Indian Railways—Where the Commuter Is the King! Ram Chandra Acharya
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Feature Evolution of Urban Railways (part 2) Indian Railways—Where The Commuter is The King! Ram Chandra Acharya Over the past 100 years the population of which was opened in 1825. Railways construction during the early 19th century. India registered a fourfold increase from reached France in 1829, the USA in 1830, Since the colonial government guaranteed 238 million to 1 billion. However, the Germany in 1835, Italy and the a 5% return on investment, growth was urban population grew almost 13 times— Netherlands in 1839, and Spain in 1848. phenomenal in the early stages. as a percentage of the total population, it Railways came relatively late to India Companies like the Bengal Nagpur tripled from 11% to about 34%. In when the first line of 21 miles (33.6 km) Railway achieved progress of almost 1 suburbs, railways are a preferred mode of was opened from Boribunder to Thane in mile a day even using primitive transport and although commuters 1853. The grand occasion was marked construction methods depending heavily account for only 20% of the total by a 21-gun salute and even the on manual labour. passenger-km carried by Indian Railways Governor’s band was in attendance when The American Civil War also spurred the (IR), in terms of passenger numbers, the 14 railway carriages carrying 400 guests growth of railways in India. The Unionist 12 million commuters boarding 7500 IR left Boribunder at 15:30 and arrived at blockade of Confederate ports in 1861 passenger trains for myriad destinations Thane at 16:45. soon began to starve Lancashire cotton on 63,000 route-km of tracks comprise a By the time of Indian Independence in mills of precious raw materials and the huge 60% of all passenger traffic. 1947, the British had built a railway Great Indian Peninsular Railway (GIPR) network of more than 58,000 km found it profitable to push its tracks into primarily for developing the hinterlands the Deccan southern plateau over the 150 Years of Sustained Growth and transporting agriculture produce, mountain range hugging the western coast minerals, and troops to suppress uprisings. to transport Indian cotton to Bombay by The first railway in the world was the Rather surprisingly, private enterprise rail and then by ship to Lancashire. Stockton & Darlington Railway in the UK, played the leading role in railway The second railway track was built by the Passengers disembarking at Mumbai’s Churchgate Station, the Western Railway terminus (Author) 34 Japan Railway & Transport Review 25 • October 2000 Copyright © 2000 EJRCF. All rights reserved. East Indian Railway and opened on 15 Reorganization and Post- trips from the densely populated east to August 1854 from Howrah to Hooghly independence Development the labour-hungry agricultural belt of (38.4 km) in eastern India, where Calcutta Punjab, Haryana, etc. was to become the seat of government. By Independence in 1947, the railway Meanwhile the Bombay Baroda and network consisted of 10 government and Growth of Urban Railway Central India Railway Company (BB&CI) 32 private railways, including those Systems was incorporated by an Act of the British belonging to former princely states. To Parliament on 2 July 1855 and soon set meet the demands of industrial growth, There have been two distinct patterns of about concluding an agreement with the the network was reorganized in 1950 into railway growth in urban India. The first East India Company to construct a line seven zones (later expanded to 9) with pattern consists of suburban sprawl along from Surat (where the latter had its headquarters at existing major the track and has occurred in metropolitan factories) to Baroda and Ahmedabad to government/private railways. cities near ports, such as Mumbai, move cotton from Gujarat by rail. More Although the last 50 years have seen a Calcutta and Chennai. The second pattern track was built later from Utran near Surat drop in the railway’s market share from consists of radiating growth filling in to Bombay (Grant Road Station) to reach 80% to 20% for passengers and from between tracks converging on the city Bombay Port, which was opened on 28 90% to 40% for freight, thanks to the (eight in Delhi). Growth in cities such as November 1864. right of way and convenience of Delhi, Bangalore and Hyderabad has Sir Keskie Wilson, Governor of commuter railways, commuter traffic mostly been of this second pattern and Bombay, declared the first electric line has registered an all round increase, these cities have increasingly assumed the (1500-Vdc overhead catenary) open with increasing clamour for better shape of a giant pumpkin! when a train ran from Victoria Terminus metro networks serving suburbs. Suburban fare hikes are very unpopular (Boribunder) to Kurla on the Harbour Rail is also still the preferred mode for and politically sensitive. As a result, Branch Line of GIPR. The Western passengers travelling 500 km or more. monthly commuter tickets often cost as Railway soon adopted the same system Fast intercity trains compete effectively little as seven single fares, so many for its suburban services and the with airlines and are very popular on some suburban services are loss making and combined suburban networks of the short-haul routes such as Delhi–Agra, require high government subsidies. In Central and Western railways have Delhi–Chandigarh, Mumbai (Bombay)– cities such as Mumbai, suburban services grown to about 120 km carrying over Ahmedabad, Calcutta–Rourkela, consume a disproportionately high level 5 million commuters in some 2500, Chennai–Bangalore to name a few. Of of resources to keep them running at peak 12-car electrical multiple unit (EMU) course, the millions of rural labourers have efficiency. Even a breakdown of just a trains each day. no alternative to railways for their annual few minutes results in serious law and 1997–98 Statistics for Suburban Railways Central Western Eastern SE Metro Northern Southern Items Railway Railway Railway Railway Railway Railway Railway Route-km 254.69 124.60 716.46 225.00 16.45 256.00 141.82 Passengers (millions) 113.51 106.84 41.51 6.63 68.28 0.25 23.99 Daily services 1063 953 957 153 122 78 513 EMU Trainsets 107 73 122 26 18 29 64 Maintenance depots 3 2 42212 Income (Rs. crores) 397.62 305.05 158.43 23.02 18.53 ✳ 66.99 Expenses (Rs. crores) 361.02 262.15 431.52 118.95 55.30 ✳ 137.04 Profit(+)/loss(-) (Rs. crores) +36.60 +42.90 -273.09 -95.93 -36.77 ✳ -70.05 Note: No separate financial accounts are maintained for the Delhi suburban system. Copyright © 2000 EJRCF. All rights reserved. Japan Railway & Transport Review 25 • October 2000 35 Evolution of Urban Railways (part 2) order problems as commuters vent their brakes were introduced on three sets interconnected network especially in the anger on everyone and anything in sight. in 1987. pumpkin-shaped cities of Delhi, Most suburban service are primarily loss- Bangalore, Hyderabad, etc. making social obligations, and only the Need for Separate Metro Furthermore, railways have their hands Western and Central railways made a Organizations full with the major business of moving profit in the last two financial years. long-distance freight and passengers, Eastern Railway has one of the highest In the last 20 years, all the major metro creating an urgent need to establish levels of fare evasion, which resulted in a operators have realized that it is not separate organizations for fuller and more huge loss of Rs273.09 crores sufficient to just carry commuters to and active cooperation with local city (US$1 million = Rs2.2 crores); South from the suburbs—commuters still have governments. Ultimately, this would Eastern came second with a loss of to reach their ultimate workplace, make rail-based rapid mass-transit systems Rs95.93 crores in 1997–98. requiring a far more widespread and both cost effective and user friendly. Wide-Body Rolling Stock Mumbai Metropolitan Transport Projects Almost 50 years ago, IR realized that Surat Broad Gauge alleviation of rush-hour crush resulting Single Double Virar Existing Lines from the exploding commuter population Lines Under Construction would require rolling stock 1' 4" wider Vasai Rd. than the existing size of 10' 8". However, Kaman a 12' wide carriage requires large-scale modification of trackside structures on Bassien Creek trunk lines designed for 10' 8" cars. To Kharbad solve this problem, about 10 years ago, Quadrupling the Integral Coach Factory (ICF) designed Kasara Bhiwandi a special mainline EMU that is now being Ulhas River built by IR’s carriage works at Chennai. Borivli Kalyan While the old suburban systems of both Dombivli 5TH Line Western and Central railways in Mumbai Thane Kalwa Mumbra still operate on 1500 Vdc, the more recent Greater Mumbai Diva systems of Calcutta, Delhi, Chennai, Goregaon Bangalore, Hyderabad , etc., use 25 kVac, Bhandup which is also the standard for mainline Andheri services. However, in view of the 5TH & 6TH Line Double Track burgeoning traffic, and the need for better Santacruz service reliability coupled with energy Kurla New Mumbai saving, in 1996–97, both the Central and Bandra Turbhe Vashi Western railways planned to invest Mankhurd Sanpada Ravli Jn. Juinagar Rs574.57 crores and Rs273.67 crores, Flyover Neral Dadar Vadala Nerul Belapur Trombay Kharghar respectively, to convert their existing Matheran Mumbai Seawood 1500-Vdc systems to 25 kVac. The Thane Creek Double Track Mumbai Karjat Khandeshwar Calcutta Metro is the only system in India Central Panvel Pune using a 750-Vdc third rail system. (Ballard Estate) Carnac Bundar Double Track Apta As part of upgrades to improve work Churchgate Colaba Chattrepati efficiency and conserve power, the Shivaji Terminus ancient resistor step-control system was Uran replaced in 1985 on a trial basis by chopper control on a few trainsets; disc 36 Japan Railway & Transport Review 25 • October 2000 Copyright © 2000 EJRCF.