Riding the Tracks of Time: Indian Railways – An Unfinished Revolution

Abstract

This paper examines the building of railway tracks in India prior to 1947 and, to a limited extent, the construction of railway lines in countries such as the US, Russia, Japan, the UK, and China. Prior to India’s independence and, particularly in the 19th century, the laying of railway lines involved high human costs and resulted in substantial profits for British financiers, intermediaries, and Indian producers of goods and agricultural products. This led to beneficial consequences for the Indian  economy, although these were limited by design. The gradual yet steady development of Indian railway networks from the mid-nineteenth century until Indian independence, almost a hundred years later, made it increasingly easier for British India to exercise greater administrative and military control over the entire Indian subcontinent. The development of India’s railway networks could have contributed more to the industrialisation of pre-independent India. This did not occur, and the paper discusses a few illustrative causal reasons driven by British colonial economic imperatives. The last section of this paper moves from the post-Indian independence 1950s to the 2020s and compares the extent to which the current state of Indian Railways lags behind railway systems in developed countries and China.

Two significant reports on the functioning of the Indian Railways and recommendations for reforms
were submitted by committees headed by Rakesh Mohan in 2001 and 2014. Subsequently, another
central government-appointed committee headed by Bibek Debroy submitted its suggestions on reforms in 2015. It has been 22 years since the submission of the first report in 2001. Unfortunately, little forward movement has been achieved in implementing the systemic reforms which were recommended. For instance, Indian Railways could have become a corporation by now, as recommended by the aforementioned committees, and the construction of dedicated freight corridors could have progressed much further than what has been achieved. The lack of progress on several fronts is also attributed to Indian Railways not adding at least another 20,000 kilometres of broad-gauge railway tracks between 1947 and 2023. There are continuing economic and social welfare opportunity costs of not taking the required steps to get freight and passenger trains to run faster. It is also crucial to bring greater transparency and independence from government intervention in the financial statements of Indian Railways.

This paper highlights the: (a) high returns for financiers based in the UK and the administrative-control reasons for the development of Indian Railways by the British; (b) the remarkably long lengths of railway tracks laid between 1857 and 1947; (c) significant achievements post-Indian independence in building broad-gauge railway tracks, achieving high levels of electrification, and constructing dedicated freight corridors (DFCs); and (d) the unimplemented recommendations of Indian government-appointed committees.