Railway: A Mode Of Transportation

Introduction to Railway Engineering, History of Railway Engineering, Advantages & Disadvantages of Railways, Facts about Indian Railways

1. Railway: A Mode Of Transportation Kiranmoy Samanta

2. Contents Introduction History of Railways Railway: A Mode of Transportation Advantages of Railways Disadvantages of Railways

3. Introduction Amongst the different modes of transport, Railways have their greatest utilization in the transport of large volumes of heavy and bulk commodities and passengers over long distances with safety, comfort and convenience.

4. Indian R ailways Indian Railways is the largest railways network to be operated by a single government and is the world’s third largest network with a total length of 127,760 kms . Indian Railways owned the longest railway platform in the world at Kharagpur with a length of 2,733 feet. Now, breaking the record, Gorakhpur station has recently taken its place with a span of 4,430 feet.

5. Cont... Mathura junction has the maximum number of routes emerging from it. Srirampur and Belapur are two different stations in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra. They are both situated at the same point on the railway route, but are located on opposite sides of the track.

6. History Railways were first introduced to India in 1853 from Bombay to Thane The first passenger train ran between the two stations, covering a distance of 34km on April 16 1853. A British engineer, Robert Maitland Brereton, was responsible for the expansion of the railways from 1857 onwards.

7. Cont... The Allahabad-Jabalpur branch line of the East Indian Railway had been opened in June 1867 . In 1951 the systems were nationalised as one unit, the Indian Railways, becoming one of the largest networks in the world.

8. Cont... Indian Railways is the world's ninth largest commercial or utility employer, by number of employees, with over 1.4million employees. As of 31 March 2013, 23,541km (14,628mi) (36%) of the total 65,000km (40,000mi) km route length was electrified. Since 1960, almost all electrified sections on IR use 25,000 Volt AC traction through overhead catenary delivery.

9. Advantages It facilitate long distance travel and transport of bulky goods which are not easily transported through motor vehicles. It is a quick and more regular form of transport because it helps in the transportation of goods with speed and certainty.

10. Cont... It helps in the industrialization process of a country by easy transportation of coal and raw-materials at a cheaper rate. The carrying capacity of the railways is extremely large. Moreover, its capacity is elastic which can easily be increased by adding more wagons.

11. Disadvantages The railway requires a large investment of capital. The cost of construction and maintenance are very high. It routes and timings cannot be adjusted to individual requirements. Railway transport is unsuitable and uneconomical for short distances and small traffic of goods. It involves much time and labour in booking and taking delivery of goods through railways as compared to motor transport.