Indian Railways swiftly progressing on its transformational journey
NEW DELHI : During 2023, Indian Railways has continued to usher into era of modernization with modern stations, modern trains and modern technology. The year 2023 has been extraordinarily progressive for Indian Railways on various fronts like Freight loading, freight revenue, rolling out of new Vande Bharat Trains, capex allocation, station redevelopment, Kavach implementation, laying of tracks, electrification.
Record Budget Allocation
GBS has been increased to Rs. 2.4 Lakh Crore for the year 2023-24 (30 times increase over 2004-05, and 8 times increase over 2013-14)
GBS in Railway budget for 2004-05 was Rs. 8,000 Cr, and for 2013-14 it was Rs. 29,055 Cr.
Record Freight& Passenger Revenue
During FY 2022-23, IR achieved an originating Freight loading of 1512 MT i.e an incremental loading of 94 MT over the previous best of 1418 MT achieved in FY 2021-22 with a growth of ~7%.
During FY 22-23, Indian Railways earned Rs 1,60,158.48 Crores from Freight.
IR’s performance excelled in passenger front as well, with number of passenger patronising IRs increased more than 80% to reach 623 Cr in FY 2022-23 as compared to 344 Cr in FY 2021-22.
In FY 2023-24, on cumulative basis from April – November 2023, freight loading of 1015.67 MT was achieved by Indian Railways against last year’s loading of 978.72 MT, an improvement of approximate 36.945 MT over last year’s loading for the same period. Railways earned Rs 110007.5 crore against Rs 105905.1 crore over the last year which is an improvement of approx Rs 4102.445 Crore as compared to the same period of the last year.
Record Electrification
21,801 KM of broad gauge network was electrified until 2014.
Total Broad Gauge (BG) network of 60,814 km have been electrified upto November’2023.
14 states and UTs have 100% electrified rail tracks including Chandigarh, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Meghalaya, Odisha, Puducherry, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand
Record New tracks
During 2004-14, 14,985 RKM of rail track work was done whereas in the last 9 years (2014-23), 25,871 RKM of track laying work has been done. In the year 2022-23 per day 14 km track laid and this year’s target is to achieve 16 km per day track laying.
Record roll out of Vande Bharat Train Service in one year
35 indigenously designed, semi-high speed Vande Bharat Express trains (70 services) are currently serving people across the country. Six more Vande Bharat trains will be launched soon, making it to 82 services.
These trains cover upto 247 districts.
● The introduction of these trains is heralding a new standard of rail service in the country.
Features
Vande Bharat
Global Train-sets
Starting acceleration
Starting Acceleration from 0 to 40 kmph is >0.7 m/s². It takes hardly 52 seconds to attain speed of 100 kmph and 130 seconds to attain max. Speed of 160 kmph
Global average is 0.5 to 0.7 m/s²
Ventilation and Air conditioning
Indigenously developed Anti Viral System
No such system
Ride Quality
Light-Weight Bogie with superior ride performance. 40% reduced vertical/lateral acceleration than LHB bogie
Safety feature
KAVACH (Train Collision Avoidance System) – Prevent Signal Passing At Danger (SPAD), Head-on & Rear end collision, automatic whistling at LC gates, cab signaling etc
ETCS-2 is used
Battery
Light-weight Lithium Chemistry Batteries (LiFePO4) with advanced Battery Management System (BMS) used for 3 hr backup
Heavier VRLA/NiCd batteries are in regular use. Le chemistry batteries are still under trail
TCMS
1000 Mbps ethernet based TCMS with dual homing for high performance and fast response
Globally, WTB and MVB [Wired Train Bus + Multi Train Bus] based TCMS with data rate 1 Mbps
New Amrit Bharat Trains
Two Amrit Bharat Trains viz Darbhanga-Ayodhya-Anand Vihar Terminal Amrit Bharat Express and Malda Town-Sir M. Visvesvaraya Terminus (Bengaluru) Amrit Bharat Express are to be launched by month end.
The Amrit Bharat train is an LHB push pull train. This train has locos at both ends for better acceleration. It provides improved facilities for rail passengers like beautiful and attractive designed seats, better luggage rack, mobile charging point with suitable mobile holder, LED lights, CCTV, public information system, among others.
Record Amrit Bharat Stations
1,309 Amrit Bharat Stations have been identified across the nation, with the aim to significantly modernize passenger amenities and improve accessibility & inclusivity of railway stations. 3 Stations have been redeveloped – Gandhinagar Capital Station, Rani Kamlapati Railway station, Sir M. Visvesvaraya Terminal.
Hon’ble PM Shri Narendra Modi laid foundation stone for 508 Amrit Bharat Stations on 6th August, 2023.
These stations are set to emerge as city centres of respective regions.
Fast Tracking of Major Infrastructure Projects
Jiribam – Imphal new line (110.63 km) for connectivity with Manipur at a cost of Rs. 14,323 crore. The project has achieved physical progress of 93%.
World’s highest pier bridge with a pier height of 141 m being constructed over the valley of river Ijai near Noney is nearing completion. Once completed, it will surpass the existing record of 139 m of Mala – Rijeka Viaduct, Montenegro in Europe.
Work on Chenab Bridge is nearing completion. The first trial run on a track-mounted vehicle on the Chenab bridge in J&K’s Reasi district – the world’s highest railway bridge- was conducted in March 2023.
For the first time in India, a trial run of Kolkata Metro rake was conducted under Hooghly river. The tunnel work was completed between Howrah Maidan- Esplanade in Kolkata.
Work on Pamban Bridge is nearing completion. 92% civil work has been done.
Rishikesh – Karnaprayag Char Dham project has gathered steam.
Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail Corridor: All civil contracts awarded for Gujarat and Maharashtra. 115.8 km viaduct and 267 km of pier casting have been completed. Completion of 100% land acquisition in Gujarat and DNH Overall: – 99.95 %, Gujarat: – 100 % DNH: – 100 % Maharashtra: – 99.83 %
Works on all 8 HSR Stations (Vapi, Bilimora, Surat, Bharuch, Anand, Vadodara, Ahmedabad & Sabarmati) are under various stages of construction.
Achieved a remarkable milestone with the completion of first mountain tunnel of 350 m length and 12.6 m diameter located near Zaroli Village in Valsad, Gujarat in just 10 months.
Green Initiatives
Indian Railway has set a target of becoming Net Zero Carbon Emitter by 2030. IR has taken a number of initiatives to reduce its carbon emissions which include use of energy efficient technologies like completely switching over to production of three phase electric locomotives with regenerative features, use of head on generation (HOG) technology, use of LED lights in buildings and coaches, star rated appliances and afforestation.
As of October 2023, about 211 MW of solar plants (both on Rooftops and on land) and about 103 MW of Wind power plants have been commissioned. Further, about 2150 MW of renewable capacity has also been tied up.
Swachhata Hi Sewa Campaign 2023
Ministry of Railways observed SwachhataPakhwada from 15.09.23 to 02.10.23 with every effort to ensure the successful implementation of this campaign, aimed at fostering a much greener and more eco-friendly railway system. In this year, during the first 14 days (i.e. 15.09.23 to 29.09.23) of SHS campaign, more than 2.14 lakh people participated in around 1934 activities with man- hours of 662990 in the campaign which includes whole-hearted participation of passengers and other stakeholders.
Special Campaign 3.0 was launched from 1st October 2023
Rs. 66.83 Lakhs (approx.) revenue generated through disposal of office scrap.
More than 5,297 cleanliness campaigns conducted during the period.
Special focus on scrap disposal resulted in freeing up of 397619 sq. feet of office space.
One Station, One Product (OSOP) Outlets
1,250 OSOP outlets are functional across 1,129 stations
This scheme promotes ‘Vocal for Local’ vision, providing a market for local/indigenous products and creating additional income opportunities for the marginalised sections of society.
Output by Production Units
Banaras Locomotive Works recently manufactured 10000th Electric Locomotive on 20th December, 2023.
Chittaranjan Locomotive Works manufactured 12000th Electric Locomotive on 26th September, 2023.
ICF manufactured 50th rake of Vande Bharat Express in 2023.
WiFi
In the last 9 years, 6,108 railway stations across the nation started offering free and high speed wifi facilities.
CCTVs
Before 2014, the number of stations equipped with CCTV surveillance facilities was 123 whereas in the last 9 years (2014-23), CCTVs were installed across 743 railway stations.
Foot Over Bridge (FOB)
During 2009-14, the number of FOBs constructed was 115 while in the span of 9 years, Indian Railways fostered uninterrupted and safe train operations across the state, by constructing 1,826 FOBs.
Improved North East connectivity
Railways’ projects are progressing swiftly in North eastern states.
All North Eastern States have been connected with rail except for Sikkim where the work is in progress.
Rail connectivity to Four states (i.e. Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur & Mizoram) provided after 2014
Meghalaya in Nov-2014, Arunachal Pradesh in Feb-2015, Manipur (Jiribam) in May-2016 & Mizoram (Bhairabi) in March-2016,
Northeast India’s first semi-high speed train was launched on May 29, 2023 (It connects Guwahati and New Jalpaiguri.)
Gati Shakti Cargo Terminal
To boost investment from industry in development of additional terminals for handling rail cargos, ‘Gati Shakti Multimodal Cargo Terminal (GCT)’ policy has been launched on 15.12.2021
51 GCTs commissioned during 2023. Around 80 more locations have been identified for development of GCTs.
Bharat Gaurav Trains
Indian Railways has launched theme – based Tourist Circuit trains with an objective to showcase India’s rich cultural heritage and magnificent historical places.
1st Bharat Gaurav Train viz. Shirdi Yatra was launched on 14.06.2022 from Coimbatore to Mantralayam, and Shirdi & back, covering a total distance of 2,880 km.
156 trips of Bharat Gaurav trains on 26 tourist circuits covering 90 tourist places have been operated till now. A total of 72,583 passengers have availed this service and currently this service is running on 26 circuits.
Vistadome coach boost to tourism
As a measure of passenger convenience and to showcase natural and scenic beauty, aesthetically designed VistadomeLinke Hofmann Busch (LHB) coaches on tourist routes have been introduced on Indian Railways. Vistadome coaches provide panoramic views, through wider body side windows as well as through transparent sections in the roof, thus enabling the passengers to enjoy the scenic beauty along the tracks and attract tourists.These coaches are running in Kalka- Shimla, Guwahati-Badarpur, Guwahati-Naharlagun, Visakhapatnam-Araku, New Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar.
For providing world class travel experience to passengers 57 vista dome coaches are running in various Broad, Meter, Running gauge section of IR.
Dedicated Freight Corridor on its way to completion
Before 2014 not a single KM of DFC commissioned. Adequate money and concentrated efforts have resulted in starting of the track laying works from the year 2014 itself.
Now almost all of EDFC has been completed and WDFC is about to complete. 2,513 km commissioned i.e.approx 90 % of DFC has been commissioned.
EDFC : Ludhiana to Sonnagar (1337 km) completed
WDFC : 1176 km out of 1506 km from Jawaharlal Nehru Port Terminal to Dadri has been completed
KAVACH
Kavach has been deployed on 1465 km and 139 locomotives
Kavach is an indigenously developed Automatic Train Protection (ATP) system
Lingampalli – Vikarabad – Wadi and Vikarabad – Bidar section (265 RKM)
Manmad-Mudkhed-Dhone-Guntkal section (959 Route km)
Bidar-Parbhani section (241 Route km)
Kavach aids the loco pilot in train running within specified speed limits by automatic application of brakes in case Loco Pilot fails to do so and also help the train safely run during inclement weather.
Kavach contracts have been awarded for Delhi- Mumbai (including Ahmedabad-Vadodara Section) & Delhi- Howrah (including Luknow—Kanpur Section) corridors (approximately 3000 Route km) covering Eastern Railway, East Central Railway, North Central Railway, Northern Railway, West Central Railway & Western Railway.
ENHANCING SAFETY
Indian Railways gives top priority to safety in train operations. In order to enhance the level of safety Indian Railway have taken a number of steps, some of which are as given below:
Electrical/Electronic Interlocking Systems with centralized operation of points and signals have been provided at 6498 stations upto 31.10.2023.
Interlocking of Level Crossing (LC) Gates has been provided at 11137 level Crossing Gates upto 31.10.2023.
Complete Track Circuiting of stations to enhance safety for verification of track occupancy by electrical means has been provided at 6548 stations upto 31.10.2023.
Locomotives are equipped with Vigilance Control Devices (VCD) to ensure alertness of Loco Pilots.
Retro-reflective sigma boards are provided on the mast which is located between two OHE masts prior to the signals in electrified territories to warn the crew about the signal ahead when visibility is low due to foggy weather.
A Global Positioning System (GPS) based Fog Safety Device (FSD) is provided to loco pilots in fog affected areas which enables loco pilots to know the distance of the approaching landmarks like signals, level crossing gates etc.
Modern track structure consisting of 60kg, 90 Ultimate Tensile Strength (UTS) rails, Pre-stressed Concrete Sleeper (PSC) Normal/Wide base sleepers with elastic fastening, fanshaped layout turnout on PSC sleepers, Steel Channel/H-beam Sleepers on girder bridges is used while carrying out primary track renewals.
Mechanisation of track laying activity through use of track machines like PQRS, TRT, T-28 etc to reduce human errors.
Maximizing supply of 130m/260m long rail panels for increasing progress of rail renewal and avoiding welding of joints, thereby ensuring safety.
Laying of longer rails, minimizing the use of Alumino Thermic Welding and adoption of better welding technology for rails i.e. Flash Butt Welding.
Monitoring of track geometry by OMS (Oscillation Monitoring System) and TRC (Track Recording Cars).
Patrolling of railway tracks to look out for weld/rail fractures.
The use of Thick Web Switches and Weldable Cast Manganese Steel (CMS) Crossing in turnout renewal works.
Inspections at regular intervals are carried out to monitor and educate staff for observance of safe practices.
Detailed instructions on issues related with safety of Track e.g. integrated block, corridor block, worksite safety, monsoon precautions etc. have been issued.
Preventive maintenance of railway assets (Coaches & Wagons) is undertaken to ensure safe train operations and to keep a check on Rail Accidents across the country.
Replacement of conventional Integral Coach Factory (ICF) design coaches with Linke Hofmann Busch (LHB) design coaches is being done.
All unmanned level crossings (UMLCs) on Broad Gauge (BG) route have been eliminated by January 2019.
Safety of Railway Bridges is ensured through regular inspection of Bridges. The requirement of repair/rehabilitation of Bridges is taken up based upon the conditions assessed during these inspections.
Indian Railways has displayed Statutory “Fire Notices” for widespread passenger information in all coaches. Fire posters are provided in every coach so as to inform and alert passengers regarding various Do’s and Don’ts to prevent fire. These include messages regarding not carrying any inflammable material, explosives, prohibition of smoking inside the coaches, penalties etc.
Production Units are providing Fire detection and suppression system in newly manufactured Power Cars and Pantry Cars and Fire and Smoke detection system in newly manufactured coaches. Progressive fitment of the same in existing coaches is also underway by Zonal Railways in a phased manner.
Security of Passengers
Railway Protection Force (RPF) carries on an unrelenting fight against criminals in protecting railway passengers, passenger area and railway property, facilitate passenger travel and security, remains vigilant to prevent trafficking of women and children and take appropriate action to rehabilitate destitute children found in Railway areas. The force has the distinction of the central force with largest share of women (9%) in its ranks.
During 2023, RPF has carried outvarious operations likeOperation “NanheFaristey” – Rescuing Lost Children, Anti-Human Trafficking Efforts (Operation AAHT), Operation “Jeevan Raksha” – Saving Lives, Empowering Women Passengers – “Meri Saheli” Initiative, Cracking Down on Touts (Operation “Uplabdh”), Operation “NARCOS” – Combating Drug Crimes, Swift Response to Passengers’ Concerns, Operation “Yatri Suraksha” – Protecting Passengers,Ensuring Safety through “Operation Sanraksha”, Assisting Those in Need (Operation Seva), Curbing Illegal Goods Transport (Operation Satark) to ensure the security of passengers and other stakeholders in Railway premises.
Sports
88 players and 11 coaches from Indian Railways represented the country in the 19th Asian Games 2022 held at Hangzhou (China) from 23rd Sept 2023 to 08th October 2023. Out of 107 medals won in these Games by India, Railway athletes bagged 22 medals (8 Gold, 7 Silver & 7 Bronze). 39 IR players from Indian Railways have won total 43 medals in individual & team events.
Re-development of Wrestling Academy at Kishanganj, New Delhi with State-of-the art facilities is in progress.
Renovated Sports hostel inaugurated at Kolkata, South Eastern Railway in September, 2023.
Increase in Ex-gratia amount
Ex-gratia is an emergent relief paid by the Railways to the injured/next of kin of deceased passengers at the accident site or at the hospitals where the injured are admitted for treatment. The rates of ex-gratia in case of train accident and accident at MLCs were last revised in the year 2012 and in case of untoward incident, it was last revised in the year1996. The rates of ex-gratia now have been increased to 10 times of the existing ones.