PRESENTATION ON INDIAN RAILWAYS

Presented by: Dinesh, Zarna, Sahil, Varun & Rhea.

Lifeline of the Nation

ABOUT IRRailways were first introduced to India

in 1853 from Bombay to Thane. In 1951 the systems were nationalized as

one unit, the Indian Railways, becoming one of the largest networks

in the world and today Indian Railways is the world’s ninth largest commercial or utility employer, by

number of employees, with over 1.4 million employees.

Origin & Development• Roots in 1800s • Started by the British colonial governments• First commercial passenger train between Bombay and Thane• The Guarantee system by British Parliament helped in accelerating development

of IR• In 1901, the 1st version of the Railway Board was constituted with 3 members• In 1925, first separate budget for Railways was presented• After partition in 1947, the railway network also got divided in two countries• Railway continued department under the central govt. after independent• 1950s- The Zonal Grouping of railway system began• Mid 1980s- IR introduced computerized ticketing and reservation services at New

Delhi• 1989- The parliament replaced the Railways Act,1890 by the Railways Act 1989• 1996- introduced the CONCERT (Country-wide Network for Computerized

Enhanced Reservation and Ticketing) reservation system in New Delhi.• 2000- official IR website became operational

• Passenger services -: Indian Railways operates 8,702 passenger trains and transports around Nine billion people annually across twenty-seven states and three union territories (Delhi, Pondicherry and Chandigarh). Sikkim is the only state not connected

• Sub urban rail -: Many cities have their own dedicated suburban networks to cater to commuters. Currently, suburban networks operate in Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Delhi, Hyderabad and Pune.

• Freight -: IR carry a huge variety of goods ranging from mineral ores, agricultural produce, petroleum, milk and vehicles. Ports and major urban areas have their own dedicated freight lines and yards.

Services Provided

In 2011–2012 Indian Railways had revenues of 1,119,848.9 million(US$19 billion) which consists of 696,759.7 million (US$12 billion) from freight and 286,455.2 million (US$4.8 billion) from passengers tickets.

Sources of Revenue

Notable Trains

• Samjhauta Express is a train that runs between India and Pak .• Lifeline Express is a special train popularly known as the "Hospital-on-

Wheels" which provides healthcare to the rural areas.• Vivek Express, between Dibrugarh and Kanyakumari, has the longest run

in terms of distance and time on Indian Railways network. It covers 4,286 km in about 82 hours and 30 minutes.

• Double-decker AC trains have been introduced in India. The first double decker train was Pune-Mumbai Sinhagad express running between Pune and Mumbai .

• Palace on Wheels for promoting tourism in Rajasthan.• Deccan Odyssey covering various tourist destinations in

Maharashtra and Goa , Golden Chariot train connecting popular tourist destinations in Karnataka and Goa.

• Railway Network: India comes fourth with approx. 64,000 km of railroad after US, Russia, and China.

• Distance Covered: The total distance covered by the 14,300 trains daily on the Indian Railways daily equals three & half times the distance to moon.

• Passenger Load: The IR carries over 25 million passengers daily. Annually Indian Railways ferries 9 billion passenger.

• There are two UNESCO world heritage sites on IR the Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus and the Mountain Railways of India.

• Longest Platform: Indian Railways owns the longest railway platform in the world at Kharagpur ,West Bengal with a length of 2,733 ft (1072.5 m).

• Fastest train in India: New Delhi-Bhopal Shatabdi Express is the fastest train in India.

Facts

Operational Aspects

Scope of Improvement in the Operations

How do political consideration affect the operations of IR?

• Politicians used their influence to get IR to lay lines to remote areas thus bringing them onto the railway network to please their constituencies

• IR invest lot of money in doing this, that could have been better utilized elsewhere

• The opportunity cost of running trains on unpopular routes was that more popular or busier routes were underserved

• 50% of IR’s lines were underused while 30% were overused• Lost out revenues on the busier routes and incurred

additional expenditure on unpopular ones• Imbalance in the department’s budgetary resources

Efforts to Improve Operations & Services

• Modernization.• Safety and security of passengers.• Track renewal and improvement in passenger amenities.• Reduction in operating ratio.• Better computerization of railways system.• Induction of new technology for signaling.• Capacity enhancement.• Reasonable hike in prices from time to time.

Social Role of IR

Need to fulfill certain social commitments • Subsidized fares to passengers • Subsidized rates for certain core

products• Little support from parliament• Debt burden • Unprofitable routes • Political influence

Difficulties faced by IR • Social obligations• Safety concern

High accident rate Bad working conditions Equipments from government run factories Unauthorized access

• Competition from Roadways and Airlines• Other factors includes

Huge debt High operational cost Huge pensions

Towards a better IR

I. PrivatizationII. Break down into small fragments III. Rail service to IR & operations to private

providersIV. Change in administrationV. Constructing a rational tariff structureVI. Minimize or stop subsidized fare to travellersVII. Implementation of new safety measures.

SWOT Analysis

Strength Weakness

Opportunity Threats

Strength Weakness

1. Passenger sector is loss making

2. Lack of safety3. Poor infrastructure4. Corruption within

department5. Lack of accident proof

magnetic wheels in all trains6. Delayed trains7. Non pro-active employees8. Un hygienic food9. Overcrowded

1. The biggest organization in the world under one management

2. Affordable to common man3. Better connectivity across India4. More carrying capacity of goods5. Largest commercial employer

with almost 1.5 million staff6. It transports over six billion

passengers and almost 750 million tons of freight annually

7. Approx 115,000 km of tracks and nearly 8000 stations.

Opportunity

1. It can capture large chunk of container traffic by introducing block container trains operating at passenger speeds

2. It’s 70% of revenue and most of its profits comes from freight sector and there is a tremendous growth in emerging companies, hence has a great future for freight sector

3. Operating ratio has been decreasing drastically in last 10 years

Threats

1. Increase in allowable gross weight of road vehicles

2. Possible introduction of double road trailers

3. Low cost airlines

Conclusion

The most cost efficient mode of transport, Indian Railways enjoy preference over other public transport systems. Used extensively for passenger and freight transfer, Indian Railways proves itself the forerunner in the transport sector as the most affordable, convenient and well connected network. With thousands of railway stations across the country, and relatively low train fare, Indian Railways is the first choice for transfer goods and commodities.