EVOLUTION OF INDIAN RAILWAYS

11 min readApr 9, 2020

INTRODUCTION

Indian Railways, the fourth largest railway network in the world spread over 1, 15,000+ kms, with 68,525+ kms of running track passing through 8500 stations with a workforce of 14 lakh+ employees running 19000+ trains daily which includes 12000 passenger and 7000 freight trains across 17 zones and 69 divisions and is the ninth largest utility employer

The history of Indian Railways goes back to the year 1853 when the first train steamed off from Bombay to Thane, a distance of 34 km. The growth of Indian Railways during these years can be said to be really phenomenal. The network runs multi-gauge operations including Broad Gauge, Metre Gauge and Narrow Gauge. The railways in India provide the principal mode of transportation for freight and passengers. It brings people together from the farthest, sightseeing, pilgrimage and education. India railways have been a great integrating force during the last 100 years. It has integrated the economic life of the country and helped in accelerating the development of industry and agriculture.

HISTORY AND ORIGIN OF INDIAN RAILWAYS

In 1846, there was a major failure of cotton crop in America. Following this, textile merchants at Manchester and Glasgow in Great Britain had to seek alternative markets. It was then that traders in the UK turned their attention on the cotton crop in India, one of British colonies then, rich in cotton crop. however, cotton was produced in various parts of the Indian subcontinent and it took days to bring it to the nearest port to transport it to England through ships, the only major means of international communication then. The British then had to build a link from the hinterland to India’s major ports for quicker transport of cotton and other goods as demand soared. This expedited matters for the British to introduce a railway in India. The British also felt that organising and dispersing the growing native population faster deployment of troops could be better handled by a railway.
As early as 1843, Lord Dalhousie had first conceived the possibility of opening up of India by means of railway communication. He had proposed to link the three ports of Bombay, Calcutta and Madras by a railway. The same year he sent George T. Clarke, an engineer, to Bombay to assess the possibility. A few years later in 1845, a strong lobby in Bombay supporting railway communication formed a body called the Bombay Great Eastern Railway. As matters started to gain momentum, the Bombay Great Eastern Railway locally prepared plans for constructing a railway line from Bombay to the Deccan. But the British already had a concrete plan in their minds and soon things began to take shape.
The earliest proposal for laying railways in India was made some time around in the 1830s. Inspired by the railway mania in England, some eminent citizens in Madras had proposed
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the idea of a railway but plans remained on paper and the project did not see the light of the day then. But the conditions in India were quite different from Britain. Many British and Indians, who had a better understanding about India’s topography and geography, opposed the construction of railways as a “premature and expensive undertaking” and a “hazardous and “dangerous venture”. Certain opponents doubted the feasibility of introduction of railways in India citing poverty, extreme climate with torrential rains, violent storms, high mountains, sandy deserts and dense forests. But the process of building a railway network that would one day not only captivate the nation but the whole world had already begun

LAUNCHING PASSENGER RAILWAY SERVICES (1853–1869)

Although rail services in India were initially proposed in the 1830s, historians cite 16 April 1853 as the Kickstarter for India’s passenger rail revolution. On this date, the country’s first passenger train set off on a 34km journey between Bombay’s BoriBunder station and Thane. It consisted of 14 cars being hauled by three steam locomotives, and carried 400 passengers.
The line was built through an alliance between the Great Indian Peninsular Railway (GIPR) — incorporated in 1849 — and the East India Company, which at that point ruled large swathes in India. Its success spurred subsequent launches of railways in Eastern India (1854) and South India (1856). Following the opening of the Calcutta-Delhi line in 1864 and the Allahabad-Jabalpur line in 1867, these lines were linked with the GIPR to create a 4,000-mile network spanning the width of India.

ECONOMIC GROWTH (1869–1900)

Following the Indian rebellion of 1857 and the subsequent liquidation of the East India Company, the British Raj reigned supreme in India. From 1869–1881, it took control of railway construction from external contractors and increased expansion to help areas struck by famine after intense droughts in the country. The length of the network reached 9,000 miles by 1880, with lines snaking inward from the three major port cities of Bombay, Madras and Calcutta.

The 1890s saw the introduction of new passenger amenities, including toilets, gas lamps and electric lighting. By this point the popularity of the railways had skyrocketed and overcrowding led to the creation of a fourth class onboard. By 1895, India had started building its own locomotives and by 1896 was able to send its own experts and equipment to assist with the construction of the Uganda Railway

The Railway Board was established in 1901, including a government official, an English railway manager and an agent of one of the company railways. In 1905, its powers were formalised by the government under then viceroy Lord Curzon, and the board has grown in size and prominence ever since. Movements were also made towards a more centralised management system, with both GIPR and East Indian Railways (EIR) being nationalised in 1923. Nevertheless, World War I took its toll on Indian rail development, with production diverted to meet British requirements outside of India. By the end of the war, the network was in a state of disrepair, with many services restricted or downgraded. Railway finances were separated from the general budget in 1924, with the railway receiving its first individual dividend in 1925.

ELECTRIFICATION (1925–1946)

The first electric train ran between Bombay and Kurla on 3 February, 1925, setting a precedent for further electrification in the coming years. By 1929, the railway network had grown to an overall length of 66,000km and carried approximately 620 million passengers and 90 million tonnes of goods annually.
Nevertheless, in the last days of the British Raj, world events continued to play a role in rail activity. The economic depression kick-started by the Wall Street Crash resulted in INR11m being withdrawn from the railway reserve fund. Meanwhile, World War II also stymied railway development, as wagons were extensively commandeered for military movements.

PARTITION AND ZONAL CREATION(1947–1980)

In 1947, the departure of Britain split the nation in two, causing a ripple effect across the railways as more than 40% of the network was lost to the newly created Pakistan. Two major lines, the Bengal Assam and North Western Railway, were divvied up and isolated from the Indian rail system. In the post-partition furore, violent mobs damaged railway infrastructure and attacked trains carrying refugees.
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A few years later, Indian Railways set about manifesting its own destiny, acquiring the majority of control over railway franchises in 1949–1950. In 1951–1952, it began reorganizing the network into zones. The first train between India and Pakistan, the Samihauta Express, began running between Amritsar and Lahore in 1976.
Moving into the latter half of the 20th Century, the railways increasingly made steps towards modernization. Colonial-era locomotives were replaced with state-of-the art trains, while moves to adopt 25kv AC traction in the 1950s drove set off a new drive towards electrification.

TECHNOLOGY IMPROVEMENT (1980–2000)

The 1980s saw a complete phase-out of steam locomotives, as electrification was spurred on by energy crises in the 1970s. Around 4,500km of track was electrified between 1980 and 1990. Meanwhile, India’s first metro system opened in Calcutta in 1984.
Though economic stagnation and political upheaval blocked growth of the network in the 80s, the 90s saw the opening of the Konkan Railway; a 738km behemoth connecting the western coast of India with the rest of the country.
However, the major revolution of the period came from the world of computing. In particular, the Indian Railways online passenger reservation system was launched in 1985 and gradually introduced at Delhi, Madras, Bombay and Calcutta. This was designed to allow passengers to reserve and cancel accommodation on any train from any terminal — a vital boon for passengers — and was extended with the introduction of the country-wide network of computerised enhanced reservation and ticketing (CONCERT) in 1995.

MOVING ONLINE (2000–2017)

ince 2000, metro stations have continued to pop up in India’s major cities, including Delhi (2002), Bangalore (2011), Gurgaon (2013) and Mumbai (2014). The noughties also saw the creation of the network’s East coast ,south western , south east central ,north central ,west central railway zone IN 2002
Nevertheless, arguably the greatest step forward for IR was the launch of online train reservations and ticketing through its IRCTC system in 2002. Passengers could now book their journeys online or buy tickets from thousands of agents across the country — a necessary addition, considering that passengers had reportedly traversed a distance of more than 4.5 billion kilometres on the railways in the period from 2000–2001.
More recently, the Gatimaan express, India’s fastest train with a top speed of 160km/h, made its maiden journey from Delhi to Agra on 5 April 2016. And Indian Railways announced on 31 March 2017 that the country’s entire rail network would be electrified by 2022.

FUTURE OF INDIAN RAILWAYS

Indian Railways manages the fourth-largest rail network in the world, with tracks spanning more than 120,000km of the country.The railway is preparing for the future with a number of initiatives. Current Rail Minister Piyush Goyal said in May that free WiFi services would be provided at more than 7,000 stations by 2019, and IR has invested in greener technologies in a bid to meet 25% of its power demand with renewables, primarily solar, by 2025

MODERNIZATION

For faster execution of Railway Electrification projects, emphasis has been put on mechanized execution of OHE construction works. It has been planned to introduce Self Propelled type Wiring Trains for faster and efficient wiring of both catenary and contact wires, within a much shorter block period, for which Technical Specification has been finalized and tender for pilot project has been opened and is under finalization.
For measurement and recording of vital OHE parameters like contact wire height, stagger, implantation, gradient etc. Likely failure locations identified and timely corrective action taken. Measuring and recording Instruments, with IT based Analytical Tools will be fitted in 8- Wheeler Tower Cars, so as to enable more effective preventive maintenance of OHE with lesser amount of power and traffic block. Technical Specification for this purpose has been finalised and tender for procurement of 30 numbers of 8-Wheeler Tower Wagons with Measuring and Recording Instruments has been invited
Indian Railway for first time finalized purchase order for 8-wheeler Diesel Electric Tower Car. In this regard, PO has been issued for 45 nos. of 8-wheeler DETC tower wagon to M/s Phooltas & M/s BEML. Another tender for 53 nos 8-wheeler DETC tower wagon has been opened and is under finalization
2x25 kV OHE system against 25 kV OHE on Eastern and Western DFC to reduce number of TSS and increase number of trains in section o Higher hauling capacity
Increased Traction Substation spacing at 60–80 km apart against existing spacing of 40 km.
OHE current carrying capacity due to doubling of voltage (50 kV). Improved voltage regulation and reduced transmission line losses Seamless running of locomotives from 1×25 kV to 2×25 kV system

TOWARDS BETTER EFFICIENCY

➢ Engineering Procurement and Construction (EPC) mode of contract execution has been introduced in Railway Electrification for first time. It has been decided to award maximum number of future tenders on EPC mode

➢ Ministry of Railways has delegated power of acceptance of tenders and award of contracts, for all values, to Zonal Railways, except Railway Board purchase items. Further, full power has been delegated to General Managers for sanction of Estimates including variations and material modifications to certain percentage values over original cost. Further, power has been delegated to Chief Electrical Engineer, CORE for acceptance of tender value upto 300 crore. This will facilitate faster delivery of projects

➢ In order to give more importance to field officers of CORE, designation of CEE (Chief Electrical Engineer) has been re-designated as CAO, RE (Chief Administration Officer) & CPM (Chief Project Manager) as CPD (Chief Project Director)

INFRASTRUCTURE ACHIEVEMENTS

1]Record electrification in a year in Indian Railways: • During 2015-’16, all time record of electrification of 1730 rkm has been achieved, against target of 1600 rkm set for the year by Prime Minister’s Office. This is 25.81% higher than previous record electrification of 1375 rkm achieved during 2014-’15. A target for electrification of 2,000 rkm has been set for achievement during 2016-’17.

2] Higher thrust on Railway Electrification:

• With a view to achieve cost economy in fuel economy and enhance transportation capacity, Ministry of Railways have decided to increase pace of electrification in the country. Accordingly, an Action Plan for Electrification has been approved by Hon’ble MR. To increase pace of electrification; it is proposed to assign works to other Railway PSUs like IRCON & RITES including PGCIL (PSU of Ministry of Power). • 28 new electrification projects consisting of 6608 rkm at estimated cost of Rs. 6746 crore was included in Railway Budget 2015-’16.
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• 18 new electrification projects consisting of 2569 rkm at estimated cost of Rs. 2741 crore was included in Railway Budget 2016-’17

3] DC to AC conversion in Central Railway:

One of most challenging railway projects for conversion of 1500 V DC to 25000 V AC traction systems has been successfully completed over entire Mumbai division of Central Railway. This work of very complex nature has been carried out on busiest network of Indian Railways without any disruption to sensitive commuter traffic. This will substantially improve traffic throughput and result in a cumulative saving of Rs. 100–120 crore per annum, apart from introducing Stateof- Art train services for Mumbai suburban passengers with better passenger amenities, reduction in journey time and operating cost of Railways.

4]Development of highrise overhead equipment

➢ Required for double stack container operations with electric traction.

➢ Successful trials done in ECoR with OHE height as 7.45 meter Pantograph also suitably modified.

➢ Normal OHE height is 5.5 meter. Complete Western DFC is with high rise OHE.

➢ On Indian Railway routes, high rise OHE being provided in GurgaonMehsana, Jaipur-Phulera, RewariLudhiana. Total 1188 RKM.

TOWARDS BETTER EFFECIENCY

References:

1]http://www.indianrailways.gov.in/Indian%20Railways%20Whistling%20Ahead%20%20Story%20of%20Growth%20and%20Modernisation-Booklet.pdf

2] https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/infrastructure/9-recent-developments-in-indianrailways/talgo-a-step-towards-bullet-train-dreams/slideshow/53351529.cms

3] https://www.dnaindia.com/blogs/post-the-complete-story-of-indian-railways-1822868

4] https://www.kportal.indianrailways.gov.in/index.php/history-of-railways

5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Railways