An efficient rail network to boost last mile connectivity in India

India has the fourth largest railway network with over 22,593 operating trains (9141 freight and 13,452 passengers) with a daily passenger count of 24 million passengers and 203.88 million tonnes of freight Indian Railways’ revenue reached $23.30 billion in FY22 (Until March 10, 2022). 2021). In the case of freight earnings, it experienced year-on-year growth of 21.81%. Following are some initiatives and developments in the Railway Industry.Under the Union Budget 2022-23, the government allocated Rs 1,40,367.13 crore to the Ministry of Railways.India is rolling out 400 Vande Bharat trains that are expected to bring Rs. 40,000 crore of business opportunity for the country. In November 2021, Indian Railways announced that ~102 semi-high- speed Vande Bharat Expresses are expected to commence operations by 2024, with at least 10 new trains scheduled to launch by August 2022 that will connect 40 cities. In October 2021, India and Nepal signed an MoU (Memorandum of Understanding), for a proposed US$ 3.15 billion railway line project, to connect Kathmandu and the Indian border town, Raxaul and the Central Government approved the implementation of a 235 km semi-high-speed rail corridor between Pune and Nashik in Maharashtra worth Rs. 16,039 crore.In February 2021, Indian Railways called for a ‘Request for Qualification (RFQ)’ for redeveloping the New Delhi railway station under a public-private partnership, with an estimated project cost of Rs. 5,000 crore.‘Adarsh’ Station Scheme has been started in 2009-10 and presently, railway stations are upgraded/modernised based on identified need of providing better-enhanced passenger amenities at stations.The Indian Railways has decided to undertake electrification of Broad Gauge (BG) rail lines in a mission mode and is likely to complete the process by 2023-24 with an allocated budget of Rs. 21,000 crore (US$ 2.8 billion). As of March 31, 2022, out of 65,141 RKM of broad gauge network, including Konkan Railway Corporation Limited (KRCL), 52,247 broad gauges (BG) RKMs have been electrified, which is 80.20 percent of the total BG network. In October 2021, Indian Railways announced a plan to establish ~500 multi-modal cargo terminals under the ‘PM GatiShakti’ programme, with an estimated outlay of Rs. 50,000 crore (US$ 6.68 billion) in four-five years. References: TimesNow, IBEF, Economic Times