- India is a land of diverse culture and Indian Railways play a key
role in not only meeting the transport needs of the country, but
also in binding together dispersed areas and promoting national
integration. Truly, Indian Railways have emerged as the sinews of
the Indian economy and have reached out to bring together the great
Indian family.
- Railways traverse through the length and breadth of the country
covering 63,140 route kms as on 31.3.2002, comprising broad gauge
(45,099 kms), meter gauge (14,776 kms) and narrow gauge (3,265 kms).
As the principal constituent of the nations transport system,
Indian Railways own a fleet of 2,16,717 wagons (units), 39,236
coaches and 7,739 number of locomotives and manage to run 14,444
trains daily, including about 8,702 passenger trains. They carry
more than a million tonne of freight traffic and about 14 million
passengers covering 6,856 number of stations daily.
- Indian Railways have been the prime movers to the nation and have
the distinction of being one of the largest railway systems in the
world under a single management. Railways being the more energy
efficient mode of transport are ideally suited for movement of bulk
commodities and for long distance travel. As compared to road
transport, the railways have a number of intrinsic advantages.
Railways are five to six times more energy efficient, four times
more efficient in land use and significantly superior from the
standpoints or environment impact and safety. Indian Railways,
therefore, rightly occupy pride of place in the growth and
development of the nation.
- Railways, being the prime infrastructural sector of the country,
need to expand and develop to keep pace with the growth of Indian
economy. The massive investment needed for the development of the
railway system has not been fully available. The budgetary support
to the railways has been increasing, but is far from adequate and
has not been keeping pace with the throw-forward.
- Railways have to perform the dual role of commercial organization
ad vehicle for fulfillment of social obligations. In national
emergency, railways have been in the forefront in rushing relief
material to disaster stricken regions. For meeting its social
obligations, railways are required to make investments that are
un-remunerative and also have to provide subsidized services. Unlike
many foreign railways, which receive government subsidies for public
service obligations, Indian Railways are not specifically
compensated for these operations.
- The Indian Railway system is managed through zones and operating
divisions. There are also six production units engaged in
manufacturing rolling stock, wheels and axles and other ancillary
components to meet Railways requirements.
- In pursuance of the decisions taken earlier, Government has now
decided to operationalise seven new zones and eight new divisions.
The North Western Railway at Jaipur and East Central Railway at
Hajipur have been made functional with effect from 1st October 2002.
Remaining five zones viz., East Coast Railway at Bhubhaneshwar,
North Central Railway at Allahabad, South East Central Railway at
Bilaspur, South Western Railway at Hubli and West Central Railway at
Jabalpur and eight new divisions at Agra, Ahmedabad, Guntur, Nanded,
Pune, Ranchi, Rangiya and Raipur shall be operational with effect
from 1st April.
- Research, Designs and Standards Organisation (RDSO) is the sole
research and development wing of Indian Railways, functioning as the
technical adviser and consultant to the Ministry, Zonal Railways and
Production Units. RDSO has been reorganized with effect from
1.1.2003 by elevating its status from Attached Office to
Zonal Railway to give it greater flexibility and a boost
to the research and development activities.
- The formation of policy and overall control of the railways is
vested in Railway Board comprising the Chairman, Financial
Commissioner and other functional Members for Traffic, Engineering,
Mechanical, Electrical and Staff matters.
- As per the Separation Convention, 1924, the Railway Budget is
presented to the Parliament ahead of the General Budget. 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 the receipts and expenditure
of the Railways are a part and parcel of the total receipts and
expenditure of the Government of India.
Source http://www.indianrail.gov.in
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