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Indian Railways

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Railway transport

   Indian Railways
   Image:Indian Railways logo.png
       Type     Public
     Founded    April 16, 1853, Amalgamation on 1947
   Headquarters New Delhi
    Key people  Union Railway Minister Laloo Prasad Yadav
                Minister of State for Railways(V) R Velu
                Minister of State for Railways(R) Naranbhai J Rathwa
                Managing Director J P Batra
   Area served  India
     Industry   Railways and Locomotives
     Products   Broad Gauge, Metre gauge & Narrow Gauge trains on a 63,140 km
                network
      Parent    Government of India
     Website    http://www.indianrailways.gov.in/

   Indian Railways (IR) is the state-owned railway company of India.
   Indian Railways had, until very recently, a monopoly on the country's
   rail transport. It is one of the largest and busiest rail networks in
   the world, transporting just over six  billion passengers and almost
   750 million tonnes of freight annually. IR is the world's largest
   commercial or utility employer, with more than 1.6 million employees.

   The railways traverse through the length and width of the country; the
   routes cover a total length of 63,940  km (39,230  miles). As of 2005
   IR owns a total of 216,717 wagons, 39,936 coaches and 7,339 locomotives
   and runs a total of 14,244 trains daily, including about 8,002
   passenger trains .

   Railways were first introduced to India in 1853. By 1947, the year of
   India's independence, there were forty-two rail systems. In 1951 the
   systems were nationalised as one unit, becoming one of the largest
   networks in the world. Indian Railways operates both long distance and
   suburban rail systems.
   A schematic map of the Indian Railway network
   Enlarge
   A schematic map of the Indian Railway network

History

   One of the earliest pictures of railways in India
   One of the earliest pictures of railways in India
   Extent of Great Indian Peninsular Railway network in 1870. The GIPR was
   one of the largest rail companies at that time.
   Enlarge
   Extent of Great Indian Peninsular Railway network in 1870. The GIPR was
   one of the largest rail companies at that time.

   A plan for a rail system in India was first put forward in 1832, but no
   further steps were taken for more than a decade. In 1844, the
   Governor-General of India Lord Hardinge allowed private entrepreneurs
   to set up a rail system in India. Two new railway companies were
   created and the East India Company was asked to assist them. Interest
   from investors in the UK led to the rapid creation of a rail system
   over the next few years. The first train in India became operational on
   1851- 12-22, and was used for the hauling of construction material in
   Roorkee. A year and a half later, on 1853- 04-16, the first passenger
   train service was inaugurated between Bori Bunder, Bombay and Thana.
   Covering a distance of 34 km (21 miles), it was hauled by three
   locomotives, Sahib, Sindh and Sultan. This was the formal birth of
   railways in India.

   The British government encouraged new railway companies backed by
   private investors under a scheme that would guarantee an annual return
   of five percent during the initial years of operation. Once
   established, the company would be transferred to the government, with
   the original company retaining operational control. The route mileage
   of this network was about 14,500 km (9,000 miles) by 1880, 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
   Railway.

   Soon various independent kingdoms built their own rail systems and the
   network spread to the regions that became the modern-day states of
   Assam, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh. A Railway Board was constituted in
   1901, but decision-making power was retained by the Viceroy, Lord
   Curzon. The Railway Board operated under aegis of the Department of
   Commerce and Industry and had three members: a government railway
   official serving as chairman, a railway manager from England and an
   agent of one of the company railways. For the first time in its
   history, the Railways began to make a tidy profit. In 1907, almost all
   the rail companies were taken over by the government.

   The following year, the first electric locomotive appeared. With the
   arrival of the First World War, the railways were used to meet the
   needs of the British outside India. By the end of the First World War,
   the railways had suffered immensely and were in a poor state. The
   government took over the management of the Railways and removed the
   link between the financing of the Railways and other governmental
   revenues in 1920, a practice that continues to date with a separate
   railway budget.

   The Second World War severely crippled the railways as trains were
   diverted to the Middle East, and the railway workshops were converted
   into munitions workshops. At the time of independence in 1947, a large
   portion of the railways went to the then newly formed Pakistan. A total
   of forty-two separate railway systems, including thirty-two lines owned
   by the former Indian princely states, were amalgamated as a single unit
   which was christened as the Indian Railways.

   The existing rail networks were abandoned in favour of zones in 1951
   and a total of six zones came into being in 1952. As the economy of
   India improved, almost all railway production units were indigenised.
   By 1985, steam locomotives were phased out in favour of diesel and
   electric locomotives. The entire railway reservation system was
   streamlined with computerisation in 1995.

Railway zones

   IR Zones. See the numbering alongside. The red dots are the zonal
   headquarters.
   Enlarge
   IR Zones. See the numbering alongside. The red dots are the zonal
   headquarters.

   For administrative purposes, Indian Railways is divided into sixteen
   zones.
   No.            Name            Abbr.    Headquarters    Date established
   1.  Northern Railway           NR    Delhi              April 14, 1952
   2.  North Eastern Railway      NER   Gorakhpur          1952
   3.  Northeast Frontier Railway NFR   Maligaon(Guwahati) 1958
   4.  Eastern Railway            ER    Kolkata            April, 1952
   5.  South Eastern Railway      SER   Kolkata            1955,
   6.  South Central Railway      SCR   Secunderabad       October 2, 1966
   7.  Southern Railway           SR    Chennai            April 14, 1951
   8.  Central Railway            CR    Mumbai             November 5, 1951
   9.  Western Railway            WR    Mumbai             November 5, 1951
   10. South Western Railway      SWR   Hubli              April 1, 2003
   11. North Western Railway      NWR   Jaipur             Oct 1, 2002
   12. West Central Railway       WCR   Jabalpur           April 1, 2003
   13. North Central Railway      NCR   Allahabad          April 1, 2003
   14. South East Central Railway SECR  Bilaspur, CG       April 1, 2003
   15. East Coast Railway         ECoR  Bhubaneswar        April 1, 2003
   16. East Central Railway       ECR   Hajipur            Oct 1, 2002
   17. Konkan Railway†            KR    Navi Mumbai        Jan 26, 1998

   †Konkan Railway (KR) is constituted as a separately incorporated
   railway, with its headquarters at Belapur CBD (Navi Mumbai). It comes
   under the control of the Railway Ministry and the Railway Board.

   The Calcutta Metro is owned and operated by Indian Railways, but is not
   a part of any of the zones. It is administratively considered to have
   the status of a zonal railway.
   Map showing the Indian rail network and headquarters of each zone
   Enlarge
   Map showing the Indian rail network and headquarters of each zone

   Each zonal railway is made up of a certain number of divisions, each
   having a divisional headquarters. There are a total of sixty-seven
   divisions.
         Zonal Railway                            Divisions
   Northern Railway           Delhi, Ambala, Firozpur, Lucknow, Moradabad
   North Eastern Railway      Izzatnagar, Lucknow, Varanasi
   Northeast Frontier Railway Alipurduar, Katihar, Lumding, Rangia,
                              Tinsukia
   Eastern Railway            Howrah, Sealdah, Asansol, Malda
   South Eastern Railway      Adra, Chakradharpur, Kharagpur, Ranchi
   South Central Railway      Secunderabad, Hyderabad, Guntakal, Guntur,
                              Nanded, Vijayawada
   Southern Railway           Chennai, Madurai, Palghat, Tiruchchirapalli,
                              Trivandrum
   Central Railway            Mumbai, Bhusawal, Pune, Solapur
   Western Railway            Mumbai, Baroda, Ratlam, Indore, Ahmedabad, Rajkot,
                              Bhavnagar
   South Western Railway      Hubli, Bangalore, Mysore
   North Western Railway      Jaipur, Ajmer, Bikaner, Jodhpur
   West Central Railway       Jabalpur, Bhopal, Kota
   North Central Railway      Allahabad, Agra, Jhansi
   South East Central Railway Bilaspur, Raipur, Nagpur
   East Coast Railway         Khurda Road, Sambalpur, Visakhapatnam
   East Central Railway       Danapur, Dhanbad, Mughalsarai, Samastipur, Sonpur

Passenger services

   A long distance express train
   Enlarge
   A long distance express train

   Indian Railways operates 8,702 passenger trains and transports around
   five billion annually across twenty-seven states and three union
   territories (Delhi, Pondicherry and Chandigarh). Sikkim is the only
   state not connected.

   The passenger division is the most preferred form of long distance
   transport in most of the country. In South India and North-East India
   however, buses are the preferred mode of transport for medium to long
   distance transport.

   A standard passenger train consists of eighteen coaches, but some
   popular trains can have up to 24 coaches. Coaches are designed to
   accommodate anywhere from 18 to 72 passengers, but may actually
   accommodate many more during the holiday seasons and on busy routes.
   The coaches in use are vestibules, but some of these may be dummied on
   some trains for operational reasons. Freight trains use a large variety
   of wagons.

   Each coach has different accommodation class; the most popular being
   the sleeper class. Up to nine of these type coaches are usually
   coupled. Air conditioned coaches are also attached, and a standard
   train may have between three and five air-conditioned coaches.

   Overcrowding is the most widely faced problem with Indian Railways. In
   the holiday seasons or on long weekends, trains are usually packed more
   than their prescribed limit. Ticket-less travel, which results in large
   losses for the IR, is also an additional problem faced.

Production Services

   The Indian Railways manufactures a lot of its rolling stock and heavy
   engineering components. This is largely due to historical reasons. As
   with most developing economies, the main reason is import substitution
   of expensive technology related products. This was relevant when the
   general state of the national engineering industry was immature.

   Production Units, the manufacturing plants of the Indian Railways, are
   managed directly by the ministry. The General Managers of the PUs
   report to the Railway Board. The Production Units are
     * Diesel Locomotive Works, Varanasi
          + Responsible for manufacturing all the mainline
            diesel-electrics used for passenger and freight traffic. The
            plant also produces diesel-electric shunters. Currently the
            factory is also producing locomotives in collaboration with
            General Motors, USA.
     * Chittaranjan Locomotive Works, Chittaranjan
          + Chittaranjan manufactures Electric Locomotives. Traditionally,
            the locomotives made by CLW use DC traction. In recent times,
            CLW has manufactures locomotives with AC-AC transmission
     * Diesel-Loco Modernisation Works, Patiala
          + Earlier called Diesel Component Works, DMW makes key
            sub-assemblies for Diesel Locomotives. It also does heavy
            repair and overhaul of engines and locomotives.
     * Integral Coach Factory, Chennai
          + The first factory to make coaches for the Indian Railways. The
            coaches were monocoque structures.
     * Rail Coach Factory, Kapurthala
          + The second coach factory is a more modern plant and has a much
            more flexible automation
     * Wheel & Axle Plant, Bangalore
          + Makes the cast wheels for wagons and other rolling stock.
            Axles are forged and machined in the same plant. Most output
            is sent out as finished and pressed wheel & axle sets
     * Rail Spring Karkhana, Gwalior

Performance

   The performance of Production Units during 2004-05, was as under:
     * Chittaranjan Locomotive Works, Chittaranjan manufactured 90 BG
       electric locomotives including 22 state-of-the-art 3-phase 6000 HP
       electric locos.
     * Diesel Locomotive Works, Varanasi produced 121 BG diesel
       locomotives including 15 indigenous high power 4000 HP GM
       locomotives. In addition, 4 diesel locomotives were supplied to Non
       Railway Customers.
     * Integral Coach Factory, Chennai manufactured 1,119 coaches
       including 112 Electric Multiple Units (EMUs).
     * Rail Coach Factory, Kapurthala manufactured 1,201 coaches including
       77 light weight LHB coaches with higher passenger comfort and
       amenities.
     * Rail Wheel Factory, Bangalore produced 32,732 wheel-sets. It also
       manufactured 95,125 wheels and 49,502 axles. It sold products to
       the tune of Rs.18.39 crore to NCRs thus earning a profit of approx.
       Rs.173.69 lakh.
     * Diesel Loco Modernisation Workshop, Patiala successfully upgraded
       74 nos. 2600 HP WDM-2 diesel electric locomotives to 3100 HP thus
       increasing the hauling capacity to the extent of 3 to 4 additional
       coaches. DMW exported spares worth Rs.130.27 lakh to various
       countries.

   Import content in the Railway Production Units expressed as percentage
   of total production cost is roughly 2%. Import substitution is one of
   the main objectives of the production units.

Suburban rail

   The New Delhi Metro railway
   Enlarge
   The New Delhi Metro railway

   Many cities have their own dedicated suburban networks to cater to
   commuters. Currently, suburban networks operate in Mumbai (Bombay),
   Chennai (Madras), Kolkata (Calcutta), Delhi, Lucknow, Hyderabad and
   Pune. Hyderabad, Mumbai and Pune do not have dedicated suburban tracks
   but share the tracks with long distance trains. New Delhi, Chennai and
   Kolkata have their own metro networks, namely the New Delhi Metro, the
   Chennai MRTS and the Kolkata metro, respectively.

   Suburban trains that handle commuter traffic are mostly electric
   multiple units. They usually have nine coaches or sometimes twelve to
   handle rush hour traffic. One unit of an EMU train consists of one
   power car and two general coaches. Thus a nine coach EMU is made up of
   three units having one power car at each end and one at the middle. The
   rakes in Mumbai run on direct current, while those elsewhere use
   alternating current. A standard coach is designed to accommodate 96
   sitting passengers, but the actual number of passengers can easily
   double or triple with standees during rush hour. The Kolkata metro has
   the administrative status of a zonal railway, though it does not come
   under the seventeen railway zones.

   The Suburban trains in Mumbai handle more rush then any other suburban
   network in India. The network has three lines viz, western, central and
   harbour. It's considered to be the lifeline on Mumbai. On 11th July
   2006 six bomb blasted in these trains targeted at general public.

Freight

   A single line rail bridge
   Enlarge
   A single line rail bridge

   IR carries a huge variety of goods ranging from mineral ores,
   agricultural produce, petroleum, milk and vehicles. Ports and major
   urban areas have their own dedicated freight lines and yards. Many
   important freight stops have dedicated platforms and independent lines.

   Indian Railways makes 70% of its revenues and most of its profits from
   the freight sector, and uses these profits to cross-subsidise the
   loss-making passenger sector. However, competition from trucks which
   offer cheaper rates has seen a decrease in freight traffic in recent
   years. Since the 1990s, Indian Railways has switched from small
   consignments to larger container movement which has helped speed up its
   operations. Most of its freight earnings come from such rakes carrying
   bulk goods such as coal, cement, food grains and iron ore.

   Indian Railways also transports vehicles over long distances. Trucks
   that carry goods to a particular location are hauled back by trains
   saving the trucking company on unnecessary fuel expenses. Refrigerated
   vans are also available in many areas. The "Green Van" is a special
   type used to transport fresh food and vegetables. Recently Indian
   Railways introduced the special 'Container Rajdhani' or CONRAJ, for
   high priority freight. The highest speed notched up for a freight train
   is 100 km/h (62 mph) for a 4,700 metric tonne load.

   Recent changes have sought to boost the earnings from freight. A
   privatization scheme was introduced recently to improve the performance
   of freight trains. Companies are being allowed to run their own
   container trains. The first length of an 11,000km freight corridor
   linking India's biggest cities has recently been approved. The railways
   has increased load limits for the system's 220,000 freight wagons by
   11%, legalizing something that was already happening. Due to increase
   in manufacturing transport in India that was augmented by the increase
   in fuel cost, transportation by rail became advantageous financially.
   New measures such as speeding up the turnaround times have added some
   24% to freight revenues.

Notable trains and achievements

   The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway is a World Heritage Site, and one of
   the few steam engines in operation in India.
   Enlarge
   The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway is a World Heritage Site, and one of
   the few steam engines in operation in India.

   The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, a narrow gauge train with a steam
   locomotive is classified as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. The route
   starts at Siliguri in the plains in West Bengal and traverses tea
   gardens en route to Darjeeling, a hill station at an elevation of
   2,134 metres (7,000 ft). The highest station in this route is Ghum. The
   Nilgiri Mountain Railway, in the Nilgiri Hills in southern India, is
   also classified as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. It is also the only
   rack railway in India. The Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus (formerly
   Victoria Terminus) railway station in Mumbai is another World Heritage
   Site operated by Indian Railways.

   The Palace on Wheels is a specially designed train, lugged by a steam
   engine, for promoting tourism in Rajasthan. The Maharashtra government
   did try and introduce the Deccan Odyssey along the Konkan route, but it
   did not enjoy the same success as the Palace on Wheels. The Samjhauta
   Express was a train that ran between India and Pakistan. However,
   hostilities between the two nations in 2001 saw the line being closed.
   It was reopened when the hostilities subsided in 2004. Another train
   connecting Khokhrapar (Pakistan) and Munabao (India) is the Thar
   Express that restarted operations on February 18, 2006 since being
   closed down after the 1965 Indo-Pak war. The Kalka Shimla Railway till
   recently featured in the Guinness Book of World Records for offering
   the steepest rise in altitude in the space of 96 kilometers.

   The Lifeline Express is a special train popularly known as the
   "Hospital-on-Wheels" which provides healthcare to the rural areas. This
   train has a compartment that serves as an operating room, a second one
   which serves as a storeroom and an additional two that serve as a
   patient ward. The train travels around the country, staying at a
   location for about two months before moving elsewhere.

   Among the famous locomotives, the Fairy Queen is the oldest running
   locomotive in the world today, though the distinction of the oldest
   surviving locomotive belongs to John Bull. Kharagpur railway station
   also has the distinction of being the world's longest railway platform
   at 1072 m (3,517 ft). The Ghum station along the Toy Train route is the
   second highest railway station in the world to be reached by a steam
   locomotive. Indian Railways operates 7,566 locomotives; 37,840 Coaching
   vehicles and 222,147 freight wagons. There are a total of 6,853
   stations; 300 yards; 2,300 goods-sheds; 700 repair shops and a total
   workforce of 1.54 million.

   The shortest named station is Ib and the longest is Sri
   Venkatanarasimharajuvariapeta. The Himsagar Express, between
   Kanyakumari and Jammu Tawi, has the longest run in terms of distance
   and time on Indian Railways network. It covers 3,745 km (2,327 miles)
   in about 74 hours and 55 minutes. The Trivandrum Rajdhani, between
   Delhi's Nizamuddin Station and Trivandrum, travels non-stop between
   Vadodara and Kota, covering a distance of 528 km (328 miles) in about
   6.5 hours, and has the longest continuous run on Indian Railways today.
   The Bhopal Shatabdi Express is the fastest train in India today having
   a maximum speed of 140 km/h (87 mph) on the Faridabad-Agra section. The
   fastest speed attained by any train is 184 km/h (114 mph) in 2000
   during test runs. This speed is much lower than fast trains in other
   parts of the world. One reason attributed for this difference is that
   the tracks are not suited for higher speeds.

Organisational structure

   The headquarters of the Indian Railways in Delhi
   Enlarge
   The headquarters of the Indian Railways in Delhi

   Indian Railways is a publicly owned company controlled by the
   Government of India, via the Ministry of Railways. The ministry is
   currently headed by Lalu Prasad Yadav, the Union Minister for Railways
   and assisted by two junior Ministers of State for Railways, R. Velu and
   Naranbhai J. Rathwa. Reporting to them is the Railway Board, which has
   six members and a chairman.

   Each of the sixteen zones is headed by a General Manager (GM) who
   reports directly to the Railway Board. The zones are further divided
   into divisions under the control of Divisional Railway Managers (DRM).
   The divisional officers of engineering, mechanical, electrical, signal
   & telecommunication, accounts, personnel, operating, commercial and
   safety branches report to the respective Divisional Manager and are in
   charge of operation and maintenance of assets. Further down the
   hierarchy tree are the Station Masters who control individual stations
   and the train movement through the track territory under their
   stations' administration. In addition to the zones, there are six
   production units (PUs) each headed by a General Manager (GM), who also
   report directly to the Railway Board. These production units are:
    1. Chittaranjan Locomotive Works : Chittaranjan
    2. Diesel Locomotive Works : Varanasi
    3. Integral Coach Factory ; Perambur (Near Chennai)
    4. Rail Coach Factory : Kapurthala
    5. Rail Wheel Factory : Yelahanka (Near Bangalore)
    6. Diesel Modernisation Works : Patiala

   In addition to this the Central Organisation for Railway
   Electrification (CORE) is also headed by a GM. This is located at
   Allahabad. This organisation undertakes electrification projects of
   Indian Railway and monitors the progress of various electrification
   projects all over the country.

   Apart from these zones and production units, a number of Public Sector
   Undertakings (PSU) are under the administrative control of the ministry
   of railways. These PSU's are:
    1. Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation
    2. Konkan Railway Corporation
    3. Indian Railway Finance Corporation
    4. Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation
    5. Railtel Corporation of India – Telecommunication Networks
    6. RITES Ltd. – Consulting Division of Indian Railways
    7. IRCON International Ltd. – Construction Division
    8. Rail Vikas Nigam Limited
    9. Container Corporation Limited

   Centre for Railway Information Systems is an autonomous society under
   Railway Board, which is responsible for developing the major software
   required by Indian Railways for its operations.

Rail budget and finances

   The Railway Budget deals with the induction and improvement of existing
   trains and routes, the modernisation and most importantly the tariff
   for freight and passenger travel. The Parliament discusses the policies
   and allocations proposed in the budget. The budget needs to be passed
   by a simple majority in the Lok Sabha (India's Lower House). The
   comments of the Rajya Sabha (Upper House) are non binding. Indian
   Railways are subject to the same audit control as other government
   revenue and expenditures. Based on the anticipated traffic and the
   projected tariff, the level of resources required for railway's capital
   and revenue expenditure is worked out. While the revenue expenditure is
   met entirely by railways itself, the shortfall in the capital (plan)
   expenditure is met partly from borrowings (raised by Indian Railway
   Finance Corporation) and the rest from Budgetory support from the
   Central Government. Indian Railways pays dividend to the Central
   Government for the capital invested by the Central Government.

   As per the Separation Convention, 1924, the Railway Budget is presented
   to the Parliament by the Union Railway Minister, two days prior to the
   General Budget, usually around 26 February. Though the Railway Budget
   is separately presented to the Parliament, the figures relating to the
   receipt and expenditure of the Railways are also shown in the General
   Budget, since they are a part and parcel of the total receipts and
   expenditure of the Government of India. This document serves as a
   balance sheet of operations of the Railways during the previous year
   and lists out plans for expansion for the current year.

   The formation of policy and overall control of the railways is vested
   in Railway Board comprising the Chairman, Financial Commissioner and
   other functional Members for Traffic, Engineering, Mechanical,
   Electrical and Staff matters. As per the 2006 budget, Indian Railways
   earned Rs. 54,600  crores (Rs. 546,000 million or US$12,300 million).
   Freight earnings increased by 10% from Rs. 30,450 cr (US$7,000 million)
   in the previous year. Passenger earnings, other coaching earnings and
   sundry other earnings increased by 7%, 19% and 56% respectively over
   previous year. Its year end fund balance is expected to stand at
   Rs. 11,280 cr (2.54 billion US$)..

   Around 20% of the passenger revenue is earned from the upper class
   segments of the passenger segment (the air-conditioned classes). The
   overall passenger traffic grew 7.5% in the previous year. In the first
   two months of India's fiscal year 2005-06 (April and May), the Railways
   registered a 10% growth in passenger traffic, and a 12% in passenger
   earnings .

   A new concern faced by Indian Railways is competition from low cost
   airlines that has recently made its début in India. In a cost cutting
   move, the Railways plans to minimise unwanted cessations, and scrap
   unpopular routes.

Current problems

   Level crossings like these usually see a high accident rate
   Enlarge
   Level crossings like these usually see a high accident rate

   Indian railways suffers from deteriorating finances and lack the funds
   for future investment. Last year, India spent $28 billion, or 3.6% of
   GDP, on infrastructure. The main problem plaguing the Railways is the
   high accident rate which stands at about three hundred a year. Although
   accidents such as derailment and collisions are less common in recent
   times, many are run over by trains, especially in crowded areas. Indian
   Railways have accepted the fact that given the size of operations,
   eliminating accidents is an unrealistic goal, and at best they can only
   minimise the accident rate. Human error is the primary cause (83%)
   blamed for mishaps. The Konkan Railway route suffers from landslides in
   the monsoon season, which has caused fatal accidents in the recent
   past.

   Contributing to the Railways' problems are the antiquated
   communication, safety and signalling equipment. One area of upgrading
   badly required is an automated signalling system to prevent crashes. A
   number of train accidents happened due to a manual system of signals
   between stations. However, the changeover to a new system would require
   a substantial investment. It is felt that this would be required given
   the gradual increase in train speeds and lengths, that would make
   accidents more dangerous. In the latest instances of signalling control
   by means of interlinked stations (e.g., Chennai - Washermanpet),
   failure-detection circuits are provided for each track circuit and
   signal circuit with notification to the signal control centres in case
   of problems . However, this is available in a very small subset of the
   total Railways. Aging colonial-era bridges and century-old tracks also
   require regular maintenance and upgrading.

   In many places, pedestrians, vehicles or cyclists may cut across the
   tracks to save time, causing a safety hazard to the railways. Most
   railway land in India is not fenced or restricted in any way, allowing
   free trespass. In rural areas, cattle and other animals may stray onto
   the tracks, posing a much more serious safety hazard to fast-moving
   trains.

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