Snapshot

Touching bullet speeds

India has the fourth-largest railway system in the world, behind only US, Russia and China.

The Indian rail network has 123,542 km of total tracks over a 67,415 km route and about 7,300 stations. The railways run close to 13,000 passenger trains that carry over 23 mn passengers daily. The Indian Railways transported over 109.68MT of freight in November 2020.

Indian Railways is the single largest employer in India and eighth largest in the world; employing close to 1.4 mn people.

  • Vision 2024 has been envisaged to achieve targets of 2024 MT freight loading by 2024
  • Indian Railways envisages a prospective investment of $190 bn in the next 5 years
  • Mumbai-Ahmedabad high-speed rail project sanctioned at a total cost of $15 bn
  • Railway Electrification works completed on a total of 5,782 Route kms during the year

100% FDI allowed in railway infrastructure under the automatic route.

For further details, please refer FDI Policy

  • bn

    Estimated Passengers in 2031

  • MT

    Estimated Freight Demand in 2031

  • MT

    Freight Loading by 2024

  • $ bn

    Revenue from freight traffic (2020)

4th largest railway system in the world

4th largest rail freight carrier in the world

Single largest employer in India and 8th largest in the world

Railways Information Kit
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Industry Scenario

The Indian Railways' freight revenues in 2020 were worth $11.8 bn. Coal and Coke had the highest freight revenue during this period.

Indian Railways aspires to add 1.5% to the country’s GDP by building infrastructure to support 40% modal freight share of the economy. The Indian Railways clocked a 3% increase in freight revenue in 2020-21 and the quantum of goods loaded grew by 2%.

Two Dedicated Freight Corridors (DFC), one on the Western route (Jawaharlal Nehru Port to Dadri) and another on the Eastern route (Ludhiana to Dankuni), have been fast-tracked.

The Indian Railways is looking to electrify the entire network by 2025 which will lead to energy savings of $1.55 bn.

India Railways is focused on:

  • 3,360 km dedicated freight corridors by June 2022
  • 700 stations to be fed with solar power in the medium term
  • The Ministry of Railways has decided to redevelop 90 railway stations into world-class transit hubs
  • Creating private investments worth $4 bn through Public-Private Partnerships
  • 100% electrification of Broad-Gauge routes to be completed by December, 2023

GROWTH DRIVERS

  • Rising passenger & freight traffic

    Increasing urbanization, rising incomes (both rural and urban), growing industrialization across the country along with private sector participation

  • Increasing freight traffic

    Growing industrialization across the country

  • Dedicated freight corridor

    Six high-capacity, high-speed dedicated freight corridors

  • Freight Business Development Portal

    One-stop cargo solution for seamless goods transportation

  • Diamond Quadrilateral network of high-speed rail

    Connecting major metros and growth centers of the country

  • Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan - Self Reliant India

    Special economic and comprehensive package of INR 20 lakh crores towards promoting manufacturing in India

Industrial Land Bank Portal

GIS - based map displaying available infrastructure for setting up business operations in the state.

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FAQs

Frequently
Asked Questions

What is dedicated freight corridors?

It is a broad gauge freight corridor under construction in India by Indian Railway. There are 2 corridors in the country, i.e. the Western and Eastern freight corridors.

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What is rolling stock?

Rolling stock is all the engines and carriages including the locomotives, passenger coaches, freight wagons, guard's vans, etc. that are used on a railway.

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What do you mean by Diamond Quadrilateral in Indian Railways?

The Diamond Quadrilateral railway project has the mandate to develop high speed rail network across several metros of India. So far 6 corridors have been identified. 
These are:
1) Delhi-Mumbai. 
2) Mumbai-Chennai
3) Chennai-Kolkata
4) Kolkata-Delhi and both diagonals i.e. 
5) Delhi-Chennai.  
6) Mumbai-Kolkata routes.

For more information, click here.

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What are the initiatives taken by the Indian government for the railways sector?

The following reforms have been announced for the railway sector in the Union Budget 2017-18:
1) The GoI will provide INR 55,000 crore ($ 8.25 bn) towards capital and development expenditure of Railways.
2) A fund named Rashtriya Rail Sanraksha Kosh worth Rs 100,000 crore ($ 15 bn) will be created, which will be directed towards passenger safety.
3) All the coaches of the Indian Railways will be fitted with bio toilets by the year 2019.
4) Railway lines of 3,500 kms will be commissioned in 2017-18.

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What are the investment opportunities available in railways sector?

The investment opportunities are available in the following areas:
1) Components manufacturing.
2) Infrastructure projects.
3) High speed train projects.
4) Railway lines to and from coal mines and ports.
5) Projects relating to electrification, high-speed tracks and suburban corridors.
6) Dedicated freight corridors.
7) The re-development of railway stations.
8) Power generation and energy-saving projects.
9) Freight terminals operations.
10) Setting up of wagon, coaches and locomotive units.
11) Gauge conversion.
12) Network expansion.

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