Infrastructure - Railways

Indian Railways is the second largest system in the world under a single management, with an extensive network of 62,725 kilometers, 21.5 percent of which is electrified. Indian Railways operates an extensive network. It ranks second in the world (after China) in terms of freight intensity, track to land ratio, wagons to track ratios, passengers and cargo. Freight traffic carried in IFY 1997-98 was 430 million tons, up 5.5 percent over the previous year. The target for IFY 1998-99 is 450 million tons and an annual growth rate of 7.4 percent has been projected for the next five years. Indian Railways has launched a program to reduce terminal delays and turn around time of its rolling stock. The program aims at increasing freight carrying capacity by 50 percent through continual usage of wagons. Indian Railways is also soliciting private sector participation in freight movement through a Build-Own-Operate-Transfer (BOOT) scheme and a Own-Your-Wagon-Scheme (OYWS).

Thrust areas identified for improvements and expansion include:

• Replacement and renewal of over-aged assets,
• Augmentation of terminal and rolling stock capacities,
• Gauge conversion and electrification,
• Introduction of new routes and long distance special parcel services.