station (Rajarhat CBD 2) 9. Titumir Station (Rajarhat City Centre) 10.Rabindra Tirtha (Rajarhat) 11.Ritwik Ghatak Station (Bantala Road) 12.Jai Hind Station (Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport)

[edit] Incidents and Criticisms

On 12 October 2010, a train suffered a power supply failure between Girish Park and Sovabazar stations resulting in passengers being stranded in the tunnels for nearly 35 minutes before being escorted to safety.[11] In another incident a Metro train partially derailed on 19 October 2010, though no injuries or major damage was reported. [2]. This incident was immediately followed by another snag within a day [3]. There have been hazardous incidents of reported fire in the Metro just after the Garia extension came into place, resulting in disruption of service and raising serious questions about passenger safety. Metro services have also been disrupted due to suicide on the tracks [4]. The number has steadily increased over the last decade. Calcutta Metro's pride of working like a clockwork took another dip when all trains were delayed by an average of 3 -5 minutes after the Garia extension came into being. This problem was later partially sorted out by extending the expected time of travel. The wierd namingscheme (using names of Personalities ignoring the actual geographical location) has also been heavily criticised, but to no avail. It cause serious problems to regular passangers and new-comers alike. Several other serious issues like Ticket Punch gates failing, Closed ticket counters and Malfunction Compartment doors plagues Kolkata Metro nowadays regularly. Proposals of replacing these old systems are being laid out but haven't yet materialized.

[edit] See also

Kolkata Metro Rolling Stock

List of rapid transit systems Kolkata tram Kolkata Lightrail Kolkata Monorail Kolkata Suburban Railway

[edit] References
1. ^ "Kolkata Metro is now the 17th zone of Indian Railways". The Times of India. 29 December 2010. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/KolkataMetro-is-now-the-17th-zone-of-Indian-Railways/articleshow/7186301.cms. Retrieved 29 December 2010. 2. ^ A Citys Lifeline Circular Railway - India Profile 3. ^ Metro reserves compartments for females 4. ^ Underwater metro in Kolkata gets central nod 5. ^ http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/mamata-lays-foundation-for-dumdumdakshineswar-metro/562722/ 6. ^ http://www.telegraphindia.com/1090729/jsp/calcutta/story_11295327.jsp 7. ^ a b http://www.thestatesman.net/index.php? option=com_content&view=article&id=355377&catid=72 8. ^ http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata-/Joka-BBD-Bag-Metro-onthe-anvil/articleshow/6149695.cms 9. ^ http://www.telegraphindia.com/1110208/jsp/calcutta/story_13549408.jsp 10.^ http://www.telegraphindia.com/1110208/jsp/calcutta/story_13549408.jsp 11.^ Bureau (2010-10-12). "From AC to age of caves - Fury after Metro passengers get trapped in tunnel". The Telegraph - Calcutta. http://www.telegraphindia.com/1101013/jsp/frontpage/story_13052369.jsp. Retrieved 2010-10-14.

[edit] External links

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i s t o r y

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Don Bosco School, Park Circus Calcutta Girls High School Calcutta Second aryBoys' School Hare School La Martiniere Calcutta Loreto School South Point School St. James' School St. Xavier's Collegiate School

E University Marine Engineering and Research Institute Bethune d College Medical College Kolkata Calcutta National Medical College u c Centre for Studies in Social Sciences Indian Institute of Management a Calcutta Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, t Kolkata Indian Institute of Social Welfare and Business Management i o HigherIndian Statistical Institute Jadavpur University Maulana Azad College Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Institute of Asian Studies n
National Library of India Netaji Subhas Open University Presidency College Rabindra Bharati University Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics School of Tropical Medicine Scottish Church College St. Xavier's College University of Calcutta West Bengal University of Health Sciences West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences West Bengal University of Technology

Aliah University Asiatic Society Bengal Engineering and Science

I Calcutta Electric Supply Corporation (CESC) Calcutta Stock Exchange n Hawkers Hindustan Ambassador Kolkata Port Trust d u s t r y a n d e c o n o

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T r a n s p o r t a t i o n

Ro ad

Calcutta Tramways Company Howrah Bridge/Rabindra Setu Vidyasagar Setu Vivekananda Setu Nivedita Setu Rickshaw

Rai l

Kolkata Metro Kolkata Circular Railway Kolkata Suburban Railway Eastern Railway South Eastern Railway
Howrah Station Sealdah Railway Station

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Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport

C u Bangla band Kolkata Book Fair Calcutta Youth Choir Dwarkin l Festivals (Kolkata Film Festival Dover Lane music festival) Kolkata in t u the media Nandan Rabindra Nritya Natya Rabindra Sangeet Ritwik r Ghatak Satyajit Ray e

P Dakshineswar Kali Temple Kalighat St. Paul's Cathedral Parasnath l Temple Tipu Sultan Mosque a c e s o f w o r

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S p Beighton Cup Calcutta Cricket and Football Club Calcutta Football o r League East Bengal Club Eden Gardens IFA Shield Mohammedan t Sporting Club Mohun Bagan Athletic Club Salt Lake Stadium s

O t h e Adwaita Alipore Zoological Gardens Central Forensic Science r Laboratory Electoral constituencies People from Kolkata Fort t William Hooghly River Indian Botanical Gardens Trivia Kundu o Special Legendary personalities in Bengal Maidan Missionaries of p Charity Rabindra Sarobar i c s

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[show]v d eRapid Rail Transit in India

M e t r o

In operationDelhi Metro Kolkata Metro

Under ConstructionChennai Metro Jaipur Metro Hyderabad Metro Mumbai Metro

 Namma Metro (Bangalore) RMRG (Gurgaon)

Bhopal Metro Chandigarh Metro Kanpur Metro Kochi Metro Ludhiana Metro Lucknow Metro Planned MEGA (Gandhinagar & Ahmedabad) Pune Metro Navi Mumbai Metro

Under ConstructionMumbai Monorail

M o n o r a i l

Bangalore Monorail Chennai Monorail Delhi Monorail Planned Ahmedabad Monorail Kolkata Monorail Navi Mumbai Monorail Patna Monorail Pune Monorail

E l e v a t e d U r b a n R

In operationChennai MRTS

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[hide]v d eIndian Railways

Administra tion

Ministry of Railways (India) Railway Board (India)

Central Railway East Central Railway East Coast Railway Eastern Railway North Central Railway North Eastern Railway North Western Zones Railway Northeast Frontier Railway Northern Railway South Central Railway South East Central Railway South Eastern Railway South Western Railway Southern Railway West Central Railway Western Railway
[show] Subsidiaries

P r o d u c t i Chittaranjan Locomotive Works Diesel Locomotive Works Diesel-Loco Modernisation o Works Integral Coach Factory Rail Coach Factory Rail Wheel Factory Rail Spring n Karkhana U n i t s

P Container Corporation of India Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Indian S Railway Finance Corporation Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation U IRCON International Ltd. Konkan Railway Corporation Mumbai Rail Vikas s Corporation Rail Land Development Authority Rail Vikas Nigam Limited Railtel Corporation of India RITES Ltd. D e p a r Central Organization For Railway Electrification Central Organization For Modernization t of Workshops Centre for Railway Information Systems Research Design and Standards mOrganization e n t s

T Indian Railway Institute of Transportation Management Indian Railway Institute of Civil r Engineering Indian Railway Institute of Signal and Telecommunications Engineering a Indian Railway Institute of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering Indian Railway i Institute of Electrical Engineering RPF Academy Railway Staff College n i n g I n s t i t u t e

Chennai Suburban Railway Chennai MRTS Darjeeling Himalayan Railway Delhi Suburban Railway Hyderabad MMTS Kashmir Railway Network Kalka-Shimla Railway Kolkata Suburban Railway Kolkata Metro Konkan Railway Mumbai Suburban Railway Nilgiri Mountain Railway Shoranur-Cochin Harbour section Nilambur Shoranur Railway Line

Services

Deccan Odyssey Duronto Garib Rath Golden Chariot Lifeline Express Palace on Wheels Rajdhani Red Ribbon Express Sampark Kranti Express Shatabdi Express

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kolkata_Metro" Categories: Rapid transit in India | Transport in Kolkata | Underground rapid transit in India | Railway lines opened in 1984 | Kolkata Metro | Public transport in India Hidden categories: Articles to be split from January 2010
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Interesting Facts about Indian Railways Shortest station name: Ib near Jharsuguda on the Howrah-Nagpur main line
(South Eastern Railway.

Longest station name: Venkatanarasimharajuvariapeta often prefixed with Sri.

on the Arakkonam-Renigunta section of the Southern Railway.

Longest run (time): The Himsagar Express running between Jammu Tawi and
Kanyakumari, It covers its route of 3751km in 74 hours and 55 minutes. 3054 km in its run (in 42.5 hours).

Longest run for daily train: The Kerala Express has daily service and covers Longest non-stop run (distance): The Trivandrum Rajdhani does not have a
technical halt at Ratlam and, therefore, travels non-stop between Vadodara and Kota (528km), covering the stretch in about 6.5 hours.

Trains with no commercial halts en route: Sampoorna Kranti Exp,Howrah

Rajdhani, Bombay Rajdhani, Pragati Exp and Pune Shatabdi

Shortest runs: Nagpur - Ajni has scheduled services that are just 3km in

distance. This is mainly a service for crew to travel from Nagpur station to the workshop at Ajni.

Highest number of halts: Mail and Express trains [3/99] The Howrah-Amritsar
Exp. leads in this category with 115 halts.

Busiest Station: Lucknow which caters to as many as 64 trains per day. Stations straddling state lines: Navapur is a station that is half in Station with all the three gauges: Siliguri station.

Maharashtra and half in Gujarat . Bhawani Mandi station, on the Shamgarh-Kota section of the Bombay-Delhi line is half in Madhya Pradesh and half in Rajasthan.