Write a note on railways in Asia.
Answers
Indian Railways is the biggest Government institution of India which gives more than 17 Lakh people employment. Indian Railways is the biggest railway system in Asia and the second biggest railway system of the world. In India the first train was run between Mumbai and Thane.
Lord Dalhousie was the Governor-General of India at that time the train was running by coal Railway Engine.
The Britishers started the railway system to exploit the resources of India and carry the raw material from different parts of India to the ports for export the material to England and when the manufactured goods came to the ports from England then disbursed these goods all over the country within a very short time.
During the freedom struggle the freedom fighters apposed the extension of railway network in the country because the railway system used by the Britishers for fulfilling and their interests were in the exploitation of India their own interests.
After independence there is a new chapter started in the development of Railway Government of India established its separate Ministry of Railways. The total responsibility of Railways is on the Ministry of Railways.
The State Government have no authority to interfere in Railway Network. From the time of independence the developing process of Railways is very rapidly moving now the old coal engines are almost finished and Diesel and electric engines are using and the Government is determinate to replace all diesel engines with electric engines.
The Electric Engines cause no pollution and its performance is better than Diesel Engine. Now there are eleven zones in Railways. Now total length of Indian Railways is about 65,000 kilometers long railway track in which almost 15,000 kilometers are electric lines.
About 12,000 trains go one place to another everyday. Railway is like a life line to the people of India. The importance of Railway is known by the fact that every year just before the common budget of Government of India a separate Railway budget is present in the parliament by the Railway Minister.
Railway is regularly working for giving the good facilities of their Passengers. Government of India established a separate Paramilitary Force R.P.F. (Railway Protection Force). The main working of R.P.F. is to protect the property and passengers of the Railway.
The jawans of R.P.F. are always travelled with express trains and mails. Railway has its different telephone department which is totally different from Department of Telecom, Government of India.
Railway has their separate audit departments which audit all accounts of Indian Railways. These audits department of Railways is totally different from CAG (Controller and Auditor General of India).
Railway provides Residence and Medical Aid to their employees. We easily see a residential coloney and a dispensary near every Railway Station. There are almost 7,500 small and big Railway Stations in India. Railway is also help the Indian people in their trade almost 30-40% goods are carried by Railway in different parts of country.
Railway is also play important role during any national calamity and any accidents. Railways provides the food, medicines, doctors and other help in very short time and very rapidly take the affected people towards the secure places at the time of any natural calamity.
We saw that in floods, earthquakes, ocean storm the Railway provide full support to the people as much help as possible. The Railway have the facility for all segments of society.
For the people of economic weaker segment there is a general class, above it there is a second class in which people got the sleeping facility by reservation. Above them there is first class. It is very costly because the seat of first class is very big and comfortable and you can close your chamber and free from any disturbance in the compartment.
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Map of world railway network (interactive map)
16th century minecart, an example of early rail transport
KTT train, used by the MTR Corporation Limited in Hong Kong on the Guangdong Through Train (KCRC) route, an example of modern rail transport
A DR2800 series passing Sijiaoting railway station in Ruifang District, New Taipei, Taiwan
A SL Hitoyoshi steam hauled excursion train operated between Kumamoto and Hitoyoshi in Kyushu, Japan
Rolling stock in a rail transport system generally encounters lower frictional resistance than rubber-tired road vehicles, so passenger and freight cars (carriages and wagons) can be coupled into longer trains. The operation is carried out by a railway company, providing transport between train stations or freight customer facilities. Power is provided by locomotives which either draw electric power from a railway electrification system or produce their own power, usually by diesel engines or, historically, steam engines. Most tracks are accompanied by a signalling system. Railways are a safe land transport system when compared to other forms of transport.[Nb 1] Railway transport is capable of high levels of passenger and cargo utilization and energy efficiency, but is often less flexible and more capital-intensive than road transport, when lower traffic levels are considered.
The oldest known, man/animal-hauled railways date back to the 6th century BC in Corinth, Greece. Rail transport then commenced in mid 16th century in Germany in the form of horse-powered funiculars and wagonways. Modern rail transport commenced with the British development of the steam locomotives in the early 19th century. Thus the railway system in Great Britain is the oldest in the world. Built by George Stephenson and his son Robert's company Robert Stephenson and Company, the Locomotion No. 1 is the first steam locomotive to carry passengers on a public rail line, the Stockton and Darlington Railway in 1825. George Stephenson also built the first public inter-city railway line in the world to use only the steam locomotives all the time, the Liverpool and Manchester Railway which opened in 1830. With steam engines, one could construct mainline railways, which were a key component of the Industrial Revolution. Also, railways reduced the costs of shipping, and allowed for fewer lost goods, compared with water transport, which faced occasional sinking of ships. The change from canals to railways allowed for "national markets" in which prices varied very little from city to city. The spread of the railway network and the use of railway timetables, led to the standardisation of time (railway time) in Britain based on Greenwich Mean Time. Prior to this, major towns and cities varied their local time relative to GMT. The invention and development of the railway in the United Kingdom was one of the most important technological inventions of the 19th century. The world's first underground railway, the Metropolitan Railway (part of the London Underground), opened in 1863.
In the 1880s, electrified trains were introduced, leading to electrification of tramways and rapid transit systems. Starting during the 1940s, the non-electrified railways in most countries had their steam locomotives replaced by diesel-electric locomotives, with the process being almost complete by the 2000s. During the 1960s, electrified high-speed railway systems were introduced in Japan and later in some other countries. Many countries are in the process of replacing diesel locomotives with electric locomotives, mainly due to environmental concerns, a notable example being Switzerland, which has completely electrified its network. Other forms of guided ground transport outside the traditional railway definitions, such as monorail or maglev, have been tried but have seen limited use.
Following a decline after World War II due to competition from cars and airplanes, rail transport has had a revival in recent decades due to road congestion and rising fuel prices, as well as governments investing in rail as a means of reducing CO2 emissions in the context of concerns about global warming.
History