Indian Railways swiftly progressing on its transformational journey in the Year 2023

In the year 2023, Indian Railways has continued to usher into the era of modernization with modern stations, modern trains and modern technology. The year 2023 witnessed extraordinary progression of Indian Railways into various aspects, including Freight loading, freight revenue, rolling out of new Vande Bharat Trains, capex allocation, station redevelopment, Kavach implementation, laying of tracks, and electrification.

More Details:

During 2023, Indian Railways witnessed several records in terms of Freight loading, Freight revenue, capex allocation, laying of tracks and other infrastructure works. Some significant details are given below.

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.

Image Credit (representational): MoR

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 a 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 approximately 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.

Image Credit (representational): Konkan Railway

Record Electrification:

• 21,801 KM of broad gauge network was electrified until 2014.
• Total Broad Gauge (BG) network of 60,814 km has been electrified up to 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.

Image Credit (representational): Southern Railway

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 82 services.
• These trains cover up to 247 districts.

The introduction of these trains is heralding a new standard of rail service in the country:

Image Credit (representational): East Central Railway

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 is 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 modernise 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.

Image Credit (representational): MoR

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.

Image Credit (representational): MoR

• 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 the 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:

The Ministry of Railways observed Swachhata Pakhwada 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 were conducted during the period.
• Special focus on scrap disposal resulted in freeing up 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.

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 the 10000th Electric Locomotive on 20th December, 2023.
• Chittaranjan Locomotive Works manufactured the 12000th Electric Locomotive on 26th September, 2023.
• ICF manufactured the 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.

Image Credit (representational): MoR

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 Vistadome Linke 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 sections of IR.

Dedicated Freight Corridor on its way to completion:

• Before 2014 not a single KM of DFC was 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 trains running within specified speed limits by automatic application of brakes in case Loco Pilot fails to do so and also helps 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 centralised operation of points and signals have been provided at 6498 stations up to 31.10.2023.
• Interlocking of Level Crossing (LC) Gates has been provided at 11137 level Crossing Gates up to 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 up to 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, Prestressed Concrete Sleeper (PSC) Normal/Wide base sleepers with elastic fastening, fan shaped 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.
• Maximising 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, minimising 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 the 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 systems in newly manufactured Power Cars and Pantry Cars and Fire and Smoke detection systems 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, facilitating 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 the largest share of women (9%) in its ranks.
• During 2023, RPF has carried out various operations likeOperation “Nanhe Faristey” – 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.

The exceptional strides made by Indian Railways in 2023, underscores its commitment to embracing modernity and efficiency, contributing to the nation’s robust transformation network. These achievements reflect the railway’s dedication to meeting evolving demands and setting new benchmarks in the realm of rail transport.

Source: PIB- Press Release | Featured Image Credit (representational): MoR