What’s wrong with Indian Railways?

From the construction of the first railroad in India that began in 1850, and the first train that was run on April 16, 1853 from Bombay (now Mumbai) to Thana (Thane), to the unimaginable growth of the railway network, the India’s biggest Public Sector Undertaking has come a long way. Today, Indian Railways has the honor of being called one of the largest and busiest rail networks in the world.

India Railways is an extremely critical component not only in India’ s  economic revival but also in national integration. However the state of Indian railways is in shambles. Since independence, it  has added just around 11,000 kilometers of track (China by  contrast  added  14,000  kilometers  between  2006  and  2011  alone). Further revenues  have  grown  at  a  mere  2.8  per  cent compounded annual growth rate while cost have risen sharply by close to 11 per cent compounded annual growth rate. More than 60 per cent of modernization and capacity-building projects announced or in various stages of implementation over the years, are financially non-viable.  And  these  are  only  some  of  the  figures  that  tell  a  story  of  neglect  and  policy  paralysis Indian Railways has suffered from.