For Official Use Only Government of India Ministry of Railways Railway Board REPORT OF THE WORKING GROUP ON RAILWAY PROGRAMMES FOR THE ELEVENTH FIVE YEAR PLAN (2007 – 2012) FOREWORD One could not ask for a more optimistic setting as we prepare to go into the Eleventh Five Year Plan. The economy is on a high growth trajectory and has been clocking more than 8 per cent annual growth for the last four years. The growth in railway traffic - both freight and passenger - has been exceeding the GDP growth rate. The outlook for the future is bright and opportunities for growth are abundant. But the challenges are equally formidable, although admittedly, challenges of growth are always preferable to challenges of maintaining status quo. The Railways have exceeded most of the targets set for the Tenth Five Year Plan. The terminal year of the Plan has seen a record level of over 728 Million Tonnes of originating freight traffic, 6.24 billion of originating passengers, an enviable operating ratio of 78.7 percent and a cash surplus before dividend of over Rs 20,000 crores. Efficiency improvements and a customer-focused approach have been major drivers of the growth. It is difficult for capacity enhancement to keep pace with the growth in traffic due to the gestation lags. Most of the major traffic-carrying routes are under severe strain. A number of initiatives have already been launched to redress the situation; these need to be sustained and greatly expanded in both scale and scope during the Eleventh Five Year Plan. In addition, there is a need to identify infrastructural weaknesses that, if left unaddressed, could derail the momentum of growth. This document has attempted to address the issue and set out a plan to prepare the Indian Railways to transform into a truly World Class Railway system. It has been our attempt to cover all the Terms of Reference comprehensively, starting from traffic projections to infrastructural requirements and organizational issues. I am sure that Planning Commission would find the inputs useful while preparing the Eleventh Five Year Plan for the country. (J.P.BATRA) (Chairman, Railway Board & Ex-Officio Principal Secretary to the Government of India) Chairman, Working Group 2 COMPOSITION OF THE WORKING GROUP ON RAILWAYS PROGRAMMES AND TERMS OF REFERENCE The Working Group for formulation of the Railway Programmes for the Eleventh Five Year Plan (2007-2012) was constituted under the chairmanship of Chairman, Railway Board vide Planning Commission’s order No.18/9/2005-Tpt dated 24.03.2006. A copy of the order containing the composition of the Group and Terms of Reference is at Annexure-I. Subsequently, Shri. Shri Prakash, Adviser (Infrastructure), Ministry of Railways was nominated as the Convener of the Working Group in place of Shri A.K.Suri, Additional Member (Planning). Additional Member (Planning) was, however, retained as a member of the Working Group. The Working Group met on 09.05.2006 and Sub Groups were constituted to deliberate and make recommendations on key issues such as Business Strategy, Passenger Business, Pricing, Costing, Tariff Policy and Social Burden, Infrastructure Policy and Safety. A list of the various Sub Groups is at Annexure-II. The second meeting of the Working Group was held on 28.12.2006 to discuss the inputs received from various Sub Groups. Subsequently, the approach to the Eleventh Five Year Plan was discussed with the General Managers of the Zonal Railways. Suggestions received from them have been considered and appropriately incorporated in the Report. 3 SECTION I: INTRODUCTION..................................................................................................................... 5 CHAPTER ONE: REVIEW OF TENTH FIVE YEAR PLAN ...................................................................... 6 Objectives....................................................................................................................................................... 6 Financial Review of Tenth Plan ................................................................................................................... 11 CHAPTER TWO: CHALLENGES DURING THE ELEVENTH PLAN ................................................... 18 Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. 18 Outlook for the Eleventh plan ...................................................................................................................... 18 SECTION II: BUSINESS PROJECTIONS AND STRATEGY .................................................................. 23 CHAPTER THREE: FREIGHT BUSINESS .............................................................................................. 24 Time- series Regression................................................................................................................................ 24 Elasticity to GDP.......................................................................................................................................... 24 Commodity-wise projections........................................................................................................................ 25 Operational Strategy..................................................................................................................................... 27 Parcel Business............................................................................................................................................. 28 Logistics Solutions ....................................................................................................................................... 28 CHAPTER FOUR: PASSENGER BUSINESS............................................................................................ 30 Passenger Projections ................................................................................................................................... 30 Passenger Amenities and Services................................................................................................................ 37 CHAPTER FIVE: CAPACITY ENHANCEMENT..................................................................................... 43 Traffic facility works.................................................................................................................................... 46 Electrification ............................................................................................................................................... 49 Other Measures for Enhancing Capacity...................................................................................................... 49 SECTION III: INFRASTRUCTURE AND TECHNOLOGY ..................................................................... 54 CHAPTER SIX: FIXED INFRASTRUCTURE........................................................................................... 55 Track............................................................................................................................................................. 55 Other Electrical Works ................................................................................................................................. 63 Signaling and Telecom Works ..................................................................................................................... 64 CHAPTER SEVEN: ROLLING ASSETS, PRODUCTION UNITS AND WORKSHOPS........................ 70 Technology, Operations and Maintenance ................................................................................................... 70 Production Units and Workshopts................................................................................................................ 73 Procurement Policy and Material Management............................................................................................ 78 CHAPTER EIGHT: SAFETY...................................................................................................................... 80 Safety Requirements..................................................................................................................................... 82 CHAPTER NINE: INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ............................................................................... 85 IT Applications............................................................................................................................................. 85 Research & Development............................................................................................................................. 92 SECTION IV: HUMAN RESOURCES....................................................................................................... 95 CHAPTER TEN: HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT...................................................................... 96 Human Resource Management..................................................................................................................... 96 Health and Environment............................................................................................................................... 96 SECTION V RESOURCE MOBILISATION AND GOVERNANCE FORMS........................................ 100 CHAPTER ELEVEN: RESOURCE MOBILISATION & PLAN OUTLAY ............................................ 101 Resource Mobilisation...............................................................................................................................