Yojana Magazine October 2023 - 2 | Current Affairs & Hindu Analysis: Daily, Weekly & Monthly - UPSC PDF Download

 Page 1


23 OctOber 2023
he railways in India provide the 
principal mode of transportation 
for freight and passengers. It brings 
together people from the farthest 
corners of the country and makes possible the 
conduct of business, sightseeing, pilgrimage and 
education. The Indian Railways have been a great 
integrating force for more than 167 years. It has 
bound the economic life of the country and helped 
in accelerating the development of industry and 
agriculture. From a very modest beginning in 1853, 
when the first train steamed off from Mumbai to 
Thane, a distance of 34 kms, Indian Railways have 
grown into a vast network of 7,308 stations spread 
over a route length of 68,043 km with a fleet of 
13,215 locomotives, 74,744 passenger service 
vehicles, 10,103 other coaching vehicles and 
3,18,896 wagons. The growth of Indian Railways in 
the 167 years of its existence is thus phenomenal. 
It has played a vital role in the economic, industrial, 
and social development of the country. The network 
runs multi-gauge operations extending over 68,043 
route kilometers. 
The size of IR’s fleet of locomotives as on 
31 March 2022 consisted of 39 steam, 4,747 
diesel, and 8,429 electric locomotives. The size 
of IR’s wagon fleet consisted of 3,18,896 units 
– 70,555 covered, 1,76,574 open high-sided, 
27,522 open low-sided, 25,946 other types and 
16,004 brake vans/departmental wagons. Forty-
four Loco sheds, 236 Carriage and Wagons sick 
lines and central repair depots provide repair 
and maintenance facilities for the entire fleet of 
rolling stock. About 74.06 per cent of the route 
kilometres, 80.38 per cent of the running track 
kilometres and 78.46 per cent of the total track 
kilometres are electrified. The network is divided 
into 17 zones. 
The main objectives of railway planning have 
been to develop the transport infrastructure to 
carry the projected quantum of traffic and meet 
the developmental needs of the economy. Since 
the inception of the planned era in 1950-51, Indian 
Railways have implemented nine five-year plans, 
apart from annual plans in some years. During 
the Plans, emphasis was laid on a comprehensive 
programme of system modernisation. With 
capacity being stretched to its limits, investments 
in cost-effective technological changes become 
inescapable in order to meet the ever-increasing 
demand for rail transport. Along with a major 
thrust directed towards the rehabilitation of 
assets, technological changes and upgradation of 
standards were initiated in important areas of track, 
locomotives, passenger coaches, wagon bogie 
designs, signalling, and telecommunication. 
c entral public s ector enterprises
There are 12 Central Public Sector Enterprises 
under the administrative control of the Ministry of 
Railways, viz. (i) RITES Limited, (ii) IRCoN International 
Limited, (iii) Indian Railway Finance Corporation 
Limited (IRFC), (iv) Container Corporation of India 
Limited (CoNCoR), (v) Konkan Railway Corporation 
Limited (KRCL), (vi) Mumbai Railway Vikas 
Corporation Limited (MRVC) (vii) Indian Railway 
Catering & Tourism Corporation Ltd. (IRCTC), (viii) 
Railtel Corporation of India Ltd. (RCIL), (ix) Rail Vikas 
Nigam Ltd. (RVNL), (x) Dedicated Freight Corridor 
Corporation of India Limited (DFCCIL), (xi) Kolkata 
Metro Rail Corporation Limited (KMRCL), and (xii) 
Braithwaite and Company Limited (BCL).
research & development
The Research Design and Standards 
organisation (RDSo ) at Lucknow is the R&D wing of 
Indian Railways. It functions as a consultant to the 
T
raIl InfraSTrucTure
Page 2


23 OctOber 2023
he railways in India provide the 
principal mode of transportation 
for freight and passengers. It brings 
together people from the farthest 
corners of the country and makes possible the 
conduct of business, sightseeing, pilgrimage and 
education. The Indian Railways have been a great 
integrating force for more than 167 years. It has 
bound the economic life of the country and helped 
in accelerating the development of industry and 
agriculture. From a very modest beginning in 1853, 
when the first train steamed off from Mumbai to 
Thane, a distance of 34 kms, Indian Railways have 
grown into a vast network of 7,308 stations spread 
over a route length of 68,043 km with a fleet of 
13,215 locomotives, 74,744 passenger service 
vehicles, 10,103 other coaching vehicles and 
3,18,896 wagons. The growth of Indian Railways in 
the 167 years of its existence is thus phenomenal. 
It has played a vital role in the economic, industrial, 
and social development of the country. The network 
runs multi-gauge operations extending over 68,043 
route kilometers. 
The size of IR’s fleet of locomotives as on 
31 March 2022 consisted of 39 steam, 4,747 
diesel, and 8,429 electric locomotives. The size 
of IR’s wagon fleet consisted of 3,18,896 units 
– 70,555 covered, 1,76,574 open high-sided, 
27,522 open low-sided, 25,946 other types and 
16,004 brake vans/departmental wagons. Forty-
four Loco sheds, 236 Carriage and Wagons sick 
lines and central repair depots provide repair 
and maintenance facilities for the entire fleet of 
rolling stock. About 74.06 per cent of the route 
kilometres, 80.38 per cent of the running track 
kilometres and 78.46 per cent of the total track 
kilometres are electrified. The network is divided 
into 17 zones. 
The main objectives of railway planning have 
been to develop the transport infrastructure to 
carry the projected quantum of traffic and meet 
the developmental needs of the economy. Since 
the inception of the planned era in 1950-51, Indian 
Railways have implemented nine five-year plans, 
apart from annual plans in some years. During 
the Plans, emphasis was laid on a comprehensive 
programme of system modernisation. With 
capacity being stretched to its limits, investments 
in cost-effective technological changes become 
inescapable in order to meet the ever-increasing 
demand for rail transport. Along with a major 
thrust directed towards the rehabilitation of 
assets, technological changes and upgradation of 
standards were initiated in important areas of track, 
locomotives, passenger coaches, wagon bogie 
designs, signalling, and telecommunication. 
c entral public s ector enterprises
There are 12 Central Public Sector Enterprises 
under the administrative control of the Ministry of 
Railways, viz. (i) RITES Limited, (ii) IRCoN International 
Limited, (iii) Indian Railway Finance Corporation 
Limited (IRFC), (iv) Container Corporation of India 
Limited (CoNCoR), (v) Konkan Railway Corporation 
Limited (KRCL), (vi) Mumbai Railway Vikas 
Corporation Limited (MRVC) (vii) Indian Railway 
Catering & Tourism Corporation Ltd. (IRCTC), (viii) 
Railtel Corporation of India Ltd. (RCIL), (ix) Rail Vikas 
Nigam Ltd. (RVNL), (x) Dedicated Freight Corridor 
Corporation of India Limited (DFCCIL), (xi) Kolkata 
Metro Rail Corporation Limited (KMRCL), and (xii) 
Braithwaite and Company Limited (BCL).
research & development
The Research Design and Standards 
organisation (RDSo ) at Lucknow is the R&D wing of 
Indian Railways. It functions as a consultant to the 
T
raIl InfraSTrucTure
24 OctOber 2023
Indian Railways in technical matters. It also provides 
consultancy to other organisations connected 
with railway manufacture and design. Recently, 
RDSo successfully conducted Balancing Speed 
and controllability trials of Vande Bharat Express 
between Kasara Igatpuri and Karjat Lonavala 
sections of the Central Railway. RDSo and IIT, 
Kharagpur has indigenously developed automation 
tool (SigDATE) for the generation of route control 
chart for Electronic Interlocking systems.
r ailway Finance
Though a part of the overall financial figures 
of the Government of India, the Railway Budget 
was being presented separately to Parliament 
since 1924-25 owing to the Separation Convention 
of 1924. The main reason behind the Separation 
Convention was to secure stability for civil estimates, 
as railway finance used to be a sizeable part of 
the general finances. The Government decided to 
merge the Railway Budget with the general Budget 
from the Budget Year 2017-18. The unified budget 
brings the affairs of the Railways to centre stage and 
presents a holistic picture of the financial position 
of the Government. This merger would facilitate 
multimodal transport planning between Highways, 
Railways and Waterways. Railways would continue 
to maintain its distinct entity as a departmentally run 
commercial undertaking and retain its functional 
autonomy, delegation of financial powers, etc., as 
per the existing guidelines. Instead of the erstwhile 
scheme of sixteen demands for grants, the Ministry 
of Finance has introduced one demand for grants 
for the Ministry of Railways.
r ailway electrification
Indian Railways’ Mission 100% Electrification 
policy is seen as pivotal for the country’s entire 
energy sector. The Government initially stepped 
up the rate of railway electrification in order 
to reduce crude oil imports and save foreign 
exchange payments. However, there has been 
growing recognition that it will deliver significant 
environmental benefits. In performance terms, 
electric traction provides users with a better quality 
of service. The higher power of electric locomotives 
increases the average speeds and loadings for both 
freight and passenger trains, which in turn offers 
a tremendous opportunity to modernise railways 
and support economic development. Electrification 
will meet the aspirations of its citizens to provide 
clean transport by reducing carbon footprint and 
providing the country with an environmentally 
friendly, green, and clean mode of transport.
For a long time, the railway was largely fueled 
by coal and diesel, but electrification has been 
growing steadily since independence in 1947, but 
the past seven years have seen some remarkable 
transformation. Since then, the focus has been on 
delivery, with the rate of commissioning ramped up 
to complete the network one by one.
By March 2023, electrification on Indian 
Railways had been extended to 58,812 (Route 
Kilometers) RKMs including Konkan Railway. This 
constitutes 90% of the total BG Railway Network.
r ail t ourism
Indian Railways (IR) is the prime mover of 
tourism in the country by connecting various 
tourist destinations across the country by rail. The 
IR have introduced theme-based Tourist Circuit 
Trains under the Bharat Gaurav Trains Policy with an 
objective to showcase India’s rich cultural heritage 
and magnificent historical places to the people of 
India and the world through professionals of the 
tourism sector and other potential service providers. 
Zonal r ailways headquarters
Central Mumbai 
Eastern Kolkata
East Coast Bhubaneswar
East Central Hajipur
Northern New Delhi
North Central Allahabad (Prayagraj)
North Eastern Gorakhpur
Northeast Frontier Maligaon (Guwahati)
North Western Jaipur
Southern Chennai
South Central Secunderabad
South Eastern Kolkata
South East Central 
Railway
Bilaspur
South Western Railway Huballi
Western Mumbai
West Central Railway Jabalpur
Metro Railway Kolkata
Page 3


23 OctOber 2023
he railways in India provide the 
principal mode of transportation 
for freight and passengers. It brings 
together people from the farthest 
corners of the country and makes possible the 
conduct of business, sightseeing, pilgrimage and 
education. The Indian Railways have been a great 
integrating force for more than 167 years. It has 
bound the economic life of the country and helped 
in accelerating the development of industry and 
agriculture. From a very modest beginning in 1853, 
when the first train steamed off from Mumbai to 
Thane, a distance of 34 kms, Indian Railways have 
grown into a vast network of 7,308 stations spread 
over a route length of 68,043 km with a fleet of 
13,215 locomotives, 74,744 passenger service 
vehicles, 10,103 other coaching vehicles and 
3,18,896 wagons. The growth of Indian Railways in 
the 167 years of its existence is thus phenomenal. 
It has played a vital role in the economic, industrial, 
and social development of the country. The network 
runs multi-gauge operations extending over 68,043 
route kilometers. 
The size of IR’s fleet of locomotives as on 
31 March 2022 consisted of 39 steam, 4,747 
diesel, and 8,429 electric locomotives. The size 
of IR’s wagon fleet consisted of 3,18,896 units 
– 70,555 covered, 1,76,574 open high-sided, 
27,522 open low-sided, 25,946 other types and 
16,004 brake vans/departmental wagons. Forty-
four Loco sheds, 236 Carriage and Wagons sick 
lines and central repair depots provide repair 
and maintenance facilities for the entire fleet of 
rolling stock. About 74.06 per cent of the route 
kilometres, 80.38 per cent of the running track 
kilometres and 78.46 per cent of the total track 
kilometres are electrified. The network is divided 
into 17 zones. 
The main objectives of railway planning have 
been to develop the transport infrastructure to 
carry the projected quantum of traffic and meet 
the developmental needs of the economy. Since 
the inception of the planned era in 1950-51, Indian 
Railways have implemented nine five-year plans, 
apart from annual plans in some years. During 
the Plans, emphasis was laid on a comprehensive 
programme of system modernisation. With 
capacity being stretched to its limits, investments 
in cost-effective technological changes become 
inescapable in order to meet the ever-increasing 
demand for rail transport. Along with a major 
thrust directed towards the rehabilitation of 
assets, technological changes and upgradation of 
standards were initiated in important areas of track, 
locomotives, passenger coaches, wagon bogie 
designs, signalling, and telecommunication. 
c entral public s ector enterprises
There are 12 Central Public Sector Enterprises 
under the administrative control of the Ministry of 
Railways, viz. (i) RITES Limited, (ii) IRCoN International 
Limited, (iii) Indian Railway Finance Corporation 
Limited (IRFC), (iv) Container Corporation of India 
Limited (CoNCoR), (v) Konkan Railway Corporation 
Limited (KRCL), (vi) Mumbai Railway Vikas 
Corporation Limited (MRVC) (vii) Indian Railway 
Catering & Tourism Corporation Ltd. (IRCTC), (viii) 
Railtel Corporation of India Ltd. (RCIL), (ix) Rail Vikas 
Nigam Ltd. (RVNL), (x) Dedicated Freight Corridor 
Corporation of India Limited (DFCCIL), (xi) Kolkata 
Metro Rail Corporation Limited (KMRCL), and (xii) 
Braithwaite and Company Limited (BCL).
research & development
The Research Design and Standards 
organisation (RDSo ) at Lucknow is the R&D wing of 
Indian Railways. It functions as a consultant to the 
T
raIl InfraSTrucTure
24 OctOber 2023
Indian Railways in technical matters. It also provides 
consultancy to other organisations connected 
with railway manufacture and design. Recently, 
RDSo successfully conducted Balancing Speed 
and controllability trials of Vande Bharat Express 
between Kasara Igatpuri and Karjat Lonavala 
sections of the Central Railway. RDSo and IIT, 
Kharagpur has indigenously developed automation 
tool (SigDATE) for the generation of route control 
chart for Electronic Interlocking systems.
r ailway Finance
Though a part of the overall financial figures 
of the Government of India, the Railway Budget 
was being presented separately to Parliament 
since 1924-25 owing to the Separation Convention 
of 1924. The main reason behind the Separation 
Convention was to secure stability for civil estimates, 
as railway finance used to be a sizeable part of 
the general finances. The Government decided to 
merge the Railway Budget with the general Budget 
from the Budget Year 2017-18. The unified budget 
brings the affairs of the Railways to centre stage and 
presents a holistic picture of the financial position 
of the Government. This merger would facilitate 
multimodal transport planning between Highways, 
Railways and Waterways. Railways would continue 
to maintain its distinct entity as a departmentally run 
commercial undertaking and retain its functional 
autonomy, delegation of financial powers, etc., as 
per the existing guidelines. Instead of the erstwhile 
scheme of sixteen demands for grants, the Ministry 
of Finance has introduced one demand for grants 
for the Ministry of Railways.
r ailway electrification
Indian Railways’ Mission 100% Electrification 
policy is seen as pivotal for the country’s entire 
energy sector. The Government initially stepped 
up the rate of railway electrification in order 
to reduce crude oil imports and save foreign 
exchange payments. However, there has been 
growing recognition that it will deliver significant 
environmental benefits. In performance terms, 
electric traction provides users with a better quality 
of service. The higher power of electric locomotives 
increases the average speeds and loadings for both 
freight and passenger trains, which in turn offers 
a tremendous opportunity to modernise railways 
and support economic development. Electrification 
will meet the aspirations of its citizens to provide 
clean transport by reducing carbon footprint and 
providing the country with an environmentally 
friendly, green, and clean mode of transport.
For a long time, the railway was largely fueled 
by coal and diesel, but electrification has been 
growing steadily since independence in 1947, but 
the past seven years have seen some remarkable 
transformation. Since then, the focus has been on 
delivery, with the rate of commissioning ramped up 
to complete the network one by one.
By March 2023, electrification on Indian 
Railways had been extended to 58,812 (Route 
Kilometers) RKMs including Konkan Railway. This 
constitutes 90% of the total BG Railway Network.
r ail t ourism
Indian Railways (IR) is the prime mover of 
tourism in the country by connecting various 
tourist destinations across the country by rail. The 
IR have introduced theme-based Tourist Circuit 
Trains under the Bharat Gaurav Trains Policy with an 
objective to showcase India’s rich cultural heritage 
and magnificent historical places to the people of 
India and the world through professionals of the 
tourism sector and other potential service providers. 
Zonal r ailways headquarters
Central Mumbai 
Eastern Kolkata
East Coast Bhubaneswar
East Central Hajipur
Northern New Delhi
North Central Allahabad (Prayagraj)
North Eastern Gorakhpur
Northeast Frontier Maligaon (Guwahati)
North Western Jaipur
Southern Chennai
South Central Secunderabad
South Eastern Kolkata
South East Central 
Railway
Bilaspur
South Western Railway Huballi
Western Mumbai
West Central Railway Jabalpur
Metro Railway Kolkata
25 OctOber 2023
Under the said policy, the State Governments, 
State Tourism Development Corporations or 
any other potential service provider may run 
theme-based tourist circuit trains covering any 
destinations of their choice. The Service Provider 
offers a comprehensive package with facility of rail 
transportation, accommodation, meals, local road 
transport, sightseeing, etc. 
The Ministry of Railways have decided to 
give a concerted thrust to efforts for promotion 
of domestic tourism through provision of better 
quality LHB coaches under the Bharat Gaurav Train 
policy and give approximately 33% concession in 
the charges due to the Railway, for promotion of rail-
based tourism under Bharat Gaurav Train scheme. 
In addition, specialised tourism products, mostly 
train based, are also introduced from time to time in 
association with Indian Railway Catering and T ourism 
Corporation and selected State.                       ?
Source: Indian Railways
I
ndian Railways has prepared a National Rail 
Plan (NRP) for India – 2030. The plan is to create 
a ‘future-ready’ railway system by 2030. The 
NRP is aimed at formulating strategies based 
on both operational capacities and commercial 
policy initiatives to increase the modal share of 
the railways in freight to 45%. The objective of 
the plan is to create capacity ahead of demand, 
which in turn would also cater to future growth 
in demand right up to 2050, increase the modal 
share of railways to 45% in freight traffic, and 
continue to sustain it. 
vision: To develop capacity and infrastructure 
and enhance rail freight share ahead of demand. 
Develop capacity by 2030 that will cater to 
growing demand up to 2050. The key objectives 
of the National Rail Plan are:
•	 Formulate strategies based on both operational 
capacities and commercial policy initiatives 
to increase the modal share of the railways in 
freight to 45%.
•	 Reduce transit time of freight substantially by 
increasing the average speed of freight trains 
to 50 kmph.
•	 As part of the National Rail Plan, Vision 
2024 has been launched for the accelerated 
national rail Plan
implementation of certain critical projects 
by 2024, such as 100% electrification, multi-
tracking of congested routes, upgradation 
of speed to 160 kmph on Delhi-Howrah and 
Delhi-Mumbai routes, upgradation of speed to 
130 kmph on all other Golden Quadrilateral-
Golden Diagonal (GQ/GD) routes, and 
elimination of all Level Crossings on all GQ/GD 
route.
•	 Identify new Dedicated Freight Corridors.
•	 Identify new High Speed Rail Corridors.
•	 Assess the rolling stock requirement for 
passenger traffic as well as wagon requirement 
for freight.
•	 Assess the locomotive requirement to meet 
twin objectives of 100% electrification (Green 
Energy) and increasing freight modal share.
•	 Assess the total investment in capital that would 
be required, along with a periodical breakup.
•	 Sustained involvement of the Private Sector in 
areas like operations and ownership of rolling 
stock, development of freight and passenger 
terminals, development and operations of 
track infrastructure, etc.                                           ?
Source: PIB
Page 4


23 OctOber 2023
he railways in India provide the 
principal mode of transportation 
for freight and passengers. It brings 
together people from the farthest 
corners of the country and makes possible the 
conduct of business, sightseeing, pilgrimage and 
education. The Indian Railways have been a great 
integrating force for more than 167 years. It has 
bound the economic life of the country and helped 
in accelerating the development of industry and 
agriculture. From a very modest beginning in 1853, 
when the first train steamed off from Mumbai to 
Thane, a distance of 34 kms, Indian Railways have 
grown into a vast network of 7,308 stations spread 
over a route length of 68,043 km with a fleet of 
13,215 locomotives, 74,744 passenger service 
vehicles, 10,103 other coaching vehicles and 
3,18,896 wagons. The growth of Indian Railways in 
the 167 years of its existence is thus phenomenal. 
It has played a vital role in the economic, industrial, 
and social development of the country. The network 
runs multi-gauge operations extending over 68,043 
route kilometers. 
The size of IR’s fleet of locomotives as on 
31 March 2022 consisted of 39 steam, 4,747 
diesel, and 8,429 electric locomotives. The size 
of IR’s wagon fleet consisted of 3,18,896 units 
– 70,555 covered, 1,76,574 open high-sided, 
27,522 open low-sided, 25,946 other types and 
16,004 brake vans/departmental wagons. Forty-
four Loco sheds, 236 Carriage and Wagons sick 
lines and central repair depots provide repair 
and maintenance facilities for the entire fleet of 
rolling stock. About 74.06 per cent of the route 
kilometres, 80.38 per cent of the running track 
kilometres and 78.46 per cent of the total track 
kilometres are electrified. The network is divided 
into 17 zones. 
The main objectives of railway planning have 
been to develop the transport infrastructure to 
carry the projected quantum of traffic and meet 
the developmental needs of the economy. Since 
the inception of the planned era in 1950-51, Indian 
Railways have implemented nine five-year plans, 
apart from annual plans in some years. During 
the Plans, emphasis was laid on a comprehensive 
programme of system modernisation. With 
capacity being stretched to its limits, investments 
in cost-effective technological changes become 
inescapable in order to meet the ever-increasing 
demand for rail transport. Along with a major 
thrust directed towards the rehabilitation of 
assets, technological changes and upgradation of 
standards were initiated in important areas of track, 
locomotives, passenger coaches, wagon bogie 
designs, signalling, and telecommunication. 
c entral public s ector enterprises
There are 12 Central Public Sector Enterprises 
under the administrative control of the Ministry of 
Railways, viz. (i) RITES Limited, (ii) IRCoN International 
Limited, (iii) Indian Railway Finance Corporation 
Limited (IRFC), (iv) Container Corporation of India 
Limited (CoNCoR), (v) Konkan Railway Corporation 
Limited (KRCL), (vi) Mumbai Railway Vikas 
Corporation Limited (MRVC) (vii) Indian Railway 
Catering & Tourism Corporation Ltd. (IRCTC), (viii) 
Railtel Corporation of India Ltd. (RCIL), (ix) Rail Vikas 
Nigam Ltd. (RVNL), (x) Dedicated Freight Corridor 
Corporation of India Limited (DFCCIL), (xi) Kolkata 
Metro Rail Corporation Limited (KMRCL), and (xii) 
Braithwaite and Company Limited (BCL).
research & development
The Research Design and Standards 
organisation (RDSo ) at Lucknow is the R&D wing of 
Indian Railways. It functions as a consultant to the 
T
raIl InfraSTrucTure
24 OctOber 2023
Indian Railways in technical matters. It also provides 
consultancy to other organisations connected 
with railway manufacture and design. Recently, 
RDSo successfully conducted Balancing Speed 
and controllability trials of Vande Bharat Express 
between Kasara Igatpuri and Karjat Lonavala 
sections of the Central Railway. RDSo and IIT, 
Kharagpur has indigenously developed automation 
tool (SigDATE) for the generation of route control 
chart for Electronic Interlocking systems.
r ailway Finance
Though a part of the overall financial figures 
of the Government of India, the Railway Budget 
was being presented separately to Parliament 
since 1924-25 owing to the Separation Convention 
of 1924. The main reason behind the Separation 
Convention was to secure stability for civil estimates, 
as railway finance used to be a sizeable part of 
the general finances. The Government decided to 
merge the Railway Budget with the general Budget 
from the Budget Year 2017-18. The unified budget 
brings the affairs of the Railways to centre stage and 
presents a holistic picture of the financial position 
of the Government. This merger would facilitate 
multimodal transport planning between Highways, 
Railways and Waterways. Railways would continue 
to maintain its distinct entity as a departmentally run 
commercial undertaking and retain its functional 
autonomy, delegation of financial powers, etc., as 
per the existing guidelines. Instead of the erstwhile 
scheme of sixteen demands for grants, the Ministry 
of Finance has introduced one demand for grants 
for the Ministry of Railways.
r ailway electrification
Indian Railways’ Mission 100% Electrification 
policy is seen as pivotal for the country’s entire 
energy sector. The Government initially stepped 
up the rate of railway electrification in order 
to reduce crude oil imports and save foreign 
exchange payments. However, there has been 
growing recognition that it will deliver significant 
environmental benefits. In performance terms, 
electric traction provides users with a better quality 
of service. The higher power of electric locomotives 
increases the average speeds and loadings for both 
freight and passenger trains, which in turn offers 
a tremendous opportunity to modernise railways 
and support economic development. Electrification 
will meet the aspirations of its citizens to provide 
clean transport by reducing carbon footprint and 
providing the country with an environmentally 
friendly, green, and clean mode of transport.
For a long time, the railway was largely fueled 
by coal and diesel, but electrification has been 
growing steadily since independence in 1947, but 
the past seven years have seen some remarkable 
transformation. Since then, the focus has been on 
delivery, with the rate of commissioning ramped up 
to complete the network one by one.
By March 2023, electrification on Indian 
Railways had been extended to 58,812 (Route 
Kilometers) RKMs including Konkan Railway. This 
constitutes 90% of the total BG Railway Network.
r ail t ourism
Indian Railways (IR) is the prime mover of 
tourism in the country by connecting various 
tourist destinations across the country by rail. The 
IR have introduced theme-based Tourist Circuit 
Trains under the Bharat Gaurav Trains Policy with an 
objective to showcase India’s rich cultural heritage 
and magnificent historical places to the people of 
India and the world through professionals of the 
tourism sector and other potential service providers. 
Zonal r ailways headquarters
Central Mumbai 
Eastern Kolkata
East Coast Bhubaneswar
East Central Hajipur
Northern New Delhi
North Central Allahabad (Prayagraj)
North Eastern Gorakhpur
Northeast Frontier Maligaon (Guwahati)
North Western Jaipur
Southern Chennai
South Central Secunderabad
South Eastern Kolkata
South East Central 
Railway
Bilaspur
South Western Railway Huballi
Western Mumbai
West Central Railway Jabalpur
Metro Railway Kolkata
25 OctOber 2023
Under the said policy, the State Governments, 
State Tourism Development Corporations or 
any other potential service provider may run 
theme-based tourist circuit trains covering any 
destinations of their choice. The Service Provider 
offers a comprehensive package with facility of rail 
transportation, accommodation, meals, local road 
transport, sightseeing, etc. 
The Ministry of Railways have decided to 
give a concerted thrust to efforts for promotion 
of domestic tourism through provision of better 
quality LHB coaches under the Bharat Gaurav Train 
policy and give approximately 33% concession in 
the charges due to the Railway, for promotion of rail-
based tourism under Bharat Gaurav Train scheme. 
In addition, specialised tourism products, mostly 
train based, are also introduced from time to time in 
association with Indian Railway Catering and T ourism 
Corporation and selected State.                       ?
Source: Indian Railways
I
ndian Railways has prepared a National Rail 
Plan (NRP) for India – 2030. The plan is to create 
a ‘future-ready’ railway system by 2030. The 
NRP is aimed at formulating strategies based 
on both operational capacities and commercial 
policy initiatives to increase the modal share of 
the railways in freight to 45%. The objective of 
the plan is to create capacity ahead of demand, 
which in turn would also cater to future growth 
in demand right up to 2050, increase the modal 
share of railways to 45% in freight traffic, and 
continue to sustain it. 
vision: To develop capacity and infrastructure 
and enhance rail freight share ahead of demand. 
Develop capacity by 2030 that will cater to 
growing demand up to 2050. The key objectives 
of the National Rail Plan are:
•	 Formulate strategies based on both operational 
capacities and commercial policy initiatives 
to increase the modal share of the railways in 
freight to 45%.
•	 Reduce transit time of freight substantially by 
increasing the average speed of freight trains 
to 50 kmph.
•	 As part of the National Rail Plan, Vision 
2024 has been launched for the accelerated 
national rail Plan
implementation of certain critical projects 
by 2024, such as 100% electrification, multi-
tracking of congested routes, upgradation 
of speed to 160 kmph on Delhi-Howrah and 
Delhi-Mumbai routes, upgradation of speed to 
130 kmph on all other Golden Quadrilateral-
Golden Diagonal (GQ/GD) routes, and 
elimination of all Level Crossings on all GQ/GD 
route.
•	 Identify new Dedicated Freight Corridors.
•	 Identify new High Speed Rail Corridors.
•	 Assess the rolling stock requirement for 
passenger traffic as well as wagon requirement 
for freight.
•	 Assess the locomotive requirement to meet 
twin objectives of 100% electrification (Green 
Energy) and increasing freight modal share.
•	 Assess the total investment in capital that would 
be required, along with a periodical breakup.
•	 Sustained involvement of the Private Sector in 
areas like operations and ownership of rolling 
stock, development of freight and passenger 
terminals, development and operations of 
track infrastructure, etc.                                           ?
Source: PIB
26 OctOber 2023
Vande bharat exPress trains
T
he Government has dedicated significant 
efforts towards strengthening the ‘Make in 
India’ campaign. As an excellent example of the 
‘Make in India’ success story, the Indian Railways 
launched India’s first indigenous semi-high-speed 
train, Vande Bharat Express. The first Vande Bharat 
Express train was flagged off on 15 February 2019, 
on the New Delhi-Kanpur-Allahabad-Varanasi 
route. 
This train has been introduced to upgrade 
maintenance technologies and methodologies 
and achieve improvement in productivity and 
performance of all railway assets and manpower in 
which inter-alia would cover reliability, availability, 
utilisation, and efficiency.
This train is India’s first semi-high-speed train 
equipped with world-class passenger amenities. It 
can achieve high speeds due to faster acceleration 
& deceleration and will reduce journey time by 
25% to 45%.
With a view to providing better travel 
experience to the passengers, Indian Railways 
has introduced Vande Bharat trains with modern 
coaches having the following enhanced safety 
features and amenities:
1. Faster acceleration and semi-high-speed 
operation up to 160 km/hr.
2. Fully sealed gangway for free passenger 
movement
3. Automatic plug doors
4. Reclining ergonomic seats and comfortable 
seating with revolving seats in executive class.
5. Better ride comfort.
6. Mobile charging sockets for every seat.
7. Mini pantry with provision of hot case, bottle 
cooler, deep freezer & hot water boiler
8. Direct and diffused lighting.
9. For Divyangjan passengers, special lavatory in 
DTC.
10. Emergency openable windows and fire 
extinguishers in each coach
11. CCTVs in all coaches
12. Emergency alarm push buttons and talk back 
units on all coaches.
13. Better fire safety – Aerosol-based fire detection 
and suppression system in electrical cabinets 
and lavatories
14. Driver-Guard communication with voice 
recording facility & crash hardened memory
15. Coach Condition Monitoring System (CCMS) 
display with remote monitoring
16. Disaster lights – 4 numbers in each coach in 
case of Emergency
17. Four platform side cameras including rear 
view cameras outside the coach.
As of 28
 
July 2023, 50 Vande Bharat train 
services are running on the Indian Railways, 
connecting states having Board Gauge (BG) 
electrified network. 
The introduction of trains, including Vande 
Bharat services, is an ongoing process on Indian 
Railways subject to operational feasibility, traffic 
justification, etc. India’s first-ever indigenously 
designed and manufactured  semi-high speed 
Vande Bharat trains have provided a modern 
and comfortable rail travel experience to 
passengers. High speed, enhanced safety 
standards, and world-class service are the 
hallmarks of this train. ?
Source: PIB
Page 5


23 OctOber 2023
he railways in India provide the 
principal mode of transportation 
for freight and passengers. It brings 
together people from the farthest 
corners of the country and makes possible the 
conduct of business, sightseeing, pilgrimage and 
education. The Indian Railways have been a great 
integrating force for more than 167 years. It has 
bound the economic life of the country and helped 
in accelerating the development of industry and 
agriculture. From a very modest beginning in 1853, 
when the first train steamed off from Mumbai to 
Thane, a distance of 34 kms, Indian Railways have 
grown into a vast network of 7,308 stations spread 
over a route length of 68,043 km with a fleet of 
13,215 locomotives, 74,744 passenger service 
vehicles, 10,103 other coaching vehicles and 
3,18,896 wagons. The growth of Indian Railways in 
the 167 years of its existence is thus phenomenal. 
It has played a vital role in the economic, industrial, 
and social development of the country. The network 
runs multi-gauge operations extending over 68,043 
route kilometers. 
The size of IR’s fleet of locomotives as on 
31 March 2022 consisted of 39 steam, 4,747 
diesel, and 8,429 electric locomotives. The size 
of IR’s wagon fleet consisted of 3,18,896 units 
– 70,555 covered, 1,76,574 open high-sided, 
27,522 open low-sided, 25,946 other types and 
16,004 brake vans/departmental wagons. Forty-
four Loco sheds, 236 Carriage and Wagons sick 
lines and central repair depots provide repair 
and maintenance facilities for the entire fleet of 
rolling stock. About 74.06 per cent of the route 
kilometres, 80.38 per cent of the running track 
kilometres and 78.46 per cent of the total track 
kilometres are electrified. The network is divided 
into 17 zones. 
The main objectives of railway planning have 
been to develop the transport infrastructure to 
carry the projected quantum of traffic and meet 
the developmental needs of the economy. Since 
the inception of the planned era in 1950-51, Indian 
Railways have implemented nine five-year plans, 
apart from annual plans in some years. During 
the Plans, emphasis was laid on a comprehensive 
programme of system modernisation. With 
capacity being stretched to its limits, investments 
in cost-effective technological changes become 
inescapable in order to meet the ever-increasing 
demand for rail transport. Along with a major 
thrust directed towards the rehabilitation of 
assets, technological changes and upgradation of 
standards were initiated in important areas of track, 
locomotives, passenger coaches, wagon bogie 
designs, signalling, and telecommunication. 
c entral public s ector enterprises
There are 12 Central Public Sector Enterprises 
under the administrative control of the Ministry of 
Railways, viz. (i) RITES Limited, (ii) IRCoN International 
Limited, (iii) Indian Railway Finance Corporation 
Limited (IRFC), (iv) Container Corporation of India 
Limited (CoNCoR), (v) Konkan Railway Corporation 
Limited (KRCL), (vi) Mumbai Railway Vikas 
Corporation Limited (MRVC) (vii) Indian Railway 
Catering & Tourism Corporation Ltd. (IRCTC), (viii) 
Railtel Corporation of India Ltd. (RCIL), (ix) Rail Vikas 
Nigam Ltd. (RVNL), (x) Dedicated Freight Corridor 
Corporation of India Limited (DFCCIL), (xi) Kolkata 
Metro Rail Corporation Limited (KMRCL), and (xii) 
Braithwaite and Company Limited (BCL).
research & development
The Research Design and Standards 
organisation (RDSo ) at Lucknow is the R&D wing of 
Indian Railways. It functions as a consultant to the 
T
raIl InfraSTrucTure
24 OctOber 2023
Indian Railways in technical matters. It also provides 
consultancy to other organisations connected 
with railway manufacture and design. Recently, 
RDSo successfully conducted Balancing Speed 
and controllability trials of Vande Bharat Express 
between Kasara Igatpuri and Karjat Lonavala 
sections of the Central Railway. RDSo and IIT, 
Kharagpur has indigenously developed automation 
tool (SigDATE) for the generation of route control 
chart for Electronic Interlocking systems.
r ailway Finance
Though a part of the overall financial figures 
of the Government of India, the Railway Budget 
was being presented separately to Parliament 
since 1924-25 owing to the Separation Convention 
of 1924. The main reason behind the Separation 
Convention was to secure stability for civil estimates, 
as railway finance used to be a sizeable part of 
the general finances. The Government decided to 
merge the Railway Budget with the general Budget 
from the Budget Year 2017-18. The unified budget 
brings the affairs of the Railways to centre stage and 
presents a holistic picture of the financial position 
of the Government. This merger would facilitate 
multimodal transport planning between Highways, 
Railways and Waterways. Railways would continue 
to maintain its distinct entity as a departmentally run 
commercial undertaking and retain its functional 
autonomy, delegation of financial powers, etc., as 
per the existing guidelines. Instead of the erstwhile 
scheme of sixteen demands for grants, the Ministry 
of Finance has introduced one demand for grants 
for the Ministry of Railways.
r ailway electrification
Indian Railways’ Mission 100% Electrification 
policy is seen as pivotal for the country’s entire 
energy sector. The Government initially stepped 
up the rate of railway electrification in order 
to reduce crude oil imports and save foreign 
exchange payments. However, there has been 
growing recognition that it will deliver significant 
environmental benefits. In performance terms, 
electric traction provides users with a better quality 
of service. The higher power of electric locomotives 
increases the average speeds and loadings for both 
freight and passenger trains, which in turn offers 
a tremendous opportunity to modernise railways 
and support economic development. Electrification 
will meet the aspirations of its citizens to provide 
clean transport by reducing carbon footprint and 
providing the country with an environmentally 
friendly, green, and clean mode of transport.
For a long time, the railway was largely fueled 
by coal and diesel, but electrification has been 
growing steadily since independence in 1947, but 
the past seven years have seen some remarkable 
transformation. Since then, the focus has been on 
delivery, with the rate of commissioning ramped up 
to complete the network one by one.
By March 2023, electrification on Indian 
Railways had been extended to 58,812 (Route 
Kilometers) RKMs including Konkan Railway. This 
constitutes 90% of the total BG Railway Network.
r ail t ourism
Indian Railways (IR) is the prime mover of 
tourism in the country by connecting various 
tourist destinations across the country by rail. The 
IR have introduced theme-based Tourist Circuit 
Trains under the Bharat Gaurav Trains Policy with an 
objective to showcase India’s rich cultural heritage 
and magnificent historical places to the people of 
India and the world through professionals of the 
tourism sector and other potential service providers. 
Zonal r ailways headquarters
Central Mumbai 
Eastern Kolkata
East Coast Bhubaneswar
East Central Hajipur
Northern New Delhi
North Central Allahabad (Prayagraj)
North Eastern Gorakhpur
Northeast Frontier Maligaon (Guwahati)
North Western Jaipur
Southern Chennai
South Central Secunderabad
South Eastern Kolkata
South East Central 
Railway
Bilaspur
South Western Railway Huballi
Western Mumbai
West Central Railway Jabalpur
Metro Railway Kolkata
25 OctOber 2023
Under the said policy, the State Governments, 
State Tourism Development Corporations or 
any other potential service provider may run 
theme-based tourist circuit trains covering any 
destinations of their choice. The Service Provider 
offers a comprehensive package with facility of rail 
transportation, accommodation, meals, local road 
transport, sightseeing, etc. 
The Ministry of Railways have decided to 
give a concerted thrust to efforts for promotion 
of domestic tourism through provision of better 
quality LHB coaches under the Bharat Gaurav Train 
policy and give approximately 33% concession in 
the charges due to the Railway, for promotion of rail-
based tourism under Bharat Gaurav Train scheme. 
In addition, specialised tourism products, mostly 
train based, are also introduced from time to time in 
association with Indian Railway Catering and T ourism 
Corporation and selected State.                       ?
Source: Indian Railways
I
ndian Railways has prepared a National Rail 
Plan (NRP) for India – 2030. The plan is to create 
a ‘future-ready’ railway system by 2030. The 
NRP is aimed at formulating strategies based 
on both operational capacities and commercial 
policy initiatives to increase the modal share of 
the railways in freight to 45%. The objective of 
the plan is to create capacity ahead of demand, 
which in turn would also cater to future growth 
in demand right up to 2050, increase the modal 
share of railways to 45% in freight traffic, and 
continue to sustain it. 
vision: To develop capacity and infrastructure 
and enhance rail freight share ahead of demand. 
Develop capacity by 2030 that will cater to 
growing demand up to 2050. The key objectives 
of the National Rail Plan are:
•	 Formulate strategies based on both operational 
capacities and commercial policy initiatives 
to increase the modal share of the railways in 
freight to 45%.
•	 Reduce transit time of freight substantially by 
increasing the average speed of freight trains 
to 50 kmph.
•	 As part of the National Rail Plan, Vision 
2024 has been launched for the accelerated 
national rail Plan
implementation of certain critical projects 
by 2024, such as 100% electrification, multi-
tracking of congested routes, upgradation 
of speed to 160 kmph on Delhi-Howrah and 
Delhi-Mumbai routes, upgradation of speed to 
130 kmph on all other Golden Quadrilateral-
Golden Diagonal (GQ/GD) routes, and 
elimination of all Level Crossings on all GQ/GD 
route.
•	 Identify new Dedicated Freight Corridors.
•	 Identify new High Speed Rail Corridors.
•	 Assess the rolling stock requirement for 
passenger traffic as well as wagon requirement 
for freight.
•	 Assess the locomotive requirement to meet 
twin objectives of 100% electrification (Green 
Energy) and increasing freight modal share.
•	 Assess the total investment in capital that would 
be required, along with a periodical breakup.
•	 Sustained involvement of the Private Sector in 
areas like operations and ownership of rolling 
stock, development of freight and passenger 
terminals, development and operations of 
track infrastructure, etc.                                           ?
Source: PIB
26 OctOber 2023
Vande bharat exPress trains
T
he Government has dedicated significant 
efforts towards strengthening the ‘Make in 
India’ campaign. As an excellent example of the 
‘Make in India’ success story, the Indian Railways 
launched India’s first indigenous semi-high-speed 
train, Vande Bharat Express. The first Vande Bharat 
Express train was flagged off on 15 February 2019, 
on the New Delhi-Kanpur-Allahabad-Varanasi 
route. 
This train has been introduced to upgrade 
maintenance technologies and methodologies 
and achieve improvement in productivity and 
performance of all railway assets and manpower in 
which inter-alia would cover reliability, availability, 
utilisation, and efficiency.
This train is India’s first semi-high-speed train 
equipped with world-class passenger amenities. It 
can achieve high speeds due to faster acceleration 
& deceleration and will reduce journey time by 
25% to 45%.
With a view to providing better travel 
experience to the passengers, Indian Railways 
has introduced Vande Bharat trains with modern 
coaches having the following enhanced safety 
features and amenities:
1. Faster acceleration and semi-high-speed 
operation up to 160 km/hr.
2. Fully sealed gangway for free passenger 
movement
3. Automatic plug doors
4. Reclining ergonomic seats and comfortable 
seating with revolving seats in executive class.
5. Better ride comfort.
6. Mobile charging sockets for every seat.
7. Mini pantry with provision of hot case, bottle 
cooler, deep freezer & hot water boiler
8. Direct and diffused lighting.
9. For Divyangjan passengers, special lavatory in 
DTC.
10. Emergency openable windows and fire 
extinguishers in each coach
11. CCTVs in all coaches
12. Emergency alarm push buttons and talk back 
units on all coaches.
13. Better fire safety – Aerosol-based fire detection 
and suppression system in electrical cabinets 
and lavatories
14. Driver-Guard communication with voice 
recording facility & crash hardened memory
15. Coach Condition Monitoring System (CCMS) 
display with remote monitoring
16. Disaster lights – 4 numbers in each coach in 
case of Emergency
17. Four platform side cameras including rear 
view cameras outside the coach.
As of 28
 
July 2023, 50 Vande Bharat train 
services are running on the Indian Railways, 
connecting states having Board Gauge (BG) 
electrified network. 
The introduction of trains, including Vande 
Bharat services, is an ongoing process on Indian 
Railways subject to operational feasibility, traffic 
justification, etc. India’s first-ever indigenously 
designed and manufactured  semi-high speed 
Vande Bharat trains have provided a modern 
and comfortable rail travel experience to 
passengers. High speed, enhanced safety 
standards, and world-class service are the 
hallmarks of this train. ?
Source: PIB
28 OctOber 2023