Development of Road, Rail, Water, and Air routes

INTRODUCTION

What is transport?
Transport system is like the arteries and veins of the human body. It
helps in connecting one part of the country with the other. The movement of
goods and services, people, from one place to another place and by various
means like air, water and land is known as transportation. It supports the mobility
of passengers and freight.

The transportation system in India is a complex network of transport modes and

is based on the historical developments, geographical features, and cultural and
religious influences of the country. Transport plays a very important role in the
economic development of the country and affects the environment due to global
warming and climate change. With the advancement of technology, transport has
become much cheaper and faster.

Transport infrastructure consists of both fixed installations, including roads,

railways, airways, waterways, canals, and pipelines, and terminals such as
airports, railway stations, bus stations, warehouses, trucking terminals, refueling
depots (including fuel docks and fuel stations), and seaports. Terminals may be
used both for the interchange of passengers and cargo and for maintenance.

Modes of transportation:
A mode of transport is a solution that makes use of a certain type of
vehicle, infrastructure, and operation. The transport of a person or of cargo may
involve one mode or several of the modes, with the latter case being called
inter-modal or multi-modal transport. Each mode has its own advantages and
disadvantages, and will be chosen on the basis of cost, capability, and route.
* Roadways
* Railways
* Water routes
* Air routes

Roadways :
Road is a route between two destination, which has been either
paved or worked on to enable transportation by way of motorised and
non-motorised carriages. Movement along roads may be by bike, automobile,
bus, truck etc..
Automobiles provide high flexibility with low capacity, but require high energy
and area use, and are the main source of harmful noise and air pollution in cities;
buses allow for more efficient travel at the cost of reduced flexibility. Road
transport by truck is often the initial and final stage of freight transport.

The United states has the biggest road network in the world of
68,03,479km. India has the second biggest road network of 63,31,791km. This
network, which includes both paved and unpaved roads, is categorized as Golden
quadrilateral Super highways, National highways, Expressways, State
Highways,District roads, other roads, Broad roads.

Golden Quadrilateral Super Highways: The general public authority has

sent off a big street improvement project connecting
Delhi-Kolkata-Chennai-Mumbai conjointly, city by six-path Super Highways. The
North-South hallways connecting Srinagar (Jammu and Kashmir) and
Kanyakumari (Tamil Nadu), and the East-West passageway interfacing Silchar
(Assam) and Porbandar (Gujarat) area unit are necessary for this endeavor. The
significant goal of those Super Highways is to decrease the time and distance
between the super urban communities of India. This route comes area unit being
administered by the National Highway Authority of India

National highways:
The main roads which are constructed and maintained by the
central government are known as the National highways. These roads are the
backbone of road infrastructure. National highways in India are designed as NH
followed by the state highway numbers. The longest NH is NH7 (7770km).
The traffic on National highways has been increasing due to
industrialization. Government is taking steps to provide hindrance- free traffic
movement. This is done by widening roads, grade seperation, construction of
bypasses, bridges etc….

Expressways:
Expressways are highways planned for high-speed traffic, limited
point of access or exit and a divider between lanes. They usually have 6 to 8
lanes. Major difference between a highway and an expressway is the access
control. These ways have several facilities like access ramps, divider lanes,
telephone booths, CCTV cameras and mobile radors.
The major Expressways of India are:
Bundelkhand Expressway, Purvanchal Expressway( India's longest
expressway), Agra-lucknow expressway, Yamuna Expressway, Mumbai-Pune
expressway etc..

State highways :
The state highways are constructed and maintained by state
governments. These highways provide linkages with the National highways,
district head-quarters, important towns, tourist centers with the state. These
arterial routes provide connectivity to important towns and cities as well as with
the National or State highways of neighboring states.

District Roads:
Roads that connect district headquarters with other places of the
district are called district roads and are maintained by Zila Parishad.

Other Roads: Other roads include the rural

roads and. special impetus is received from the Pradhan Mantri Grameen Sadak
Yojana

Border roads: Border Roads Organisation is a

Government of India undertaking the construction and maintained roads in the
bordering areas of the country. These roads have helped to improve the
accessibility in areas of difficult terrain and economic development of the areas.

Roads can also be classified based on the material used for their construction
into Metalled and Unmetalled roads. Metalled roads are made of cement,
concrete, or bitumen of coal, and unmetalled roads are country roads, which are
not cemented.

Advantages of Roadways:
The main advantage of using roadways are the following:
*It is through the roads that every village and hamlet can be reached.
*Construction cost of roads is much lower than other ways.
* Roads can be constructed even in the areas where railway lines do not exist.
* They offer door to door service, therby reduce the cost of loading and
unloading.
 * The movement of goods is safer through roads as the chances of pilferage
are lesser.
* Road transport supplement other modes of transportation.

Disadvantages of Roadways:
*Many roads are unsurfaced and therefore not suitable for regular
vehicular traffic.
* There are multiple check-points, toll tax etc.., which brings down the
speed of the traffic, wastes time.
* Many roads have inadequate capacity, weak pavements, unbridged level
crossings and lack of safety measures.

Railways:
Rail routes are the necessary methodology of transportation for cargo
and travelers all over the world. It brings people together from farthest corners of
the country for conducting business pilgrimage, sightseeing etc…

Indian Railways is one of the largest railways under a single management. It

carried some 19.8 million passengers and 2.4 million tonnes of freight a day in the
year 2009 and is one of the world’s largest employers. Railways were first
introduced to India in 1853. At present India is one of the largest and busiest rail
network in the world transporting over 18 million people and more than 2 million
tonnes of freight.

Distribution patterns of the railways in the country have influenced

the physiographic, economic, and also administrative factors:

Like the north plains, vast areas of flat lands and high density of populations and
rich agricultural resources provide for favorable conditions of growth and
development. Construction of bridges is required across rivers’ wide beds for
laying railway lines.

In hilly areas, tracts are laid through low hills, gaps, and also tunnels. It is not
easy to lay rail tracts in the Himalayan mountains, the same way in the sandy
plains of the states of Rajasthan, swamps of Gujarat, and forested areas of
Madhya Pradesh.
Construction of Konkan railways in recent times has facilitated movement more
easily in one of the economically vital areas of the country. However, it has faced
problems like sinking tracks in some stretches and also landslides in others.

Track system
Based on the width of the track. The Indian railways are divided into
three categories.

Broad gauge:
The distance between rails is 1.676 m. The total route length of
broad gauge accounts for about 85 percent of the total length of rail route in the
country. Almost all the main routes are broad gauge.
Broad gauge railway line on the west coastal lowland known as Konkan railway
line, is an engineering marvel of Indian railways. It is 760 km long rail route
connecting Roha in Maharashtra to Mangalore in Karnataka. It crosses 146 rivers,
streams, nearly 200 bridges and 91 tunnels.

Metre Gauge:
The distance between the rails is one meter. It accounts for about 11
percent of the total route length.

Narrow gauge:
The distance between the rails is 0.762 m and 0.610 m. It accounts
for about 4 percent of the total route length. It is mainly confined to the hilly
areas.

Important rail routes in India:

Mumbai- Delhi route, Mumbai-Chennai route, Chennai-Delhi route,
Pune-Bangalore route, Gorakhpur-Tinsukia route, Mumbai-Kolkata route.

Metro:
The first modern rapid transit in India is the Kolkata metro. It is a type of
high- capacity public transport that is generally built in Urban areas. It is one of
the modern means of transport.

Advantage Of Railways:
* Railways help in the easy movement of bulky goods and perishable
commodities to distant places.
 * Rail transport is better organized than any other form of transport. It has
fixed routes and schedules.
* High speed over a long distance
*It is a cheaper than other mode of transport as compared to the other
modes of transport.
* Railways is the safest form of transport. The chances of breakdown are
minimum as compared to other modes of transport.
*The climate or disaster like flood does not affect the railways.

Disadvantages of Railways:
*The railway requires a large investment of capital. The cost of
construction and maintenance are very expensive as compared to other modes of
transport.
* Rail transport cannot provide door to door service as it is tied to a
particular track.
*The time and cost of terminal operations are a great disadvantage of rail
transport.
* Unsuitable for short distance and small loads.
* No rural service

Rail transport has arisen collectively as the foremost trustworthy strategy of

transport with regards to somewhere safe and secure. Trains are fast and also the
most unimpacted by common climate turbulences like rain or haze, contrasted
with alternative vehicle instruments. Rail transport is an associate degree
empowering agent of financial advancement, accustomed activate merchandise
further as people. Variations incorporate traveler rail lines, underground railroad
metro railroads, and merchandise carriages.

Water ways:
Water transport is the process of transport that a watercraft, such
as a bart, ship or sailboat, makes over a body of water, such as a sea, ocean, lake,
canal, or river. If a boat or other vessel can successfully pass through a waterway
it is known as a navigable waterway. The need for buoyancy unites watercraft,
and makes the hull a dominant aspect of its construction, maintenance and
appearance.

India is endowed with an extensive network of waterways in the form of rivers,

canals, backwaters, creeks, and a long coastline accessible through the seas and
the oceans. Passengers and goods are transported by oceans, seas , canals and
other waterways. Water transport plays a key role in international trade.
Exhaustible goods can be transported to long distances at less expenditure by
waterways.
Water transport can be divided into two categories:-
a) Inland waterways
b) Oceanic waterways

Inland waterways:
Inland waterways include rivers, canals, backwaters, and creeks which
are deep enough to allow ships and boats to navigate safely. These waterways
must also be free of barriers such as waterfalls and rapids. Inland Waterways
Authority of India is responsible for regulating and developing Inland waterways
for shipping and navigation. It also responsible for building the necessary
infrastructure in these waterways.

The five operational National waterways are:

1) National waterway No.1:
It comprises more than 1620 kms of potentially navigable
waterways. Ganga-Bhagirathi Hooghly. River system which connects
Haldia-Kolkata - Farakka- Munger- Patna- Varanasi- Allahabad.

2) National waterway No:2:

The Brahmaputra river waterway between Sadhya and Dhubri (891 km).

3) National waterway No.3:

It runs from Kollam to Kottapuram. It comprises 168 km of west coast
canal along with Champakara canal and Udyogamandal canal.

4) National Waterway No.4:

Specified stretches of Godavari and Krishna waterways aboard the
Kakinada Puducherry stretch of canals (1078 km).

National waterway No.5:

Specified stretches of Brahmani aboard black pine waterway, Delta
channels of Mahanadi and Brahmani streams, and geographic region canal (588
km).

Some important inland waterways on which much of the transport takes place
include the Mandavi, Zuari, Clumberjua, Sunderbans and also the backwaters of
Kerala.
Oceanic waterways :
Oceanic waterways constitute an important role in the transport sector
of India's economy. Ocean routes handle 95 percent of India's foreign trade by
volume and about 70 percent by value. Besides International trade, these routes
are also used for transportation between the islands and the rest of the country.

Ports:
India has a long constitute of 7517 km forming one of the biggest
peninsulas in the world. It has 12 major ports and 187 notified minor and
intermediate ports. Major ports handle over 80 percent of all cargo traffic. These
ports have been classified into Major, minor and Intermediate type.

Major sea port: India has a long coastline of about 7,516.6

km and is dotted with 12 major and around 200 notified non-major ports and
major ports handle around 95 percent of the foreign trade.
Kandla in Kuchchh was the principal port to be created when autonomy. It is
otherwise known as the Deendayal Port.

Mumbai is the greatest port with a spacious traditional and extremely abundant
secure harbor.

Mormugao port (Goa) is the head iron metal commerce port of India. This port
exports fifty percent of iron ore.

Mangalore port, placed in Mysore takes special care of the merchandise of iron
minerals. Kochi is the super southwestern port, placed at the entry of a periodic
event lake.

Kochchi is situated in the extreme southwestern port, which is located at the

entrance of a lagoon with a natural harbor.

Tuticorin port is organized in the super southeast. The city is one of the foremost
established faux ports of India.

Chennai is one of the oldest artificial ports in the country and is ranked next to
Mumbai in terms of volume of trade and cargo.
Vishakhapatnam is the most profound inland and everyone around safeguarded
port nine. Paradip port placed in Odisha has sensible expertise in the product of
iron metal.

Paradip port is located in Odisha and specializes in the export of iron ore.

Kolkata is an inland riverine port and serves as a very large and rich hinterland
for the Ganga-Brahmaputra basin. As it is a tidal port, it requires constant
dredging of Hooghly.

Haldia port was developed as a subsidiary port, to relieve the growing pressure
on Kolkata port

Advantages of waterways:
* It is most suitable for carrying heavy and bulky material.
* It is a fuel efficient and eco-friendly mode of transport.
* Water transport is safe and has less traffic in comparison to road and air
transport.
* Water transport plays an important role in foreign trade. India's water
transport is mainly depend on water transport.
* Maintenance cost of water transport is quite less.

Disadvantages of Waterways:
● It is a slow means of transport.
● Water transport is more risky as compared to other modes of transport.
● It depends on weather conditions
● Water transport is limited to areas where river are navigable and oceanic
routes exist.

Air routes:
The air is the fastest most agreeable, and lofty methodology of
transport. It can cover undeniably difficult landscapes like high mountains, vast
desserts, thick timberlands and long maritime stretches effortlessly.

Air transport in India started with a 10 km air mail operation between Allahabad
and Naini in 1911. At present India has both domestic and international airlines.
They carry passengers, freight, mail.
The air transport in India was managed by two corporations - Air India and Indian
airlines. These two merged into one in 2007 and is called Air India. With this
merger Air India became the 16th largest Airline in Asia, serving 100 domestic
destinations and 70 international routes and serving over 100 cities.

PawnHans:
Pawn hans helicopters Ltd was established in 1985 with the primary objective
of providing helicopter support services to the oil sector in offshore exploration,
operate in the hilly and inaccessible areas and make available charter flights for
promotion of tourism.

Some major airports in India:

● Indira Gandhi international airport
● Chennai international airport
● Kempegowda international airport
● Cochin international airport
● Chatrapati shivaji maharaj international airport

Advantages of Air routes:

● Air is the type of freight capable of traveling long distances in short period
of time.
● It is the quickest mode of transport
● The speed and ease with which airplanes can cross mountains, barriers,
sandy deserts, large expanses of water or forests.
● One of the greatest advantages for both passengers and goods is its great
reliability.
● Air travel is known as the safest mode of transportation.

Disadvantages of of airways:
● Perhaps the most significant drawback of air transport is its cost.
● Air transport is highly weather dependent are often delayed due to bad
weather.
● Air transport can carry small tonnage but it has high freight charges.
● Air travel is the riskiest mode of transport, since there can be considerable
losses to goods, customer and crews as a result of minor crash.

Conclusion:
Railways, roads, airways and waterways are included in the transportation.
The role of transport network, which connects various regions, is important for
sustainable economic and social development of India. ... In India, distribution of
various goods has become mainly possible through transport routes

By adopting an integrated approach and prioritizing customer experience, India

can create a sustainable, efficient, and user friendly public transport system that
mitigates the negative externalities of congestion, pollution, and road fatalities
while fostering economic productivity. This investment in public transportation us
not just a necessity; it's a path toward a more sustainable and livable urban
future for the country..