The Indian Railways, Crouching Tiger of India’s growth story,is one of the world’s most remarkable and little discussed stories of how strategic investments in infrastructure and connectivity minded public policy can have exponential dividends for national growth.The progress IR has made during the last decade (2014-2024) could well be its golden period of growth and development, and the system is today, one of the fastest growing Railway networks globally.
So, what did set India’s story apart and makes it a lesson for countries and regions with similar ambitions for growth? The key was a public policy approach that can be best summarised by saying planning for the railways has been done with Bharat and for Bharat.
This meant recognising that the system must remain both world class and affordable in its essential role as theRailway for the common person, hand in hand with the daily efforts of Bharat’s 22.4 million people who use the service daily as a part of their economic lives – and that it must grow in parallel as a system that supports India’s industry, commerce, and the ambition of a $5 trillion economy.
This required revolutionizing the way business is conducted. In the past the railways came under classical criticism for its slow rate of growth, and modernisation and infrastructure capacity saturationetc. It still comes from those who are stuck to the classical archaic mind sets without adequate knowledge e. g. the network growth is often criticised for gradual increase to only 68000 km since 1950, without knowing that the crucial growth for capacity augmentation is of the track kmswhich have grown to a massive over 132000 km today.
A ten-year broad comparison of its performance with that of the preceding decade proves the point. During 2014-2024, a total of 31000 km of new tracks were laid against 14900 during 2004-2014. Similarly the cumulative Freight Loading increased to 12660 million tons viz 8473 million tons, IR generated revenue of Rs 18.56 lac crore against 8.64 lac crore, Electrification, saving on carbon foot prints of over 44000 km against 5188 km, world class Dedicated Freight Corridors of 2741 km against nil in the preceding decade, Production of Locos increased to 9168 from 4695 and manufacturing of Coaches to 54000 from 32000. In all parameters of productivity and indices of performance IR has set new records.
Major reform came with merger of the Railway Budget with main budget which many boomers with the steam age mind set still miss for no obvious reasons.
The Railways which suffered on account of lack of finances causing thin spread of resources with huge shelf of pending sanctioned projects, witnessed a focussed inflow of GBS to the tune of Rs 8.25 lac crore during the last decade compared to only Rs.1.56 lac crore in the preceding ten years.
The Railways is soon to have its first train to Srinagar with the tracks to valley having been completed with some of the highest and tallest bridges and longest rail tunnels connecting the network across mighty mountains.
IR is about to become the first major Railway to achieve 100% electrification for its seamless connectivity, reducing dependence on fossil fuel and hugely reducing the carbon footprint.
Proliferation of anti-collision KAVACH across the railway network is also the largest in a mixed traffic railway system.
Indian trains too are going beyond ‘world class’. The Indian Railways has successfully blended advanced global technologies with domestic requirements, aiming for safer, faster, cleaner, and more comfortable trains, keeping the affordability in view to ensure that IR is accessible to all.
Railways with its unique business model bears the losses of passenger business segment from its freight revenues and yet remain profitable. Major developed Railway systems are either privatised and free to fix higher tariffs or are dependent on Govt subsidies for their losses unlike the IR which takes care of all its operating and working expensesand gets Gross Budgetary Support towards its Capex. Its revenue generation targets, despite stiff competition from other modes and depending entirely on derived demand, are successfully achieved registering record performance year on year.
This might come as a surprise to boomers and ’90s kids who recall a humbler era in India.Anything labelled “export quality” used to be priced at a premium, with the best products—described as world-class—reserved for affluent nations in Europe and America. Indians were often provided with substandard goods or services under the guise of some misplaced socio-economic thinking. Generations were compelled to lower their expectations, even for crucial services like the Indian Railways.
However, the post-2014 focus of the Govt. has adopted a determinedly progressive and persuasive approach toward development and infrastructure creation. Modern India deserves a national transporter free from the lack of innovation and a conservative inward looking agenda.
This progress has been achieved while maintaining high levels of localization for essential railway components and scaling up manufacturing facilities to unprecedented levels. Although Vande Bharat trains and their variants attract significant attention, a deeper dive into the Indian Railways’ priorities reveals substantial efforts in several other areas.
India is now set to roll out the world’s most powerful hydrogen trains in the coming months. The development of these 1,200-horsepower (HP) locomotives can be likened to Operation Smiling Buddha, which placed India on the global map as a nuclear superpower.Remarkably, India is now leading the curve, far surpassing “developed” nations, still struggling to create hydrogen trains that are half as powerful. To ensure maximum safety, Germany’s TUV-SUD has conducted a third-party audit of India’s hydrogen trains.
With the establishment of the world’s longest hyperloop test facility, India is emerging as a global leader in the future of transportation. After successfully completing a 422-meter test track in December 2024, the country is now preparing to build a nearly 50-kilometer test track to assess the commercial feasibility of hyperloop travel.
Agreements have been signed with Elon Musk-backed Swiss Pod and France’s SYSTRA. Through international collaborations and increasing global recognition, India is among a select few nations making significant strides toward creating a commercially viable hyperloop system, cementing its status as a technological powerhouse.
Even China has embraced the ‘Make in India’ initiative, with CRRC India actively supporting localization efforts for the Bangalore Metro. The Chinese firm is achieving over 75% local manufacturing of metro coaches, with 50% of the content sourced from India. CRRC aims to increase localization to 90% in future projects. Additionally, by positioning itself as a global hub for CRRC, the facility is poised to handle export orders to West Asia and Africa.
While bullet train rolling stock supply deals with Japan are being finalized, India has already embarked upon domestic manufacturing of high-speed trains. Beyond rolling stock, Plasser India, a subsidiary of the Austrian company Plasser & Theurer, is transforming railway maintenance and construction with its track machines. Their local manufacturing efforts promote self-reliance while supporting global exports.
Indian railways have also embarked upon ambitious projects to connect not only South Asia by Rail with its ‘BBIN initiative’ but has also envisioned connecting India with ASEAN under its ‘Act East Policy’ in the East and with ‘IMEC initiative’ it is planning to connect India with Europe by a Rail- Sea – Rail corridor.
Its PSUs are undertaking export of rolling stock, track infrastructure works and provide consultancies in many Asian and African countries.
With its new trains, modern stations, faster speeds, dedicated freight corridors and high speednetwork, Indian Railways is now a major world class railway system and its story is one India can take to other countries that have not yet fully leveraged the critical role of the railways in catalysing national growth.Viksit Rail Viksit Bharat motto is not to wait and witness a transformation by 2047, for Indian Railways – it is a continuous journey for Bharat and with Bharat, with records, progress and growth milestones being set daily.
(writer is Distinguished Fellow at CRF and Former Member Traffic Railway Board)
