The many challenges for Railways

Transport is often understood as the means to an end — the carrier of people and commercial activity — but not the activity itself.

- COMMENT M JAMSHED

But as history and geopolitics routinely show us, from the rise of the Roman Empire to the creation of the United States and the coming together of independent India, to the complex political landscape of war in West Asia today, transport infrastructure is national and nationalising infrastructure, and the brass tacks and raw material of national and regional growth.

This is especially true when it is a public sector enterprise like the Railways in India. This mammoth operation carries over 20 million passengers and four million tonnes of freight traffic daily on its network spread across 69,000 route km: it is unprecedented in scale. It is the fourth largest rail network in the world, and the largest operating under a single management globally. More importantly, it has been efficient and impactful, driving forward development through India's earliest days as a developing power, in its farthest reaches, and for its most vulnerable populations.

Through network expansion, consistent traffic output, economical freight and fare structures, and integrating people and economies of remote areas and regions, this railway system has relentlessly contributed to national growth and development.

Budget 2025-26 provides the Ministry of Railways' financial profile at an unprecedented ₹5.65 trillion, including revenue budget of ₹3.02 trillion (freight revenues estimated at ₹1.88 trillion and passenger earnings pegged at ₹92,800 crore), and the allocations towards its capex at ₹2.62 trillion. Revenue budget 2025-26 also indicates IR's working expenses pegged at ₹2.96 trillion and a precarious operating Ratio of 98.4 per cent. This unprecedented financial profile must also be viewed against the performance, both physical and financial, of Railways during the last "transformative" decade.