Indian Railways (reporting mark IR) is a state-owned railway company, responsible for rail transport in India. It is owned and operated by the Government of India through the Ministry of Railways. It is fourth largest railway network in the world comprising 119,630 kilometres (74,330 mi) of total track[4] and 92,081 km (57,216 mi) of running track over a route of 66,687 km (41,437 mi) with 7,216 stations at the end of 2015-16.[2] In 2015-16, IR carried 8.107 billion passengers annually or more than 22 million passengers a day and 1.101 billion tons of freight annually.[2]
Railways were first introduced to India in 1830s for frieght purposes. First passenger train ran from Bombay to Thane in 1853. In 1951 the systems were nationalised as one unit, the Indian Railways, becoming one of the largest networks in the world. IR operates both long distance and suburban rail systems predominantly on a network of broad gauge. Small stretches of its network use metre and narrow gauges. It also owns locomotive and coach production facilities at several places in India, with assigned codes identifying their gauge, kind of power and type of operation.
Indian Railways is the world's eighth biggest employer and had 1.331 million employees at the end of 2015-16.[3] In 2015–2016 Indian Railways had revenues of ₹1.683 trillion (US$26 billion) which consists of ₹1.069 trillion (US$17 billion) freight earnings and ₹442.83 billion (US$6.9 billion) passengers earnings.[2] It had operating ratio of 90.5% in 2015-16.[2] As on the end of 2015-16, IR's rolling stock comprises over 251,256 Freight Wagons, 70,241 Passenger Coaches and 11,122 Locomotives (39 steam, 5,869 diesel and 5214 electric locomotives).[2]
Indian Railways run on average 13,313 passenger trains daily in 2015-16. Mail or Express trains, most common type, run at average speed of 50.9 km/hr.[5] The trains have a 5 digit numbering system. As of at the end of 2015-16, of the total 68,525 km (42,579 mi) route length, 28,327 km (17,602 mi) (45%) was electrified and 28,371 km (17,629 mi) (37%) was Double or Multiple line route.[6]
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[hide]History[edit]
The history of railway transport in India began in the mid-nineteenth century. The core of the pressure for building railways In India came from London.
A plan for a rail system in India was first put forward in 1832 by the British East India Company. 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.[7][8] In 1837, a 3.5-mile (5.6 km) long rail line was established between Red Hills and stone quarries near St. Thomas Mount.[9] A rail line was established on 22 December 1851 for localised hauling of canal construction material in Roorkee.[10]
The Great Indian Peninsula Railway (GIPR) was established in 1845. The country's first passenger railway, built by the Great Indian Peninsula Railway (GIPR), opened in 1853, between Bombay and Thane.[11] The East Indian Railway Company was established 1 June 1845 in London by a deed of settlement with a capital of £4,000,000, primarily raised in London.[12] The Great Southern India Railway Co. was founded in Britain in 1853 and registered in 1859. Construction of track in Madras Presidency began in 1859 and the 80-mile link from Trichinopoly to Negapatam was opened in 1861. The Carnatic Railway founded in 1864, opened a Madras-Arakkonam-Kancheepuram line in 1865. The Great Southern India Railway Company was subsequently merged with the Carnatic Railway Company in 1874 to form the South Indian Railway Company.[13][14]
A British engineer, Robert Maitland Brereton, was responsible for the expansion of the railways from 1857 onwards. The Allahabad-Jabalpur branch line of the East Indian Railway had been opened in June 1867. Brereton was responsible for linking this with the GIPR, resulting in a combined network of 6,400 km (4,000 mi). Hence it became possible to travel directly from Bombay to Calcutta. This route officially opened on 7 March 1870, and it was part of the inspiration for French writer Jules Verne's book Around the World in Eighty Days. At the opening ceremony, the Viceroy Lord Mayo concluded that "it was thought desirable that, if possible, at the earliest possible moment, the whole country should be covered with a network of lines in a uniform system".[15]
By 1875, about £95 million were invested by British companies in India.[16] By 1880 the network had a route mileage of about 14,500 km (9,000 mi), mostly radiating inward from the three major port cities of Bombay, Madras and Calcutta. By 1895, India had started building its own locomotives, and in 1896, sent engineers and locomotives to help build the Uganda Railways.
In 1900, the GIPR became a government owned company. The network spread to the modern day states of Assam, Rajputana and Madras Presidency and soon various autonomous kingdoms began to have their own rail systems. In 1905, a new Railway Board was constituted, but the powers were formally vested under Lord Curzon.[17] It served under the Department of Commerce and Industry and had a government railway official serving as chairman, and a railway manager from England and an agent of one of the company railways as the other two members. For the first time in its history, the Railways began to make a profit.
In 1907 almost all the rail companies were taken over by the government. The following year, the first electric locomotive made its appearance. With the arrival of World War I, the railways were used to meet the needs of the British outside India. With the end of the war, the railways were in a state of disrepair and collapse. Large scale corruption by British officials involved in the running of these railways companies was rampant. Profits were never reinvested in the development of British colonial India.[18] In 1920, with the network having expanded to 61,220 km (38,040 mi),[19] a need for central management was mooted by Sir William Acworth. Based on the East India Railway Committee chaired by Acworth, the government took over the management of the Railways and detached the finances of the Railways from other governmental revenues.
The period between 1920 and 1929 was a period of economic boom; there were 41,000 mi (66,000 km) of railway lines serving the country; the railways represented a capital value of some 687 million sterling; and they carried over 620 million passengers and approximately 90 million tons of goods each year.[20] Following the Great Depression, the railways suffered economically for the next eight years. The Second World War severely crippled the railways. Starting in 1939, about 40% of the rolling stock including locomotives and coaches was taken to the Middle East. The railway workshops were converted to ammunition workshops, and many railway tracks were dismantled to help the Allies in the war. By 1946, all railway systems had been taken over by the government.
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