Next 10 yrs to see very high level of capex in railways

New Delhi: The next 10 years will see a very high level of capital expenditure in the railway sector as capacity growth has to be accelerated, so that by 2030 it is ahead of demand, as per the Economic Survey.

Up to 2014, capex on railway was barely Rs 45,980 crore per annum and consequently, the railway was charecterised by high levels of inefficiency and highly congested routes unable to meet the growing demand.

Post 2014, a conscious effort was made to improve the railway sector by substantially increasing the capex, according to Economic Survey 2021-22.

The capex outlay for 2021-22 is Rs 2,15,000 crore which is more than five times the 2014 level. As more projects are taken on hand and several sources of capital funding are developed, capex will increase further in coming years and the railway system will actually emerge as an engine of national growth.

The National Rail Plan lays down the road map for capacity expansion of the railway network by 2030 to cater to growth up to 2050. It envisages the creation of a future ready railway system that is able to not only meet the passenger demand but also increase the modal share of railways in freight to 40-45 per cent from the present level of 26-27 per cent.

The target of 40-45 per cent modal share for railways is necessary from the perspective of sustainability and also from the national commitments made globally for reducing emission levels.

Unlike growth, which is linear, capacity grows in surges (sawtooth curve) depending on project completion timelines.

The National Rail Plan provides a pipeline of projects, which on completion will increase railway capacity to capture 45 per cent of freight traffic. Since the railway is already having a large number of sanctioned projects that need to be completed before taking up new projects, it has been planned to increase railway capacity in two surges.

The first surge is to be provided by the Vision 2024 plan to prioritise and complete sanctioned projects so that railway capacity does not fall far behind the targeted modal share such that by the time capacity is finally created, the traffic would have shifted to another mode. To prevent further bleeding away of modal share, railway capacity enhancing projects have been categorised as super critical and critical.

"58 projects have been identified as Super Critical and are targeted for completion by December 2022. 68 projects have been identified as critical and have been targeted for completion by March 2024. These projects are focussed at increasing capacity on routes that serve major mineral, industrial hubs along with ports and major consumption centres," it said.