INTRODUCTION

Indian Railways is an Indian state-owned enterprise, owned and operated by the Government

of India through the Ministry of Railways. It is one of the world's largest railway networks

comprising 115,000 km (71,000 mi) of track over a route of 65,436 km (40,660 mi) and

7,172 stations. In 2014-15, IR carried 8.397 billion passengers annually or more than 23

million passengers a day (roughly half of whom were suburban passengers) and 1050.18

million tons of freight in the year. In 2014–2015 Indian Railways had revenues of 1634.50

billion (US$26 billion) which consists of 1069.27 billion (US$17 billion) from freight and

402.80 billion (US$6.3 billion) from passengers tickets.

Railways were first introduced to India in the year 1853 from Bombay to Thane. In 1951 the

systems were nationalised as one unit, the Indian Railways, becoming one of the largest

networks in the world. IR operates both long distance and suburban rail systems on a multi-

gauge network of broad, metre and narrow gauges. It also owns locomotive and coach

production facilities at several places in India and are assigned codes identifying their gauge,

kind of power and type of operation. Its operations cover twenty nine states and seven union

territories and also provides limited international services to Nepal, Bangladesh and Pakistan.

Indian Railways is the world's seventh largest commercial or utility employer, by number of

employees, with over 1.307 million employees as of last published figures in 2013 . As for

rolling stock, IR holds over 239,281 Freight Wagons, 62,924 Passenger Coaches and 9,013

Locomotives (43 steam, 5,345 diesel and 4,568 electric locomotives). The trains have a 5

digit numbering system and runs 12,617 passenger trains and 7421 freight trains daily. As of

31 March 2013, 20,884 km (12,977 mi) (31.9%) of the total 65,436 km (40,660 mi) route

length was electrified.[7] Since 1960, almost all electrified sections on IR use 25,000 Volt AC

traction through overhead catenary delivery.

The above stated facts give rise to the question this study is trying to answer – what makes

Indian Railways ‘The Life Line of India’.

HISTORY OF THE ORGANISATION

The history of rail transport in India began in the mid-nineteenth century. The core of the

pressure for building Railways In India came from London. In 1848, there was not a single

kilometre of railway line in India. The country's first railway, built by the Great Indian

Peninsula Railway (GIPR), opened in 1853, between Bombay and Thane.[8] A British

engineer, Robert Maitland Brereton, was responsible for the expansion of the railways from

1857 onwards. The Allahabad-Jabalpur branch line of the East Indian Railway had been

opened in June 1867. Brereton was responsible for linking this with the GIPR, resulting in a

combined network of 6,400 km (4,000 mi). Hence it became possible to travel directly from

Bombay to Calcutta.

By 1875, about £95 million were invested by British companies in India guaranteed railways.

By 1880 the network had a route mileage of about 14,500 km (9,000 mi), mostly radiating

inward from the three major port cities of Bombay, Madras and Calcutta. By 1895, India had

started building its own locomotives, and in 1896, sent engineers and locomotives to help

build the Uganda Railways.

In 1900, the GIPR became a government owned company. The network spread to the modern

day states of Ahom Kingdom, Rajputhana and Madras Presidency and soon various

autonomous kingdoms began to have their own rail systems. In 1905, an early Railway Board

was constituted, but the powers were formally vested under Lord Curzon. It served under the

Department of Commerce and Industry and had a government railway official serving as

chairman, and a railway manager from England and an agent of one of the company railways

as the other two members. For the first time in its history, the Railways began to make a

profit.

In 1907 almost all the rail companies were taken over by the government. The following

year, the first electric locomotive made its appearance. With the arrival of World War I, the

railways were used to meet the needs of the British outside India. With the end of the war, the

railways were in a state of disrepair and collapse.

In 1920, with the network having expanded to 61,220 km (38,040 mi), a need for central

management was mooted by Sir William Acworth. Based on the East India Railway

Committee chaired by Acworth, the government took over the management of the Railways

and detached the finances of the Railways from other governmental revenues.

The period between 1920 and 1929, was a period of economic boom; there were 41,000 mi

(66,000 km) of railway lines serving the country; the railways represented a capital value of

some 687 million sterling; and they carried over 620 million passengers and approximately

90 million tons of goods each year. Following the Great Depression, the railways suffered

economically for the next eight years. The Second World War severely crippled the railways.

Starting 1939, about 40% of the rolling stock including locomotives and coaches was taken to

the Middle East, the railways workshops were converted to ammunitions workshops and

many railway tracks were dismantled to help the Allies in the war. By 1946, all rail systems

had been taken over by the government.

On 23 April 2014, Indian Railways introduced a mobile app system to track train schedules.

START OF INDIAN RAILWAYS

Following independence in 1947, India inherited a decrepit rail network. About 40 per cent of

the railway lines were in the newly created Pakistan. Many lines had to be rerouted through

Indian territory and new lines had to be constructed to connect important cities such as

Jammu. A total of 42 separate railway systems, including 32 lines owned by the former

Indian princely states existed at the time of independence spanning a total of 55,000 km.

These were amalgamated into the Indian Railways.

In 1952, it was decided to replace the existing rail networks by zones. A total of six zones

came into being in 1952. As India developed its economy, almost all railway production units

started to be built indigenously. The Railways began to electrify its lines to AC. On 6

September 2003 six further zones were made from existing zones for administration purpose

and one more zone added in 2006. The Indian Railways has now sixteen zones.

In 1985, steam locomotives were phased out. In 1987, computerization of reservation first

was carried out in Bombay and in 1989 the train numbers were standardised to four digits. In

1995, the entire railway reservation was computerised through the railway's internet. In 1998,

the Konkan Railway was opened, spanning difficult terrain through the Western Ghats. In

1984 Kolkata became the first Indian city to get a metro rail system, followed by the Delhi

Metro in 2002, Bangalore's Namma Metro in 2011 and the Mumbai Metro and Mumbai

Monorail in 2014. Many other Indian cities are currently planning urban rapid transit

systems.

THE GROWTH OF INDIAN RAILWAYS

The railways were introduced in the country in 1853 by the British almost immediately after

it appeared in England. From a modest beginning of 53 kms between Mumbai and Thane, the

railways have made a long journey and emerged as the principal mode of transport in the

country. After Independence, the railways of the country were totally integrated and brought

under the unified management of the Railway Board. Today, the Indian Railways (IR) has a

network spread over 63,000 route kms and 7000 stations throughout the length and breadth of

the country. It carries 12 million passengers and more than 1.2 million tonnes of freight daily,

accounting roughly for 40 per cent of the freight and 2- per cent of the passenger traffic in the

country.

    These figures, however, mask the true significance of IR’s role in the Indian economy

which is crucially dependent on it for transport requirements of the core sectors, long-

distance travel of the people from one far corner of the country to another and suburban

travel. IR also accounts for 8.5 per cent of the organised employment of the country either

directly or indirectly.

This section shall have an analysis of the growth of the Indian railways as an organisation and

its trajectory since the period of independence ( ever since the railways got the autonomy in

its management from the British). Also it shall deal with the future prospects of and vision of

the Indian railways.

The organisation structure of indian railways is as follows :

1947-1959

IR History started in 1948 with acute shortage of hardware and the partition and much of the

first decade was spent in trying to bring the mess together. Definite plans were put down to

modernize the railways with better rolling stock, locomotives and other systems. In 1949 the

Chittaranjan Locomotive Works was founded to produce steam locomotives and an

agreement was signed with Swiss Car and Elevator Co. of Schlieren-Zurich, Switzerland, for

all-steel coaches (the design is still in use today) which would be the best in the World at that

time in design and technology. This lead to the establishment of the Integral Coach Factory

(ICF) in Perambur, Madras in 1953. Initially the decision was to invest in stream traction and

to overcome loco shortage around 1000 WP locos (Vulcan Foundry), Diesel locomotives for

all gauges (YDM-1, ZDM-1, NDM-1) and EMU units were imported from UK and Italy

between 1948 and 1956 and several all-second class Janata Expresses were started, five of

which survive today, one in its original form (Howrah – Rajgir Janata Exp). But

establishment of standards were not fast enough. Spurred by the Ariyalur disaster, the

Railways started modernization programs at breakneck speed and many decisions that would

shape the Railways in the future like the adoption of 25kV AC traction for electrification and

Zonal grouping of the Railways were made during this time. Hundreds of kilometers of new

line were laid and around 2000 km of line was electrified in 5 years as the decision was taken

to switch to electric traction aggressively. New BG locomotives (WCM-1 and 2, WDM-1

imported from ALCO, USA, and WAM-1) were acquired, but almost all traction was on

steam.

1960 – 1969

The early 1960s were probably the best times the Indian Railways had seen before 2000,

when the network was spanking modern with state-of-the-art locomotives, (comparatively)

fast trains, new world-class rolling stock and good service. Electrification was progressing at

a rapid pace, DLW was founded and started producing MG diesels, TELCO was producing

Shunters, ICF was running on full steam and would produce EMUs and MG coaches in

addition to BG coaches, Golden Rock Workshops started producing Wagons and CLW

started producing electric locos (including WAG-1s) and diesel shunters, while production of

steam declined. The initial orders of “India’s Diesel Workhorse” WDM-2 were delivered by

ALCO in 1962 and by the end of the decade DLW was mass-producing them. The railways

had decided to do away with steam altogether by then in favor of electric and diesel.

Vestibuling of long distance trains, introduction of electric color-light signals and Long-

Welded Rails were all introduced during this time. Tests were conducted for trains to run

upto 160 kph in 1963! and many trains were dieselized. But most of these developments

happened before 1965. In the aftermath of the Indo-China war the mood of the nation

became somber and socialist-nationalization caught hold, squeezing the Railways out of its

ambitious expansion and modernization plans. Still, several long-distance Air-Conditioned

trains and “Super Expresses” were introduced along with several different types of classes

and accommodation configurations. All those experiments culminated in the introduction of

the first Rajdhani Express which ran on March 3, 1969 between Howrah and New Delhi. By

this time, around 3500 route kilometers were electrified. This decade was also the one where

the Indian Railways added the most new track since independence, with around 3500 km of

new track being laid.

1970 – 1979

The 1960s were a time of great progress for IR in terms of new locomotives, electrification

and upgradation of speed. But that momentum of technological advancement could not be

maintained for long and the railways started languishing in the dark ages. From the early

1970s till the late 1980s except for a brief period from 1977-78 to 1981, there was no

advancement whatsoever for the railways as various governments were stuck in socialist

quagmires and the economy of the country stagnated. Between the WCAM-1 of 1975 and the

WAG-5 of 1988, there were no new major non-Shunter locos rolled out in this period except

the WAP-1 of 1980. The only major decision that were taken during this period was the

formation of CORE to aggressively electrify all feasible routes in India. The WCAM-1 (Dual

AC and DC current locos) were one of the greatest achievements of this era and steam

production stopped with the last steam engine rolling out of CLW in 1975. They continued

trying to bring about “equality among classes” by making classless trains like the New Delhi

– Ernakulam/Mangalore Jayanti Janata Express, Gitanjali Express, Himgiri Express etc, all of

which failed. But the highlight of the late 1970s was IR’s continued experiments with

accommodation classes. Second (old Inter) Class was abolished and Third Class was renamed

Second Class. Many unconventional formats like sleeper-cum-sitting, AC/non-AC

composite, First Class/Second Sitting composites etc were tried out but later abandoned. AC

2-Tier coaches however, became widespread. By the end of the 1970s train structures and

running methods were overhauled with colonial-era coaches being rapidly replaced by newer

“Integral” ones. Madhu Dandavate, the then Railway minister was the brainchild behind

much of these reforms is considered the real “modernizer” of the Indian Railways as we see it

today, his greatest achievement being the “two inches of foam” he put on the wooden berths

and seats of the Second Class.

1980 – 1989

The most visible development of the 1980s was the formation of CORE resulting in rampant

electrification of lines across the country. Around 4500 route kilometers of track was

electrified between 1980 and 1990! But Indian Railways’ most ambitious and high-tech

project which would propel IR into the future was taking shape behind screens. From 1980 to

1990, IR laid the foundations of what would become one of the most complicated and biggest

real-time database systems in the World: The Indian Railways Online Passenger Reservation

System. It started as standalone computer reservation system in 1985 for some trains at Delhi,

then at Madras, Bombay, Calcutta and Secunderabad. However, both these projects pushed

though because of individual interest more than concerted efforts. The pathbreaking WAP-1

(1980) and WAG-5 (1988) locomotives were introduced in this decade and the first Shatabdi

started running between New Delhi and Jhansi and was later extended to Bhopal. But nothing

at all worthwhile happened from 1980 – 1985 as the country was still mired in the Hindu

Rate of Growth thanks to economic stagnation. Political upheavals of the 1980s also added to

it. A decade was lost for the Railways and for the country. Laying of new lines and expansion

of the network would be all but absent in 1980 with a miserable 300 km of lines on an

average being laid every year.

1990 – 1999

The decade of liberalization. The railways shook off its chains to launch itself on the path of

modernization with standardization of train configurations, country-wide introduction of

Sleeper and AC 3-tier (1994) classes in large numbers on all trains, wide upgradation to

Color-Signaling replacing Semaphore, elimination of steam traction altogether,

commencement of Project Unigauge with mass MG to BG conversions, the building and

opening of the Konkan Railway and the launch of the completely computerized pan-India

reservation system (now called CONCERT). Electrification continued unabated with 2500

km electrified per year, high-powered locomotives were introduced including the indigenous

5350 hp WAP4, the 5450 hp WAP5 and the most powerful loco in India, the 6350 hp WAG9.

Many trains could be speeded up and augmented with more coaches increasing carrying

capacity. But the 90s will also be remembered for being the decade when populism reared its

ugly head. From sometime in the early 1990s, the Railway Budget started to be used by

politicians as a tool for handing out goodies for geographies they prefer with no vision or

plan for the overall, long-term development of the Railways. Blatant misuse of these populist

powers have resulted in lopsided development and an unimaginative and directionless

2000-2012

One word: IRCTC. In one single shot, Indian Railways suddenly became accessible to

everyone and traveling by train suddenly became an infinitesimally lesser hassle. Even if you

don’t have an internet connection, you could approach any of the thousands of agents for a

ticket. The IRCTC website was what liberated the Indian Railways, though it got mired in its

own success and has like anything Indian, added another layer to the entire process today.

Almost all of IR’s Meter and Narrow Gauge routes have been converted to Broad Gauge and

most of the Railway’s trunk routes are electrified or are under the process of electrification (a

major exemption being the Konkan Railway). The recent past saw the introduction of the

hugely popular Garib Rath, Jan Shatabdi and Duronto Expresses and the LHB rakes.

Demanding and educated passengers have forced the railways to act in favor of passengers

and the stranglehold of babudom is slowly loosening. However, politicians with their petty

interests are running the Railways into the ground, and the disparate fare structure between

passenger and freight is not doing anything good for anyone. The ultimate WAP7 and the

Diesel powerhouses WDP4 and WDG4 were introduced along with LHB rakes for premium

trains. Railway patronage has risen to an all-time high with hundreds of special trains being

run every year and rarely a train does not go waitlisted. Still, IR is facing heavy losses and

frequent accidents with run-down rolling stock and crumbling infrastructure.organization.

The rate of accidents shot up with two of India’s biggest rail disasters – The Purushottam

Express tragedy and the Gaiswal disaster both happening in this decade.

2012- Present

Major Trends

1. There is a rapid increase in demand for urban mass transportation systems in the

country. Several metro rail projects are in progress to improve connectivity within

cities; the Delhi Metro has emerged as an internationally acclaimed venture.

2. Indian Railways (IR) launched mobile ticketing services in August 2011 to make the

ticket issuing process more efficient. Users can directly buy a ticket from their

mobiles that would be delivered to them through a non-transferable SMS.

3. IR has attracted increasing investments from overseas through strategic alliances

with various countries over the last few years. Subsidiaries of foreign companies are

being set up to cater to the huge demand offered by IR.

4. IR is planning to build seven high-speed rail corridors to provide faster rail

connectivity across the country. The trains will be capable of running at speeds up to

300 kilometres per hour.

Modernisation of Indian railways

To modernize Indian Railways, the focus is on two fundamental drivers - Safety and Growth

and along a five-pronged strategy

1. Modernise core assets - They are key revenue generating assets

2. Explore new revenue models - To meet the funding needs for modernisation and

growth

3. Review projects - To ensure financial viability, social benefits, and timely

implementation

4. Focus on enablers - For a holistic and long term approach to modernisation and

execution

5. Mobilize resources - To capitalise on an opportunity

PROBLEMS OF INDIAN RAILWAYS

Although Indian Railways have progressed a lot, both quantitatively and qualitatively, during

the last few years, this system is still plagued by a number of problems which require

immediate attention.

A lot has been done, but a lot more is yet to be done. Some of the major problems faced by

the Indian Railways are briefly discussed as under:

1. Safety:

Indian Railways have been in the news albeit for wrong reasons. With the rapid increase in

passenger and goods traffic, the frequency of train accidents is increasing very fast. This has

raised serious doubts in the public mind about safety of Rail travel and the general health of

the railway network.

The credibility of an organisation with a long and proud history of nation building seriously

eroded. In such a situation it is but natural to ask where the Railways are heading. On an

average the Railways report 20 major collisions, 350 derailments and around 80 level

crossing accidents in a year.

2. Cost and Revenue Problems:

As is the case with most of the government organisations, Indian Railways face chronic

financial crisis. The annual rate of increase in cost has overtaken that of revenues during the

last few years.

3. Low level of employee productivity:

Indian Railways face a serious problem of low level of employee productivity. Transport

output in terms of passengers and freight tonne kilometres per employee on Indian Railways

is only 400 as compared to 500 for Chinese and 570 for French Railways.

An estimated 30 per cent surplus workforce and operation of a number of lines with low

traffic and assets not essential for the Railways are contributory factors.

4. Social Burden:

Indian Railways have to play a dual role of revenue earning as well as meeting the social

obligations. The Expert Group, constituted in December 2008 to study the railway sector,

termed it as the ‘split personality’. On one hand, the Railways are seen as a commercial

organisation and on the other hand, it is treated as a social organisation which must perform

its social obligations.

The two functions are diametrically opposite and difficult to reconcile. There are several

social obligations on the railways which are always running below cost. Suburban passenger

services, concessionary travel to certain section of travellers, concessional freight movement

of certain commodities, particularly to remote and inaccessible areas like the North-east

region, providing rail services to backward regions are some of the outstanding social

obligations on the Indian Railways.

5. Other Problems:

A large number of miscellaneous problems include late running of trains, lack of passenger

facilities including cleanliness at the railway stations, lack of security arrangement on the

railways resulting in theft and dacoities, etc. Political pressure and interference is a very big

problem which the Indian Railways are facing with increasing impact. Several projects which

are not economically viable have been initiated for political considerations.

Indian Railways is cash strapped and reported a loss of 30,000 crores in the passenger

segment for the year ending March 2014. Operating Ratio, a key metric used by Indian

railways to gauge financial health, is 91.8% in the year 2014-15. Railways carry a social

obligation of over 20,000 crores ($3.5bn). The loss per passengerKM increased to 23 paise by

the end of March 2014. Indian Railways is left with a surplus cash of just INR 690crores

($115mn) by the end of March 2014. 

It is estimated that over 5 lakh crores (about $85 bn at 2014 exchange rates) is required to

complete the ongoing projects alone. Railways is consistently losing market share to other

modes of transport both in Freight and Passenger Segment.

New railway line projects are often announced during the Railway Budget annually without

securing additional funding for them. In the last 10 years, 99 New Line projects worth 60,000

crore were sanctioned out of which only one project is complete till date. In fact, there are 4

projects that are as old as 30 years, but are still not complete for one reason or another.[6]

Sanjay Dina Patil a member of the Lok Sabha recently accused that additional tracks, height

of platforms are still a problem and rise in tickets, goods, monthly passes has created an

alarming situation where common man is troubled.

FINANCING THE ORGANISATION

Railway Budget of India also referred as Rail Budget is the Annual Financial Statement of

the state Indian Railways, which handles rail transport in India. It is presented every year by

the Minister of Railways, representing the Ministry of Railways, in the parliament. The

Railway Budget is presented every year, a few days before the Union budget of India.

Union minister Sadananda Gowda is presenting his first Rail Budget in the Lok Sabha. Here

are the highlights:

* Indian railways to become the largest freight carrier in the world.

* Social obligation of Railways in 2013-14 was Rs 20,000 crore.

* Gross traffic receipts in 2013-14 was Rs 12, 35,558 crore; operating ratio was 94 per cent.

* Focus in past has been on sanctioning projects rather than completing them, Railway

minister says.

* Indian Railways spent Rs 41,000 crore on laying of 3,700 km of new lines in last 10 years.

* Fare revision will bring in Rs.8,000 crore; need another Rs.9,000 crore for golden

quadrilateral project.

* Railways also proposed to set up Food Courts at major stations.

* Need to explore alternative sources of resource mobilization and not depend on fare hike

alone.

* Spend 94 paisa of every rupee earned, leaving a surplus of only 6 paisa.

* With 12,500 trains, railways move 23 million passengers every day;

* Separate housekeeping wing at 50 major stations.

* CCTV to monitor cleanliness activities.

* Mechanized laundry will be introduced.

* Dedicated freight corridor on Eastern and Western corridors.

* 5400 unmanned level crossing removed.

* Tourist trains to be introduced to link all major places of tourist interests across the country.

* 4,000 women constables to be recruited to ensure safety of women. 17,000 RPF constables

to provide safety to passengers.

* Setting up of Railway University for technical and non-technical study.

* Ultrasonic system to detect problem in track.

* Proposal to start Bullet trains on Mumbai—Ahmedabad route. Speed of important trains

will be also raised.

* Diamond Quadrilateral project of high speed trains to connect all major metros.

* E-ticketing system to be improved. Future e-ticketing to support 7200 tickets per minute &

to allow 120,000 simultaneous users

* Wi-Fi in A1 and A category stations and in select trains. Internet-based platform and

unreserved tickets.

* GIS mapping and digitization of Railway Land. Extension of logistics support to various e-

Commerce Companies.

* Bulk of future projects will be financed through PPP mode.

* Facilitate transport of milk through rail. Special milk transportation trains in association

with Amul and National Dairy Association Board.

* One ticket to reach from Delhi to Srinagar. Uddhampur to Banihal by bus and Banihal to

Srinagar by train.

* Mumbai local to get 860 new, state-of-the art coaches. 64 new EMUs to be introduced.

* Train connectivity to Char Dham.

* Paperless office of Indian railways in 5 years. Digital reservation charts at stations.

* Ready-to-eat meals to be introduced in phased manners.

* 27 Express trains to be introduced.

* 5 Jansadharan, 5 Premium AC trains to be introduce.

Highlights of the Indian railways, 2015

The key themes of the Budget were in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's initiatives - Swachch Bharat Mission, Make in India and Digital India.

1 The most-expected part about this year's Railway Budget - there is no increase in passenger rail fares.

2Rs.8.5 lakh crore will be invested in Railways in next 5 years.

3 'Operation 5 mins', wherein passengers travelling unreserved can purchase a ticket in 5 minutes.

4 Bio toilets and airplane-type vacuum toilets in trains.

5 Surveillance cameras in select coaches and ladies compartments for women's safety without compromising on privacy.

6 Rail tickets can now be booked 120 days in advance.

7 Speed on nine railway corridors to go up to 200 km per hour.

8 Wi-Fi in more stations, mobile phone charging facilities in all train compartments.

9 Facility of online booking of wheelchair for senior citizens.

10 Satellite railway terminals in major cities.

11 Centrally managed Rail Display Network is expected to be introduced in over 2K stations over the next 2 years.

12 All India 24/7 helpline - 138 from March 2015; Toll free No.182 for security.

13 917 road under-bridges and over-bridges to be constructed to replace 3,438 railway crossings; at a cost of Rs. 6,581 crore.

14 Four Railway Research Centres to start in four universities.

15 Details about new trains and increased frequency will be announced later in this session of Parliament after review.

What is the investment plan?

The Railway Budget envisages an investment of Rs. 8.5 lakh crore in next five years.

How is it going to be mobilized?

The Minister suggested that the money could be raised from multiple sources - from multilateral development banks to pension funds.

What is the action plan in the sphere fund raising?

Go in for partnership with key stakeholders - States, PSUs, partner with multilateral and bi-lateral organizations other governments to gain access to long-term financing. Also, get technology from overseas. The private sector could be roped in to improve last-mile connectivity, expand fleet of rolling stock and modernize station infrastructure.

What is the thrust?

The thrust will be on revamping management practices, systems, processes, and re-tooling of human resources.

What is the proposal on capacity augmentation?

1. De-congesting networks with basket of traffic-generating projects will be the priority

2. Priority to last-mile connectivity projects

3. Fast-track sanctioned works on 7,000 kms of double/third/fourth lines

4. Commissioning 1200 km in 2015-16 at an investment of Rs. 8,686 crore, 84% higher Y-O-Y.

5. Commissioning 800 km of gauge conversion targeted in current fiscal.

6. 77 projects covering 9,400 km of doubling/tripling/quadrupling works along with electrification, covering almost all States, at a cost of Rs. 96,182 crore, which is over 2700% higher in terms of amount sanctioned.

7. Traffic facility work is a top priority with an outlay of Rs. 2374 crore.

8. Award of 750 km of civil contracts and 1300 km of system contracts in 2015-16 on Dedicated

9. Freight Corridor (DFC); 55 km section of Eastern DFC to be completed in the current year.

10. Preliminary engineering-cum-traffic survey (PETS) for four other DFCs in progress.

11. Acceleration of pace of Railway electrification: 6,608 route kilometers sanctioned for 2015-16, an increase of 1330% over the previous year.

HYPOTHESIS RESEARCH

A hypothesis is a proposed explanation for a phenomenon. Any hypothesis will enable

predictions by reasoning. It predicts the outcome of an experiment. On the basis of the above

discussion and through primary (questionnaires, telephonic interviews, etc.) and secondary

research (literature review) the following three hypothesis were developed including a null

and an alternative hypothesis. The null hypothesis refers to a general statement or default

position that there is no relationship between two measured phenomena. A statistical

hypothesis is an assumption about a population parameter. This assumption may or may not

be true. Hypothesis testing refers to the formal procedures used by statisticians to accept or

reject statistical hypotheses.

A statistical hypothesis is a scientific hypothesis that is testable on the basis of observing a

process that is modelled via a set of random variables.

A statistical hypothesis test is a method of statistical inference used for testing a statistical

hypothesis.

Statistical hypothesis testing is a key technique of both Frequentist inference and Bayesian

inference, although the two types of inference have notable differences. Statistical hypothesis

tests define a procedure that controls (fixes) the probability of incorrectly deciding that a

default position (null hypothesis) is incorrect. The procedure is based on how likely it would

be for a set of observations to occur if the null hypothesis were true. Note that this probability

of making an incorrect decision is not the probability that the null hypothesis is true, nor

whether any specific alternative hypothesis is true. This contrasts with other possible

techniques of decision theory in which the null and alternative hypothesis are treated on a

more equal basis.

One naive Bayesian approach to hypothesis testing is to base decisions on the posterior

probability but this fails when comparing point and continuous hypotheses. Other approaches

to decision making, such as Bayesian decision theory, attempt to balance the consequences of

incorrect decisions across all possibilities, rather than concentrating on a single null

hypothesis. A number of other approaches to reaching a decision based on data are available

via decision theory and optimal decisions, some of which have desirable properties.

Hypothesis testing, though, is a dominant approach to data analysis in many fields of science.

Extensions to the theory of hypothesis testing include the study of the power of tests, i.e. the

probability of correctly rejecting the null hypothesis given that it is false. Such considerations

can be used for the purpose of sample size determination prior to the collection of data.

Process of testing hypothesis-

1. The first step is to state the relevant null and alternative hypotheses. This is important

as mis-stating the hypotheses will muddy the rest of the process.

2. The second step is to consider the statistical assumptions being made about the

sample in doing the test; for example, assumptions about the statistical independence or about

the form of the distributions of the observations. This is equally important as invalid

assumptions will mean that the results of the test are invalid.

3. Decide which test is appropriate, and state the relevant test statistic.

4. Derive the distribution of the test statistic under the null hypothesis from the

assumptions. In standard cases this will be a well-known result. For example the test statistic

might follow a Student's t distribution or a normal distribution.

5. Select a significance level (α), a probability threshold below which the null hypothesis

will be rejected. Common values are 5% and 1%.

6. The distribution of the test statistic under the null hypothesis partitions the possible

values of T into those for which the null hypothesis is rejected—the so-called critical region

—and those for which it is not. The probability of the critical region is α.

7. Compute from the observations the observed value of the test statistic T.

8. Decide to either reject the null hypothesis in favour of the alternative or not reject it.

The decision rule is to reject the null hypothesis H0 if the observed value tobs is in the critical

region, and to accept or "fail to reject" the hypothesis otherwise.

There is an initial research hypothesis of which the truth is unknown.

The alternative hypothesis is the hypothesis used in hypothesis testing that is contrary to the

null hypothesis. It is usually taken to be that the observations are the result of a real effect.

The four hypothesis proposed are:

Ho Null Hypothesis(Negative aspect)

H1 Alternate Hypothesis(Positive aspect)

1. Ho - The current railway policies are ineffective.

H1 – The current railway policies are effective.

2. Ho – Railway services are unsatisfactory.

H1 – Railway services are satisfactory.

3. Ho – Most people do not depend on railways as inter-city travel.

H1 – Most people depend on railways as inter-city travel.

PRESENT HYPOTHESIS-

1. Ho - The current railway policies are ineffective.

H1 – The current railway policies are effective.

In order to bring about greater efficiency in administration, speedy implementation of on-

going projects, better customer care, reduction of workload on General Managers etc., Indian

Railways have decided to create seven new zones by territorial re-adjustment of existing

zones. The new zones, having limited financial burden on Railways, will have thin and lean,

efficient and modern administrative set up. Two of the new zones have already started

functioning.

With a view to complete strategically important projects within a stipulated period of time, a

non-budgetary investment initiative for the development of Railways has been launched..

Under the scheme all the capacity bottlenecks in the critical sections of the railway network

will be removed at an investment of Rs.15,000 crore over the next five years. These projects

would include:

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.

National Train Enquiry System" has been started in order to provide upgraded passenger

information and enquiries. This system provides the train running position on a current basis

through various output devices such as terminals in the station enquiries and Interactive

Voice Response System (IVRS) at important railway stations. So far the project has been

implemented at 98 stations.

Freight Operations Information System (FOIS) Computerisation of freight operations by

Railways has been achieved by implementing Rake Management System (RMS). Such FOIS

terminals are available at 235 locations

Railways have established their own intra-net ’Railnet’ It provides networking between

Railway Board, Zonal Headquarters, Divisional headquarters, Production Units, Training

Centers etc.

4. Accelerated completion of those projects nearing completion and other important projects.

TESTING HYPOTHESIS-

Therefore, assuming the significant level (α) to be 50% of the total population(76) that is 38,

which would be common for all the three hypothesis.

The number of people who believe that the current policy or the Railway budget of 2015 is

satisfactory is- 32 in number that is a little less than the significant level prescribed catering

to the null hypothesis requirement and so it is passed.

However, more than 50% of the population(39 in number) had no comments to give on the

Railway Budget.

It may be assumed that the population who had an idea about the budget is more or less

satisfied.

Current policy satisfaction

No clue Satisfied

2. Ho – Railway services are unsatisfactory.

H1 – Railway services are satisfactory.

Organizations and companies succeed, or fail, based on the quality and effectiveness of their

employees. Quality is one of the key parameters in order measure the performance of the

products or services and even it is one primary indicator to organizational performance. As

customer perception plays a significant role in order to measure service quality of the service

provider and hence the performance of the organization. It is also evident that superior

quality of services helps to gain customer satisfaction, loyalty, increased market share and

thus increased productivity and performance.

Indian railways are commonly referred to as the as “Provide what is better” “Promote what is

best” Preserve what is good”, by making movement of people and freight thought Indian at

large scale. Service quality can be described as a rationale of differences between expectation

and competence along the important quality dimensions. Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry

identified ten requirements useful for Passengers‟ evaluation of the quality of services:

reliability, responsiveness, tangibles, Information, Assurance, Empathy, Food plazas,

timeliness, understanding the Passengers and service accessibility.

Rail transport system is the main public transport system in India and is administered by the

Federal Government of India namely, Indian Railways. Rail transport system is connected

With all the major cities of the country. Rail transport system is aiding movement of the

people with lowest fare and the source of transportation from big cities like Delhi, Chennai,

Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore and Hyderabad. Especially on these routes, a number of

nonstop trains are operated in order to minimize the time and reduce the distances. According

to Annual reports of Indian Railways, it carries about 8500 Million passengers per day and

about 84,26 Lakhs passengers during the year of 2011-2012.

The Indian Rail transportation is gaining importance day by day. With the increase of

passengers, the Indian Railways has focused to extend its attention to satisfy the needs of

customers and made initiatives to improve the quality of service to enrich the satisfaction of

customers. Even though repeated attempt made by the Railways to improve the quality of

services. This reveals that, continuous, comprehensive, lengthy intentional performance and

attempts are essential to fill any service gaps.

We studied the satisfaction level of population on various aspects such as cleanliness,

availability of tickets, maintenance of stations and tracks, etc.

A high majority of people believe that the service offered in general are pretty unsatisfactory,

on an average only 4.5% find the services to be satisfactory.

Service satisfaction

0 20 40 60 80 100 120

Column1 Unsatifactory Satisfactory

Therefore, clearly null hypothesis holds applies in this case.

3. Ho – Most people do not depend on railways as inter-city travel.

H1 – Most people depend on railways as inter-city travel.

The Indian Railways is the world’s third largest rail network under a single management.

Indian Railways is a commonly used mode of public transportation in the country.

By the help of secondary sources we know that, during 2010-11, it carried 7,651million

passengers as against 7,246 million in 2009-10 thus registering a volume growth of 5.6%.

Passenger kilometres ,which is calculated by multiplying the number of journeys by mean

kilometric distance was 979 billion, up by 8.3% from 903billion in the previous year.

Passenger earnings also increased by 2,291.2 crore (9.8%) in comparison with 2009-10.

The trend of passenger traffic since 1950-51 till 2011 are shown below:

Hence, It may be believed that the dependency on railways of the citizens of the nation has

increased immensely over the years.

Alternate hypothesis holds true for this, rejecting the null hypothesis.

We also conducted a SWOT analysis-

SWOT ANALYSIS

Strength 1) Availability of abundant cheap land

for stations and tracts- essential for

potential development.

2) Lower level of damage of goods as

compared to other modes of transport.

3) Better connectivity across length and

breadth of India.

4) More carrying capacity of good-

cargo trains.

5) Largest commercial employer with

almost1.5million staff.

6) Transports over 6 billion passengers

and almost 750 million tons of freight

annually.

7) Approx. 1,20,000km of tracks and

around 8,000 stations spread over the

country.

Weakness 1) Passenger sector is loss making

2) Accidents & delays taint image

3) Facilities does not meet International

standards,even remotely.

Opportunity 1) It can capture large chunk of container

traffic by introducing block container

trains operating at passenger speeds.

2) Its 70% of revenue & most of its profits

come 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 the last 10 years.

4) Adopting new technologies for tracking

trains by signal and motion would make

the service operate better and would help

the trains be punctual.

1) Increase in allowable gross weight of

2) Possible introduction of double road

trailers.

3) High accident rates

The Competitors of railways are-

1) Public Transport; eg. Metros, buses, etc.

2) Airlines

3) Taxi Services

RESPONSES TO THE QUESTIONNAIRE

CONCLUSION

Railways have been an indispensible part of most of the citizens’ life. The Indian Railways is the third largest railway network in world.

This study reveals that the services offered by Indian Railways is unsatisfactory, most citizens (over 50%) of the country rely on railways for transport, the railways has a great potential for generation of employment and railways is a cheaper alternative to airways and waterways.

The study was conducted based on the hypothesis testing method and SWOT Analysis.

There has been a constant surge in the revenue from 1950-51 to 2010-11. Though with the new budget policies and the existing legislations, railways is supposed to gradually develop, contribute better to the welfare of the country and eventually reach the satisfaction level of all railway users.

Even at the most developed times, the services offered by the railways are mostly unsatisfactory however very essential- It is believed that railways may be able to improve in the future.

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