☰
✕

Transport And Communication
Question
Wired Faculty App

Give a detailed account of the development of railways in India and highlight their importance.

Answer

Indian railways network is one of the longest in the world. Indian railways is the largest government undertaking in the country. Its network is the fourth biggest network in the world. The total length of Indian Railways network is 63221 km.

In India the railway system has been divided in 16 zones due to its very large size.

Indian railways has launched extensive programme o converts the metro and narrow' gauge into broad gauge. Moreover, steam engines have been replaced by diesel and electric engines. This step increased the speed as well as the haulage capacity.

Metro rail revolutionised the urban transport system in Kolkata and Delhi.

The following table shows the performance of Indian Railways:

Table : Indian Railways Zone-wise income from passengers and goods (Rupees in lakhs)

Railway Zone

Headquarters

Earnings from Passengers %

Earnings from Goods %

% of Total earnings

Central

Mumbai CST

13.62

8.36

10.07

Eastern

Kolkata

6.18

3.3

4.24

East Central

Hajipur

5.19

7.84

6.98

East Coast

Bhubaneswar

2.27

9.69

7.27

Northern

New Delhi

15.38

8.94

11.04

North Central

Allahabad

6.71

8.76

8.09

North Eastern

Gorakhpur

3.44

1.55

2.17

North East Frontier

Maligaon (Guwahati)

2.34

2.59

2.51

North Western

Jaipur

3.44

3.04

3.17

Southern

Chennai

8.74

3.78

5.4

South Central

Secunderabad

8.45

8.88

8.74

South Eastern

Kolkata

3.23

7.86

6.36

South East Central

Bilaspur

1.7

8.91

6.56

South Western

Hubli

3.5

2.27

2.67

Western

Mumbai (Church Gate)

12.16

7.32

8.9

West Central

Jabalpur

3.62

6.91

5.83

Total

  

100

100

100

The importance of railways are as followings :

1. They are very useful for carrying heavy goods at long distances as compared to other means of transport.

2. Railways have got for greater capacity for hauling goods them other means of transport. About 4/5 of entire goods traffic. About 4/5 of entire goods traffic in India is carried by railways.

3. They are cheaper than other means of transport.

4. They provide employment to about 1603000 workers as regular employees and 200000 as casual labourers.

5. They link all the capitals of states, important cities and ports and trade centres.
 

Sponsor Area

Some More Questions From Transport And Communication Chapter

Give a detailed account of the development of railways in India and highlight their importance.

Describe the role of roads in the economic development of India.

Explain the importance and characteristics of different modes of transportation in India . 

State the different gauges of Indian railway.

Mention two national waterways.

Describe Golden Quadrangle.

Mention any three national highways along with their terminals in India.

Which remote sensing agency is located at Hyderabad and what is its role?

Name the air service which is widely used in hilly areas of North-Eastern states of India.

Name two modes of air transport in India.