India has a large and diverse transportation system that is dominated by roads but also includes extensive rail and port networks. Road transportation carries the majority of passenger and freight traffic but the network has not kept up with increasing demand. Rail transportation is the largest in Asia, carrying over 15 million passengers daily. It faces challenges of congestion and outdated infrastructure. The government has implemented various initiatives to develop transportation infrastructure like the Golden Quadrilateral road project and dedicated freight corridors, but Indian transportation remains strained due to growing population and economic activity.

1. Transport
System In
India

2.  India’s transport sector is large and diverse.
 Since1990s, country’s growing economy has witnessed a rise in demand for transport infrastructure
and services by around 10% a year.
 However, the sector has not been able to keep pace with rising demand.
 Roads:
a) Dominant mode of transportation.
b) Carry almost 90% of the country’s passenger traffic and 65% of its freight.
c) Density of India’s highway network — at 0.66 km of highway per square kilometer of land.
 Railways:
a) The largest railway in Asia
b) Fourth most heavily used system in the world.
c) Carries over 15 million passengers a day.
d) It is one of the world’s largest employers.
 Ports:
a) India has 12 major and 140 minor ports along its vast coastline. These ports serve the country’s
growing foreign trade increasing movement of containers.
b) Inland water transportation remains largely undeveloped.
 Aviation:
a) India has 60 airports, including 12 international airports.
b)There has been dramatic increase in air traffic for both passengers and cargo in recent years.

3.  Road transport is vital to economic development, trade and social integration.
 Classification Of Roads
a) National Highways,
b) State Highways,
c) District Roads,
d) Village Roads
e) Border Roads
f) International Highways
g) Express Highways
 Developmental plans
 Nagpur Plan
 Twenty year Road Plan (Hyderabad Plan)
 Rural Development Plan - This includes the construction of roads under.
i) Minimum Needs Programme (MNP)
ii) Rural Landeless Employment Guarantee Programme (RLEGP)
iii) Jawahar Rojagar Yojana (JRY), and
iv) Command Area Development Programme (CADP)
 Central Road Fund (CRF) 1998
 Concept of Build operate Transfer (BOT)

4.  National Highways total length- 79,243 km.
 National Highways constitute only about 2 % of the road network, but it carries 40% of the total
road traffic.
 Major initiatives to upgrade and strengthen National Highways have been launched
through various phases of National Highways Development project (NHDP).
 A part of the fuel cess is imposed on petrol and diesel is allocated to the National
Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for funding the NHDP.
 Loans has also taken for financing projects under the NHDP from the World Bank, Asian
Development Bank and Japan Bank.
 National Highway Development Projects:
a) About 24% of the total length of National Highways (NHs) is single lane/intermediate
lane
b) About 51% is two-lane standard
c) 25% is four-lane standard or more.
 In 2012-13, the achievement under various phases of the National Highways
Development Project (NHDP) up to December 2012 has been about 1,605 km and
projects have been awarded for a total length of about 878 km.

5. Phases Total Length
in km
Date of Approval Approved Cost
(Expenditure till
31.10.2012) in Rs
Crore
Length
Completed in
km
Length under
Imp.
To be awarded
I
GQ,EW-NS corridors,
Port connectivity &
others
7,522* 12.12.2000 30,300
(39171.44)
7503 19 -
II
4/6-laning North South-
East West Corridor,
Others
6,647 18.12.2003 34,339
(56560.55)
5530 732 385
III A
Upgradation, 4/6-laning
4,815
^
05.03.2005,27.10.2006 &
12.4.2007
33,069 3270 1554 -
III B
Upgradation, 4/6-laning
7,294 12.4.2007 47,557 1092 4420 1782
Total phase III (phase
III A + III B)
12,109 - 80,626
(55482.02)
4362 5965 1782
IV
2 - laning with paved
shoulders
20,000 July -2008 for 5000 km 27,800
(1037.43) 18 3653
16329
V
6-laning of GQ and
High density corridor
6,500 05.10.2006 41,210
(19170.01) 1197 2883 2420
VI
Expressways
1000 02.11.2006 16,680
(11.24)
NIL NIL 1000
VII
Ring Roads, Bypasses
and flyovers and
other structures
700 km of ring
roads/ bypass +
flyovers
06.12.2007 16,680
(1289.70)
18 23 659

6.  High Density Network (HDN) that
connects the four metro cities of
Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai and
Mumbai, including the diagonals, is
popularly called the Golden
Quadrilateral.
 Though comprising only 16 % of the
network, it carries 65% of the freight
traffic and 55% of the passenger
traffic.
 The government has completed the
Golden Quadrilateral highways
project.

7.  Initiatives taken by the Government to expedite projects under NHDP
a) NHAI Board has approved formation of a High Level Expert Settlement Advisory
Committee for one-time settlement of old cases pending in courts.
b) Mode of engineering procurement and construction (EPC) contracts is being brought in as a
new initiative.
c) Decision to introduce passive radio frequency identification (RFID) based on electronic toll
collection.
d) NHAI has recently taken up award of select highway projects to private-sector players under
operate, maintain, and transfer (OMT) concession.
 Development of Roads in Left Wing Extremism-affected areas
• In 2009, the Road Requirement Plan (RRP) for upgrading of 1,126 km NHs and 4351 km state
roads (total 5,477 km) to two-lane at a cost of 7,300 crore in 34 districts affected by left-wing
extremism (LWE) in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh,
Maharashtra, Odisha, and Uttar Pradesh was approved.
• The Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (MoRT&H) entrusted with the responsibility of
developing these roads.
• Development of 1,960 km length had been completed up to December 2012 .
• The development of roads under the programme is scheduled to be completed by March 2015.
 Prime Minister's Reconstruction Plan for J&K
• Reconstruction Plan (PMRP) for Jammu and Kashmir was announced in 2004.
• Construction of Mughal Road, widening of Domel-Katra road (NH-1C), double-laning of
Batote-Kishtwar-Sinthanpass-Anantnag Road (NH-1B), upgrading of Srinagar-Uri Road (NH-
1A), construction of Khanabal--Pahalgam Road, construction of Narbal-Aangmarg Road and
double laning of Srinagar-Kargil-Leh Road (NH-1D) are the seven works under this project.

8.  Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojna
a) It was launched in 2000, with the objective of providing connectivity, through good All-weather
roads, to all unconnected Habitations, with a population of more than 500 persons, by the 2007.
b) A total of 3,66,789 km roads including up gradation have been constructed till December, 2012
and all-weather connectivity has been provided to 89,382 eligible habitations.
 Bharat Nirman- Rural Roads
a) As part of the programme, GOI intended to provide an all-weather road to every village of over
1000 population, or over 500 in Hilly and Tribal areas.
b) A total of 125548 km roads have been constructed and 221594 km have been upgraded till 2011.
All-weather connectivity has been provided to 39,952 eligible habitations.
 Special Accelerated Road Development Programme for North-East region (SARDP-NE):
a) Phase 'A‘ envisages improvement of about 4,099 km length of roads (2041 km of NH and 2058
km of State roads) to be completed March,2015.
b)Length completed during the calendar year up to November, 2012 is 114 km. Work in progress as
on 30th November, 2012 is 1494 km.
c) Phase 'B' of SARDP-NE, covering 3723 km (1285 km NHs and 2438 km of State roads) has been
approved for DPR preparation only and so far, DPRs for about 521 km have been completed (up to
30th November, 2012).

9. Indian roads are congested and of poor
quality
Poor accessibility to rural areas due to inadequate
number of all-weather roads
Road not well-maintained as there are no
timely repairs
Inefficient Management and Services by
operators
Undisciplined Driving and Accidents
Rising Prices of Petrol/Diesel
Heavy tax burden on motor transport
Little co-operation and co- ordination among
different states with regard to motor transport
Challenges
in Road
transportation

10. Strategies
Speed up the Environment and Forest
Clearances process
Better co-ordination for clearances of Railways for Rail
Over-Bridges and Rail Under-Bridges
Improve law and order situation
Improve performance of contractors
Better co-ordination with agencies for
shifting of Utilities
Speed up the Land acquisition procedure

11.  Indian Railways (IR) is the state-owned railway company of India, which owns and operates
the country's rail transport.
 Railways were first introduced to India in 1853 from Bombay to Thane.
 IR operates both long distance and suburban rail systems on a multi-gauge network of broad,
meter and narrow gauges.
 Indian Railways (IR) is one of the world’s largest rail networks with route length over 64,000
kms with running track length of over 87,000 kms.
 The total trackage including yards, sidings etc. stood at over 113,000 kms.
 Railways runs around 12,700 trains everyday, of which 12,000 are passenger trains.
 The number of passenger trains has increased from 8897 in 2001-02 to 12335 in 2011-12.
 Out of freight and passenger traffic, the freight segment accounts for about 70 % of revenue.
 Freight traffic by IR has been over 1000 million tonnes in 2012-13.
Year Route kms Running track kms Total track kms
Electrified Total Electrified Total Electrified Total
1950-51 388 53,596 937 59,315 1,253 77,609
2000-01 14,856 63,028 27,937 81,865 36,950 108,706
2010-11 19,607 64,460 36,000 87,040 49,489 113,993

12.  UNESCO World Heritage Sites
a) The Darjeeling Himalaya Railway in West Bengal
b) The Nilgiri Mountain railway in the Nilgiri Hills in Tamil Nadu
c) The Kalka Shimla railway in the Shivalik Mountains in Himachal Pradesh.
 IR is classified by Zones-
(i) Central, (ii) Eastern, (iii) Northern, (iv) North Eastern, (v) Northeast Frontier, (vi) Southern, (vii) South
Central, (viii) South Eastern, (ix) Western. (x) East Coast, (xi) East Central, (xii) North Central, (xiii)
North Western, (xiv) South Western,
(xv) South East Central and (xvi) West Central
 The Indian Railways are also classified by Gauges as Broad (1.676m.), Metre (1.000m) and Narrow
(0.762m. & 0.610m).
Gauge Single line Double/multiple line Grand total
Electrified Non-
electrified
Total Electrified Non-electrified Total
Broad (1676 mm) 5,242 30,723 35,965 14,365 4,858 19,223 55,188
Meter (1000 mm) ---- 6,809 6,809 ----- ------ ---- 6,809
Narrow(762mm/
610 mm)
----- 2,463 2,463 ----- ---- ---- 2,463
Total 5,242 39,995 45,237 14,365 4,858 19,223 64,460

13.  Eastern and Western Dedicated Freight Corridors (DFC) are a mega rail transport project to increase
transportation capacity, reduce unit costs of transportation, and improve service quality.
a) Eastern DFC extends from Dankuni near Kolkata to Ludhiana in Punjab (1839 Kms).
b) Western DFC extends from the Jawahar Lal Nehru Port (JNPT) in Mumbai to Dadri /Rewari near
Delhi (1499 km).
 Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Limited has been set up to implement the project.
 Status of project
 Construction Work Progress:
 Eastern Corridor:
(i) Mughalsarai – Sonnagar section
• Work of formation and bridges under progress – 94% completed.
• Contracts for track work of 66 kms section of Mughalsarai-Sonnagar awarded. System tender awarded
in May, 2013.
(ii) Khurja-Kanpur section (343 km): Contract for Civil, Structure & Track works awarded and
contract agreement signed in March, 2013.
 Western Corridor:
 Construction works of 54 major and important bridges in Vaitarna – Bharuch section of Western
DFc in progress. 21 major bridges completed.
 Rewari-Iqbalgarh (626 km): Contract for Civil & Track Package awarded in June, 2013.

14.  National Rail Vikas Yojana
 It is a non-budgetary investment initiative launched in 2002. These projects includes-
1.Strengthening of the golden Quadrilateral to run more long-distance mail/express and freight trains at
a higher speed of 100 kmph.
2.Strengthening of rail connectivity to ports and development of multi-modal corridors to hinterland.
3.Construction of four mega bridges - two over River Ganga, one over River Brahmaputra, and one
over River Kosi.
4.Accelerated completion of those projects nearing completion and other important projects.
 Steps towards Safety and Security
 Security of railway passengers is at present a shared responsibility of the Railway Protection Force
(RPF) and the Government Reserve Police (GRP).
 Constitution of Rs.17,000 crore non-lapsable Special Railway Safety Fund (SRSF).
 Replacement of a number of distressed bridges, old tracks, signalling system and other safety
enhancement devices.
 Extensive field trials of the Anti-Collision Device (ACD).
 The Computerised Unreserved Ticketing System (UTS) was made available by November 2012.
 About 250 additional automatic ticket-vending machines (ATVMs) were commissioned during 2012-
13
 Freight Operation Information System (FOIS)- It gives an account of all demands, number of
loads/rakes/trains and their pipelines, freight locos, and stock at aggregate level.

15.  Kisan Vision Project
 To encourage setting up of cold storage and temperature-controlled perishable cargo centres through PPP
mode, logistics based PSUs including the Container Corporation of India Limited, Central Warehousing
Corporation, and Central Rail-side Warehouse Company Limited will provide infrastructure at six Indian
Railways locations under a pilot project--the Kisan Vision Project.
 Of the six locations, Singur (West Bengal) and Nasik (Ojhar in Maharashtra) are in operation, while New
Jalpaiguri (West Bengal), Dankuni (West Bengal), and New Azadpur (Adarsh Nagar, Delhi) are under
process.
 High-speed passenger trains
 Seven corridors have been identified for conducting pre-feasibility studies for running high-speed trains
(popularly referred to as bullet trains) at speeds above 350 kmph.
 These corridors will be set up through PPP route.
 For Mumbai-Ahmedabad corridor, the pre-feasibility study has been completed.
 Study is also being done on the Delhi-Mumbai route for running semi-high speed trains (200 kmph).
 Induction of LHB Coaches
 Linke Holfmann Busch (LHB) coaches have been inducted in about 14 Rajdhani, 12 Shatabdi, and 11 AC
Duronto services till December 2012.
 Introduction of bio-toilets
 Indian Railways along with DRDO has developed environment-friendly bio-toilets for its passenger
coaches.
 Eight trains are running with 436 bio toilets.
 A complete switch-over to bio-toilets in new coaches has been planned by 2016-17

16. Challenges
before Indian
Railways
Need for capacity building
Infrastructure related challenges
Need to develop dedicated lines separately for
passengers and freight movement
Safety issues
Old Track and Poor State of Rolling Stock
Passengers travelling without Tickets
Railway Accidents
Lack of Modern technology
Inadequate Investment
Competition with Road Transport

17.  Development of capability in Railways.
 Improving energy efficiency and reducing carbon footprints.
 Modernization of Indian Railways.
 Strategies to generate resources by identifying
a)segments where a low-cost policy based on high volumes and economies
of scale can be adopted.
b) segments where differentiation approach by providing high quality services
and command premium prices can be adopted.
 Greater focus on improving safety record of Railways.

18.  India has about 5,600 km of main coastline.
 About 95% of India’s trade by volume and 68% in terms of value is transported by sea.
 There are12 major ports and 185 minor & intermediate ports.
 Major ports are the direct responsibility of the Central Government.
 Major Ports
a) West coast- Kandla, Mumbai, Marmgoa, New Mangalore, Kochi & Jawaharlal Nehru Port
(of Navi Mumbai).
b) East coast- Kolkota - Haldia, paradip, Vishakhpatnam, Chennai, Tuticorin.
 Minor & intermediate ports are managed and administered by the respective maritime state
governments. These ports handle 24% of the total traffic.
 The total capacity of Indian ports has reached approximately 1245.3 million tonnes by March
2012.
 India had a fleet strength of 1158ships with GT of 10.45 million.
 Shipping Corporation of India have the largest share of 32.60% in this fleet strength.
 356 ships with 9.37 million GT cater to India’s overseas trade and the rest to coastal trade.
 Inland Water transport accounts for only 0.15% of domestic transportation.
 Port sector has been opened to private sector participation to improve efficiency, productivity
and quality of services and competitiveness.

23. Indian roads are congested and of poor
quality
Rural areas have poor accessibility due
to inadequate number of all-weather
roads
Indian railways are facing severe
capacity constraints
Urban centers are severely congested
Ports are congested and inefficient
Airport infrastructure is strained
Challenges