Book by BestCurrentAffairs.com for IAS Prelims 2020
TRANSPORT
The rolling stock fleet of Indian Railways in services comprised 39 steam, 6,023 diesel and 5,399 electric locomotives. About 35.32 per cent of the route kilometre and 47.09 per cent of running track kilometre and 48.26 per cent of total track kilometre is electrified. The network is divided into 17 zones. The 17 zones and their respective headquarters are given here:
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There are thirteen undertakings under the administrative control of the Ministry of Railways, viz., (i) RITES Ltd., (ii) IRCON International Limited, (iii) Indian Railway Finance Corporation Limited (IRFC), (iv) Container Corporation of India Limited (CONCOR), (v) Konkan Railway Corporation Limited (KRCL), (vi) Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation Limited (MRVC) (vii) Indian Railway Catering & Tourism Corporation Ltd. (IRCTC), (viii) Railtel Corporation of India Ltd. (Rail Tel), (ix) Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd. (RVNL), (x) Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Limited (DFCCIL), (xi) Bharat Wagon and Engineering Co. Ltd. (BWEL), (xii) Burn Standard Company Limited (BSCL) and (xiii) Braithwaite and Company Limited (BCL). The Research Design and Standards Organization (RDSO) at Lucknow is the R&D wing of Indian Railways. Though a part of the overall financial figures of the Government of India, the Railway Budget was being presented separately to Parliament since 1924- 25 owing to the Separation Convention of 1924. The Railways had its own 16 demands for grants, which also used to be considered and passed by the Parliament separately. The main reason behind the Separation Convention was to secure stability for civil estimates as the Railway finance used to be a sizeable part of the general finances. The Government decided to merge the Railway Budget with the general Budget from the 2017-18. In pre-independence period, electrification remained confined to 388 Route Kilometers (RKMs) and it is only in the post independence period that further electrification was taken up. Since then, there has been no looking back and the Indian Railways has slowly but steadily electrified its routes. By March, 2018,
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The Indian Railways have been a great integrating force during the last more than 164 years. It has bound the economic life of the country and helped in accelerating the development of industry and agriculture. From a very modest beginning in 1853, when the first train steamed off from Mumbai to Thane, a distance of 34 kms, Indian Railways have grown into a vast network of 7,349 stations spread over a route length of 67,368 km with a fleet of 11,461 locomotives, 53,453 passenger service vehicles, 6,714 other coaching vehicles and 2,77,987 wagons. The growth of Indian Railways in the 165 years of its existence is thus phenomenal. It has played a vital role in the economic industrial and social development of the country. The network runs multi-gauge operations extending over 67,368 route kilometers.
India Year Book 2020 Synopsis
[BestCurrentAffairs.com]
Page No.104
