importance of railways

1. THE IMPORTANCE OF BROAD GAUGE RAILWAYS IN NORTH
EAST INDIA
• NAME:-SUBHOJIT NATH.
• REGISTRATION NO:-11701434
• SUBMITTED TO:-MANPREET SINGH SAINI.

2. CONTENT
1 BROAD GAUGE DEFINATION.
2 BROAD GAUGE ADVANTAGE.
3 BROAD GAUGE REQUIREMENTS.
4 NORTHEAST CHALLENGES, RESOURCES,ECONOMIC CONDITION.
5 DEVELOPMENT AFTER BROAD GAUGE IN NORTH EAST INDIA.

3. BROAD GAUGE DEFINATION
A broad-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge broader
than the 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1
⁄2 in) standard-gauge railways.
Broad gauge of 1,524 mm (5 ft), commonly known as Russian
gauge, is the dominant track gauge in former Soviet Union (CIS
states, Baltic
states, Georgia and Ukraine), Mongolia and Finland. Broad
gauge of 1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in), commonly known as Irish Gauge,
is the dominant track gauge in Ireland.
Broad gauge of 1,668 mm (5 ft 5 21
⁄32 in), commonly known
as Iberian gauge, is the dominant track gauge
in Spain and Portugal. Broad gauge of 1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in),
commonly known as Indian gauge, is the dominant track gauge
in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Argentina, Chile, and
on the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) in the San Francisco Bay
Area. It is possible for trains on both Iberian gauge and Indian
gauge to travel on each other's tracks with no modifications in the
vast majority of cases. This is the widest gauge in common use
anywhere in the world.

4. BROAD GAUGE ADVANTAGE
When building a railroad, cost and ability to meet the desired purpose are
generally the two largest concerns.
Narrow gauge railroads tend to cost less to build, but may have lower
weight limits. Standard gauge lines may cost more initially, but typically
weight limits will be higher.
Weight limits effect the hauling ability of the railroad in two ways. The
first is obvious, cars carrying more freight will weigh more but also be
able to haul more. The second is that higher weight limits generally allow
for larger, more powerful locomotives to operate on the line, meaning
more freight can be hauled in a single train. In most cases, if you can haul
more tons per car and more tons per train, the operating cost per ton
goes down.
All of that said, narrow gauge has been favoured in mountainous regions
because they tend to be the most expensive places to build railroads.
Narrow gauge railroads require less earthwork, smaller bridges, narrower
tunnels, and a narrower right of way. Generally, because the trains are
lighter, they can also deal with steeper grades. As the track gauge widens,
costs of construction, particularly in mountainous areas, goes up
considerably.
Wide gauge railroads tend to be few and far between, though a few do
exist. They generally cost more to build but so far, few benefits have been
realized. Standard gauge seems to be at or near the practical limit to
gauge, where costs and benefits tend to balance out best.

5. BROAD GAUGE REQUIREMENTS
The first step of laying down a railroad track is not very obvious, happening below
the surface. One of the first things crews typically do is grade or install drainage
systems in order to prevent the railway from waterlogging. These systems typically
utilize pipes, carrier drains, and sometimes attenuation ponds, in order to ensure
that proper drainage occurs, and subgrade deterioration and erosion are avoided.
The next step of this process involves laying down a layer of material for the rails to
sit on in future steps. This process is called “ballasting”, and is divided into two
steps: laying the bottom ballast and laying the top ballast. The bottom ballast is
made up of primarily coarse sand, and is spread evenly and level in order to provide
a slightly malleable, but firm base for the railway crossties, also called sleepers, and
the next layer.
Next, the railway sleepers are placed on top ballast, and spaced appropriately. This
process can be done manually, or by use of specialized machines, but in both
cases, workers make sure that the central point of the sleepers and the rail track
centre line are in alignment. Once this process is complete, railroad spikes and
fasteners, also called chairs, are fixed to the sleepers of wood, or bolted down with a
chair bolt.
At this point, the rail is ready to be lowered onto the sleepers and fastened to the
spikes. While a relatively straightforward process, there are many things engineers
and workers have to keep in mind when laying down rails. One of these factors is
the correct use of rail joints when fastening multiple lengths of rail together with a
fishplate. Another important factor is the tension in the rail. Temperature can have

6. dramatic effects on railroad tracks when the metal in the rail expands or contracts,
having the potential to cause the track to buckle or separate. Because of this,
knowing the Rail Neutral Temperature is essential.
Extreme heat can cause metal to expand, buckling track.
After the rail has been laid, the top layer of ballast is typically applied. This layer of
ballast is made of small, coarse rocks of various shapes and materials. It is
important that these rocks be irregularly shaped and not uniform, as they will pile up
and hold stronger. This ballast will fill in all the gaps between and underneath the
sleepers and rails, providing a strong base for the track as a whole. Typically, a
second layer of top ballast

7. NORTHEAST CHALLENGES, RESOURCES,ECONOMIC CONDITION
The momentum in this rail infrastructure development picked up pace in 2014,
after the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government first came to power.
However, concerns persist over land acquisition issues.
In a written statement to Parliament last month, the Ministry of Railways said
average annual expenditure on new lines, gauge conversion and doubling
infrastructure in the region saw a 126 per cent jump between 2009-2014 and
2014-2019 — from Rs 11,527 crore to Rs 26,022 crore, on a per year basis.
The ministry said the average railways budget allocation for the Northeast also
increased by 161 per cent during this period — from Rs 2,122 crore to Rs 5,531
crore, on a per year basis.
Official figures for the rail infrastructure in the region reveal that the
expenditure has borne fruit.
Between 2014 and 2018, over 900 km of meter gauge track was converted to
broad gauge, say official figures. In this period, the average annual
commissioning of broad gauge line in the Northeast was 3.2 times compared to
that four years ago, according to the railways vision document for 2020.
“Of the eight Northeast state capitals, Agartala, Guwahati and Itanagar have
already been connected with broad gauge rail network since 2014. The
deadline for connecting all the state capitals with broad gauge rail network is
2020,” said a railway ministry official.
A passenger broad gauge train from Itanagar to New Delhi started in February
2015. The first broad gauge long-distance passenger train connecting Agartala
to New Delhi became operational in July 2016.

8. Work on converting the meter gauge track to broad gauge, however, had
started during the UPA era. At present, except for Sikkim, the Northeast does
not have any meter gauge operation.
Last year, work was also completed on the long-delayed 4.9-km Bogibeel rail
and road bridge on Brahmaputra river, reducing rail travel distance from
Dibrugarh (Assam) to Naharlagun (Itanagar) by 750 km.
Land acquisition issues
While the projects have picked up pace in the recent past, concerns have been
raised over massive delay in land acquisition in some states, including
Mizoram, Nagaland and Meghalaya.
The Bogibeel project in Assam, for instance, was started in 2002 and took 16
years to complete.
Similarly, the Rs 5,021-crore broad gauge line connecting Bairabi to Sairang in
Mizoram was sanctioned in 2008-09, but land was made available only in
2014-15.

9. Officials in the railways ministry told that many of the new rail line projects
have got delayed because of land acquisition and law and order issues, but
work is happening faster now.
“Earlier, things moved at a snail’s pace. Land acquisition issues are still there
but because of the high priority accorded to these projects, bottlenecks are
sorted out much faster,” said a second ministry official.
The railways ministry statement in Parliament said 87 per cent tunnelling has
been completed in the Mizoram project. Until March 2019, Rs 2,671 crore were
spent on the 51.38-km long rail link.
Cost escalation
For instance, the 110-km long broad gauge link connecting Jiribam to Imphal
in Manipur, was sanctioned in 2003-2004, but is yet to be completed. The
overall project cost has gone up a staggering 1900 per cent — from Rs 727
crore to Rs 13,809 crore. Until March 2019, the railways had spent Rs 8,487
crore on it.
In Nagaland, an 82.5-km rail link connectivity from Dimapur to Kohima was
sanctioned in 2006-07 at a cost of Rs 2,315 crore.
“The latest anticipated cost of the project is Rs 3000 crore and the work
speeded up from September 2018 and the expenditure of Rs 729 crore has
been incurred on the project upto March 2019,” the railway ministry said in its
statement in Parliament.
Work on the project is ongoing now to acquire 8.85 hectares, where there are
ownership disputes. The project will be completed in three years only after the
entire stretch of land is handed over to railways.
Such delays have slowed down projects in Meghalaya and Sikkim too.
Work on two rail link projects in Meghalaya, which were sanctioned in 2006-
07 and 2010-11 respectively, is moving slowly because of land acquisition
disputes.

10. A 44-km rail link project in Sikkim, sanctioned in 2008-09, has also got
affected due to a massive delay on the part of West Bengal government to hand
over forest land. The rail line will pass through Bengal and a sizeable chunk of
land that falls in the state has to be handed over to railways. The project will
take three years to complete once railways gets the entire land.

11. DEVELOPMENT AFTER BROAD GAUGE IN NORTH EAST INDIA
Itanagar, the capital of Arunachal Pradesh, the ‘Frontier State’ in the
easternmost part of India, is on the verge of being integrated into the Indian
Railways network through a 33 km broad gauge line laid between Harmuti and
Naharlagun. The first trial engine run was conducted successfully last week.
This project will be reinforced with the gauge conversion of the 510 km Rangia
– Murkongselek line running along the North Bank of the River Brahmaputra
(predominantly in Assam, with some works in Arunachal Pradesh). A critical
part of this link, the 172 km Rangpara – North Lakhimpur stretch, which is
being tapped to connect Itanagar, has been accorded top priority. Besides, the
crucial double-decker Rail cum Road Bogibeel Bridge project connecting the
South and North Banks near Dibrugarh, promises unprecedented potential of
propelling regional development.
Hitherto, a compelling argument has been made regarding India’s lack-lustre
performance vis-à-vis China in the Arunachal Pradesh equation. The prime
force upholding India’s sovereignty over Arunachal Pradesh is the democratic
mandate exercised by the ‘citizens’. Railway integration would strategically
leverage the sovereign claim – the network unarguably being the bloodstream
of the nation. The development would induce faster progress on all other
fronts – infrastructural, industrial, agricultural and socio-economic. This
project is an essential prerequisite for India to advantageously exploit the
Stilwell Road (Ledo Road – connecting India (Assam, Arunachal Pradesh) to
China’s Kunming through Myanmar’s Myitkyina) vis-à-vis China.
The case being made against the road was the fear that ‘expansionist’ China
might overwhelm the North East market through the route, while playing a
military aggressor in case of a conflict. “The post-1962 war psychosis —if we
build roads into the Northeast, it might be a potential security threat —is one
that has to go away.” Comprehensive capacity building led by the ‘railway
engine’ would go a long way in balancing the scale.
At the very core is the larger agenda that combines development, welfare,
empowerment and strategy. The North East Frontier railway network
comprises a route length of merely 2600 km, of which 1454 km is on the broad
gauge (mostly within Assam) and the remaining on the metre gauge. The
strategy behind the national projects is based on expeditious linking of every
State capital with the network, which would be enhanced through gauge
conversion and double lining, wherever viable. Besides Arunachal Pradesh,
capitals of Meghalaya, Manipur, Nagaland, Mizoram and Sikkim are to be
networked. For this objective, there are several projects either in planning or
in implementation stages.

12. The 30 km Azra-Byrnihat link is the first step to rail connectivity to
Meghalaya’s capital Shillong (further 60 km). Another crucial link, the 20 km
Dudhnoi-Mendipathar line in the Garo Hills, in the works for about two
decades, has been reported at over 70 per cent completion, with crucial bridge
constructions achieved. The trial run, similarly, is scheduled for March 2014.
This project is said to trump the predominant law & order and insurgency
problems in the Garo Hills Region.
The 98 km Jiribam-Imphal link connects the Manipur’s capital to the network –
thereby reducing the need for road transit from Dimapur Railway Station
across the troubled Manipur-Nagaland border. The 88 km long Dimapur-Zubza
link would connect the Nagaland’s capital Kohima to the network. Nagaland
CM Neiphiu Rio recently visited New Delhi to push for expediting the project.
The 51 km Katakhal (near Silchar)-Bhairabi-Sairang link, planned for
completion by mid-2014, would be further developed to reach Mizoram’s
capital Aizawl (gauge conversion for the Katakhal-Bhairabhi link was planned
to be taken up along with that of the Lumding-Silchar link).
Scaling up connectivity in southern Assam near Tripura and Mizoram, through
the gauge conversion of the 368 km Lumding-Silchar-Kumarghat link (and
further linking the Southern border town of Sabroom via capital Agartala) is
being prioritised to revive the large scale trade and commodity transportation
using the Chittagong port, to the level of a win-win India – Bangladesh
partnership.
The 53 km Sivok-Rangpo line, further extending another 60 km to capital
Gangtok, is crucial, given the near complete dependence of Sikkim on peace in
the Darjeeling valley; the State often gets cut-off due to turmoil situations.
The Union Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs may have by now cleared
the proposal for Foreign Direct Investment in Railways’ green field Freight
Corridor and High-Speed Lines projects. There is a compelling case for
bringing FDI proposals, at least through Public-Private Partnership mode
(considering National Interest imperatives) to the North East Frontier Railway
(NEFR) National Projects.
The entire scheme, if achieved in a timely manner, would possibly achieve
what decades of politico-administrative soft power and military hard power
struggled to – bring about peace and economic development in a region
embroiled in protracted ethnic conflicts. But to realise this vision well in time,
New Delhi needs to get its act right. As some observers as asserted, we
suffer from a perpetual ‘implementation bug’. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
during a recent meeting with the region’s State Chief Ministers (to review the

13. infrastructural progress in the region), issued instructions to newly constitute
a Monitoring Committee under the Planning Commission to ensure expeditious
and disciplined implementation of these projects. Time and cost overruns due
to contract and work indiscipline represent a vicious circle.
As per reports released by the authorities, land acquisition isn’t a significant
issue in the case of Railway projects. Yet, a diverse plains region cut through
by dense forests and river streams, and a very challenging hill terrain, makes
it an engineering mega-task. Besides, the very approach to Environmental
Impact Assessment and Clearance needs to undergo transformation, with a
more positive policy and strategic agenda, rather than a characteristic
monitoring and ‘clearing’ role – which perpetually drifts into an activist mode
upholding the anti-development thesis.
Security issues and violence (evident from the latest spurt of desperate
attempts by insurgent groups operating under the Bodo, Kamtapuri, Garo,
A’chik, Naga, Kuki, Kangleipak and Twipra banners) threaten with continuous
disruption. The project in the Garo Hills region has already suffered several
sabotages through erratic attacks and kidnappings for ransom.
A robust public-opinion building exercises is essential to induce a sustained
policy push through a popular pro-development surge. The collective concern
shown by the State Chief Ministers – thus challenging the predominant view of
an inter-state disharmony – must be capitalised on. The North East Council’s
potential to notch up a joint Union – States effort to streamline project
implementation, especially at inter-state borders (a typical case being Assam
– Arunachal Pradesh disagreements) can be fully realised through this
scheme.
The Railways have a special advantage of a unified command structure, with
the NEFR undertaking the projects, unlike road sector development with
multi-tier agencies (Border Roads Organisation, State Public Works
Departments, etc.) overlapping jurisdictions, often resulting in inordinate
stalling. This mission can truly be the growth engine to pull together all other
developmental imperatives for the North East Region in particular and India in
general.