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DAILY NEWS ANALYSIS

  • 07 January, 2024

  • 5 Min Read

Indian Railways in 2023 – Year Review

The Performance of Indian Railways in 2023 showed significant strides in infrastructure but reveals underwhelming freight loading and financial performance.

How Indian Railways performed in 2023?

  • Near completion of DFC – Dedicated Freight Corridors are nearing completion with more than 200 freight trains already running on the corridors.

Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC)

  • It is one of the largest rail projects to date in India.
  • Aim – To provide a seamless freight transportation between eastern, northern and western India.
  • Executed by – Indian Railways
  • Implemented by – Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Limited (DFCCIL), a subsidiary of the Indian Railways.
  • Arms
    • Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor (EDFC)
    • Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (WDFC)
  • Route - It passes along the eastern and western arms of the Golden Quadrilateral, the national highway network connecting Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai.
  • Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL) – It is symbolic for connectivity and seamless integration of J&K with India.
  • But its poor progress reflects on IR’s credentials in executing and implementing large projects.
  • Delhi-Srinagar train – The 1st train is expected to run sometime next summer.
  • High-Speed Rail project – It was mooted in 2014 between Mumbai and Ahmedabad, intending to complete it by 2021.
  • But the goal post kept shifting, however, due to non-cooperation between the Centre and Maharashtra governments and is expected to be operational by 2028-29.
  • Vande Bharat– It was success with large-scale deployment from a mere 6 at the year start and with nearly 50 trains at the end.
  • It showed that there is the space for fast and comfortable trains even with higher fare.
  • But some of the trains were deployed on political merit and some run with poor occupancy.
    • Example: Bhopal-Jabalpur and Bhopal-Indore fail to cut travel time.
  • The sleeper version is badly-delayed.
  • Railway tracks – Delay in upgrading the tracks for higher speeds.
    • Work on raising the speed of Delhi-Howrah and Delhi-Mumbai sections to 160 kmph has seen tardy progress.
  • Safety Issues – On safety front, Indian railways has shown improvement in the last 5 years with the closure of all unmanned railway crossings and improvements in track maintenance.
  • However, the Balasore accidentdented IR’s safety record and was followed by at least 4 more accidents with fatalities and injuries.
    • Delhi-Kamakhya Express derailment near Buxar.
    • Fire cases in Patalkot Express near Agra and Delhi-Darbhanga Superfast Express near Etawah.
    • Collision of two trains near Vizianagaram.
  • Financial performance – The rail freight and total revenue is only between 3-4%, leaving no surplus for investments, thus increased reliance on the Centre for the same.
    • In an economy growing nearly 7%, one would expect rail freight and total revenue to expand at a minimum of 10%.
  • Dismal roll-out of IRMS – Indian Railway Management Service at the entry level is the lowest choice among Civil Services aspirants.
  • Only 90 out of 150 vacancies could be filled up, as many candidates likely to qualify choose another service.
  • New Amrit Bharat Trains – 2 Amrit Bharat Trains are to be launched.
  • The Amrit Bharat train is a Linke Hofmann Busch (LHB) push pull train having locos at both ends for better acceleration.
  • It provides improved facilities for rail passengers with a maximum speed limit of 130 kmph.

Indian Railways has launched theme - based Tourist Circuit trains (Bharat Gaurav Trains) to showcase India’s rich cultural heritage and magnificent historical places. 1st Bharat Gaurav Train (Shirdi Yatra) was launched in 2022.

  • Record Amrit Bharat Stations - 1,309 Amrit Bharat Stations have been identified across the nation to modernize passenger amenities and improve accessibility & inclusivity of railway stations.
  • One Station, One Product (OSOP) Outlets - It promotes ‘Vocal for Local’ vision, providing a market for indigenous products and creating additional income opportunities for marginalised sections of society.

Indian Railway has set a target of becoming Net Zero Carbon Emitter by 2030.

What should be focused in 2024?

  • Safety – The shift should be strongly to improving safety of rail travel, including track and signalling upgrades.
  • The progress of installation of Kavach, a unique safety system developed by IR engineers need to paced up.
  • Address Issues – While electrification of rails are promoted for greening railways it is silent on
    • The fate of more than 500 diesel locomotives
    • The need for ‘hydrogen trains’ amidst electrification
    • The requirement for airport-like stations
  • Prevent saturation – The announcement to add 3,000 passenger trains to eliminate waiting lists should consider the saturated capacities into account.
  • Non-political deployment of trains – Vande Bharat should be made after traffic surveys to reduce poor occupancy issues.
  • Future prospects – IR should make efficient use of initiatives like Gati Shaktito improve its loading and revenue performance significantly.

PM Gati Shakti is a National Master Plan for Multimodal Connectivity launched in 2021 to transfer India into a hub of world class infrastructure by providing integrated and seamless connectivity for movement of people, goods and services.

Source: pib


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