The first railway on Indian
sub-continent ran over a stretch of 21 miles from
Bombay to Thane. The idea of a railway to connect
Bombay with Thane, Kalyan and with the Thal and
Bhore Ghats inclines first occurred to Mr. George
Clark, the Chief Engineer of the Bombay
Government, during a visit to Bhandup in 1843.
The formal inauguration
ceremony was performed on 16th April 1853, when
14 railway carriages carrying about 400 guests
left Bori Bunder at 3.30 pm "amidst the loud
applause of a vast multitude and to the salute of
21 guns."
The first passenger train steamed out of
Howrah station destined for Hooghly, a distance
of 24 miles, on 15th August, 1854. Thus the first
section of the East Indian Railway was opened to
public traffic, inaugurating the beginning of
railway transport on the Eastern side of the
sub-continent. In south the first line was opened
on Ist July, 1856 by the Madras Railway Company.
It ran between Veyasarpandy and Walajah Road
(Arcot), a distance of 63 miles. In the North a
length of 119 miles of line was laid from
Allahabad to Kanpur on 3rd March 1959. The first
section from Hathras Road to Mathura Cantonment
was opened to traffic on 19th October, 1875.
These were the small beginnings which is
due course developed into a network of railway
lines all over the country. By 1880 the Indian
Railway system had a route mileage of about 9000
miles.
Freight
and passenger traffic carried by Indian
Railway has recorded an impressive growth.
This has been possible due to conscious
efforts put in by the railways in improving
the productivity of the assets and
modernization and technology upgradation in
various fields. In some areas like track,
signalling, communication systems,
computerization, etc., the technology in use
is comparable to that in the very advanced
countries. We have attempted modernization
and technological upgradation of the system
to generate maximum capacity with minimum
investment and to provide rail transport at
the least cost to our users.
Production of Rolling
Stock
After Independence,
Indian Railways have set up production units for
manufacture of diesel locomotives, electric
locomotives, coaches, wheels and axles, diesel
components, springs, etc. Technology transfer
agreements have also been signed or manufacture of the
latest design of electric locomotives (6000 hp),
diesel locomotives (4000 hp) and light weight coaches.
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Metro Railway
Indian Railways can
also take the credit for introducing an
"Underground Metro Railway" for Calcutta.
The whole route from Dum Dum to Tollygunge has been
commissioned and opened for commercial operation in
1995. Similarly, the country's first elevated Mass
Rapid Transit System at Chennai has also been
completed; the system connects Chennai Beach to Luz.
Konkan Railway
The 760 km long Konkan
Railway from Roha to Mangalore is nearly complete.
This section has 169 major and 1630 minor bridges and
88 tunnels with the longest one being 6.5 km long.
Electrification
Electric traction is a
pollution-free and energy efficient mode of
transportation. About 21 percent of the total route
km of Indian Railways, i.e.13,509 route km, has been
electrified up to March 31, 1997.
Gauge
Conversion
Project
uni-gauge has been undertaken to develop
alternative routes to connect important places
with the broad gauge network, develop backward
regions and avoid problems faced at transshipment
points. During the Eighth Plan, 6,733 km of meter
and narrow gauge track were converted. In the
Ninth Plan, conversion of another 6,200 km has
been planned.
Doubling/Quadrupling
of Railway Lines
Doubling/quadrupling
of railway lines is being carried out on the
saturated sections of Indian Railways to
increase freight and passenger carrying capacity
on these sections. Doubling of 1089 km of track
was completed in the Eighth Plan. It has been
planned to complete another 2,500 km in the
Ninth Plan.
Computerised
Passenger Reservation Facility
"Computerised
passenger reservation" facility has been
extended to cover over 92 percent of all
reservations done on the system. A major step
in this direction is the extension of this
facility even to state capitals not having a
direct rail links, e.g., Shillong, Itanagar,
Kohima, Gangtok, Port Blair, etc.
1.
Indian Railways propose to meet the challenge
through implementations of following thrust
areas during the Ninth Plan period:
2. Generation of adequate rail transport
capacity for handling increasing freight and
passenger traffic with special emphasis on
development o terminals.
3. Completion of the process of
rehabilitation, replacement and renewal of
over aged assets.
4. Modernisation and upgradation of the rail
transport system to reduce costs and improve
reliability, safety and quality of service to
the customers.
5. Continue with the policy of unigauge.
6. Introduction of 6000 hp Electric
locomotives and 4000 hp Diesel Locomotives
employing State-of-Art technology.
7. Expansion and upgradation of inter-modal
operations, including containerisation.
8. Improvement of manpower productivity, work
culture and staff morale. The broad details
of the action plans, discipline-wise, to
achieve these objectives are as under:
· High horse power (4000 hp) diesel
locomotives with AC/AC transmission and
State-of -the-Art technology are being
imported with transfer of technology for
their indigenous manufacture at Diesel
Locomotive Works, Varanasi, Modern light
weight passenger coaches are also being
imported with transfer of technology for
indigenous manufacture. Improved pay load to
tare freight wagons are wagons are also being
planned for the Indian Railways.
· Three-phase drive AC electric locomotives
of 6000 hp have been imported along with
transfer of technology for indigenous
manufacture at Chittaranjan Locomotive Works,
Chittaranjan. Electrification of high-density
corridors in order to conserve fossil fuels
and provide pollution-free and
energy-efficient mode of transportation will
also be pursued.
· Latest design concrete sleepers, modern
rail fastenings and head hardened rails are
being utilised to strengthen the track. Track
maintenance is being increasingly mechanised
to improve quality and to reduce the cost and
time for maintenance.
· For enhancing safety, auxiliary warning
system, route relay interlocking, solid state
interlocking, and track circuiting are being
extended over the system. Modernisation of
telecommunications, including gradual
switching over from analogue system to
digital system, which include digital
microwave, optical fibre and digital
telephone exchanges, are being progressively
adopted. Railways are also introducing
universal train radio communication system
between driver, guard and the nearest station
to enable immediate response in case of
emergencies and accidents.
· Line capacity works such as new lines,
gauge conversion, railway electrification,
doublings, improved signaling, etc., would be
carried out on the identified sections so
that Indian Railways could carry the
projected freight traffic in the Ninth Five
Year Plan. It has also been planned to
introduce low tare and high pay load wagons
with increased axle loads and track loading
densities and high horse power locomotives to
improve the through-put and average speeds of
the trains.
· More than 94 per cent of the total
reservation requirement of Indian Railways is
being done by the computerized reservation
facilities at present. There are plans to
extend these facilities to more stations,
satellite locations, city booking offices and
the remaining non-rail head state capitals.
It has also been planned to do networking of
the computerized reservation services.
Interactive inquiry systems are being
introduced on more and more stations.
Self-printing ticketing machines are also
being introduced on more and more stations to
reduce the time required for obtaining a
ticket. With the introduction of light weight
modern coaches and high horse power diesel
and electric locomotives, it would be
possible to increase the number of coaches in
many trains. Average speeds to the trains
would also improve.
New
Initiatives in Resource Mobilization for the
Ninth Plan
Due
to dwindling budgetary support over the
plan periods and difficulty in raising
internal generation of resources beyond a
certain limit-mainly due to ever increasing
Indian Railways Finance Corporation (IRFC)
lease charges and government control over
the tariff structure the railways have
adopted a number of initiatives to finance
the Annual Plans and the Ninth Five Year
Plan.
One
of such initiatives is Build, Own, Lease
and Transfer (BOLT) which route is already
being used to a limited extent for gauge
conversion and for procurement of
locomotives and wagons. After discussions
with the private sector, the railways are
introducing changes to make the scheme
more user-friendly. An outstanding example
of Build, Operate, Transfer (BOT) is the
760 km Konkan Railway, which is due to
open to traffic very shortly. The present
cost of the project is estimated to be Rs.
3060 Crore. Out of this, Rs. 800 crore is
through equity participation of five
partners, viz., Indian Railways and the
four beneficiary states of Maharashtra,
Goa, Karnataka and Kerala. The balance sum
is being raised through market borrowings.
The
Own-Your-Wagon-Scheme (OYWS) involves the
user of rail freight to fund the
procurement of wagons. The wagons are
then leased to the railway on condition
that the supply of wagons required to
move the traffic is guaranteed. The
response of the private sector to OYWS
has been encouraging.
The Government of India has given a high
priority to rapidly developing
Information Technology and world-class
telecom services in the country. To
supplement the national telecom and IT
infrastructure and to facilitate the
growth of telecom, Internet and
IT-enabled services, the Minister for
Railways has announced the Railways'
plan to build a Nationwide Broadband
Telecom and Multimedia Venture. This
will be made possible by laying an
Optical Fibre Network along the 62,800
route-km-long track connecting over
7,000 stations in small, medium and
large towns, metros, remote places and
rural areas. Indian Railways aspires to
develop a business plan, to be
implemented in collaboration with
appropriate joint venture partners. This
venture will be professionally managed
by a corporate body.
The
venture aims at -
· Fulfilling the need for
communication and safety of the
Railways at the earliest.
· Creating a nationwide Broadband
Telecom infrastructure, accelerating
the growth of telecom, internet and
IT-enabled value added service across
the county, especially in rural, remote
and backward areas in order to
contribute significantly to the
realisation of the goals and targets of
the National Telecom Policy, 1999.
· To harness the considerable
income-generating potential of this
venture, in keeping with the Railways'
priority to mobilise non-traditional
sources of additional revenue to
rapidly implement the Railways'
developmental plans.
Reputed
consulting firms with requisite
experience and expertise in
successfully completing the
assignments to set up large
telecom/optical fibre
network/internet/multimedia projects
in India or abroad valued at not less
than Rs.500 crore (or equivalent)
during the preceding four years are
invited to submit Expression of
Interest for selection as consultant,
singly or as a consortium, before
March 31, 2000. Individual consultants
of proven merit, who have either
singly or as principal consultants
completed assignments for setting up
similar projects or have themselves
set up such projects are also eligible
to submit Expressions of Interest for
selection as consultant, singly or as
a consortium.
Interested
parties must submit a their
Expressions of Interest along with
details of consultancy assignments
completed by them during the
preceding four years, year-wise
annual turn-over from consultancy
business alone, personnel to be used
for consultancy with their
qualifications and experience.
Interested
parties should submit a Demand Draft
of Rs.25, 000.00 in favour of
"FA & CAO, Northern
Railway" along with their
Expressions of Interest to :
Executive Director(Telecom
Development),
Railway Board, Rail Bhawan, Raisina
Road,
New Delhi-110 001, India.
Tel.: 3383138, Fax : 3303532 e-mail
: railofcnet@rb.railnet.gov.in
Indian Railways is the
largest rail network in Asia
and Worlds second largest
under one management, Indian
Railways comprise over one
hundred thousand track
kilometers and run about
11000 trains every day
carrying about 13 million
passengers and 1.25 million
tones of freight every day.
Despite being reliable,
safe, eco-friendly and
economical mode of
transport, its share in both
fright and passenger traffic
has comedown significantly
over the years. The scope
for public private
partnership is enormous in
railways, ranging from
commercial exploitation of
rail space to private
investments in railway
infrastructure and rolling
stocks. In order to have an
integrated development of
Transport system, National
Rail Development Programme
has also been launched in
December 2002 envisaging an
investment of about US$ 3.5
billion in next 5 years.
The programme envisages
removal of capacity
bottlenecks in the critical
sections of railway
network. The Golden
quadrilateral is proposed to
be strengthened to enable
running of more long
distance passenger trains
and freight trains at a
higher speed. Programme
also envisages strengthening
of rail connectivity to
ports and development of
multi-model corridors to
hinterland. Construction of
4 mega bridges costing about
US$ 750 million is also
included in the programe.
Construction of a new
Railway Line to Kashmir
valley in most difficult
terrain at a cost of US$ 1.5
Billion and expansion of
rail network in Mumbai area
at a cost of US$ 900 million
has also been taken up.
NETWORK OF RAILWAYS
GAUGE
ROUTE KM.
RUNNING TRAVEL
KM.
TOTAL TACK KM.
Board
40,620
57,088
79,843
Meter
18,501
19,559
24,269
Narrow
3,794
3,794
4,224
Total
62,915
80,441
108,336
Indian railway is a
department of Government and
the Ministry of railways
functions under the
guidelines of Minister for
railways and assisted by
Minister of State for
railways.
The policy formation and
management of Indian railway
board comprises of Chairman
and six functional members.
Wide powers are vested in
the Board to effectively
supervise the running of 15
zonal railways, metro
railway (Calcutta),
production units,
construction organization
and other rail
establishments.
These are generally headed
by General Managers. Four
subsidiary organizations
under the Ministry of
Railways viz. IRCON, RITES,
CONCOR and CRIS, undertake
specialized jobs in India
and aborad, contributing to
Indian railways growth and
progress.
The Indian Railways (IP)
network is one of the
largest in the world with
63,000 kms of track and
employing 1.6 million
people. Operating on three
gauges – board guage (1676
mm), meter guage (1000 mm)
and narrow guage (762 mm),
Railways move 12 million
passengers and over 1
million tones of freight
traffic daily. Nearly, 60%
of freight and 48% of
passenger traffic is
presently hauled on electric
traction.
The rail network is divided
into nine operating zones
(based on geographical
regions) and various
production units, including:
Rail Coach Factory –
Kapurthala;
Diesel Loco Works –
Varanasi;
Integral Coach Factory –
Chennai; and
Wheel & Axle Plant –
Bangalore.
In addition to the above
four manufacturing /
production units, Indian
Railways also has a number
of other important elements
to its structure, as
follows:
IRCON – responsible for
IR construction and
civil engineering;
RITES – IRs consultancy
division;
Research, Designs and
Standards Organization (RDSO)
– IRs research and
development division and
also theapproval body
for new technology /
products.
Central Organization for
Rail Electrification
(CORE) – Overseas major
rail electrification
projects.
Indian Railways has a large
number of projects in the
pipeline but progress is
sloe due to resource
constraints. The Govt. has
drawn up a development plan
to improve and enhance
capacity across the network
called the National Rail
Vikas Yojana (NRVY).
The Plan was launched in
August 2002 and involves an
estimated investment of
Rs.15000 r over the next
five years and comprises
three main elements.
There are also ongoing
projects to improve suburban
metro system in Calcutta,
Chennai, and Mumbai. There
are being taken forward by
separate mass transit
organizations. In Delhi
construction work is
underway for a new metro
system.
The
Indian Railways reserves the right
to accept or reject any or all
Expressions of Interest without
assigning any reasons thereof.
General Section
