Market Research

Market research on Indian Railways

1. About railways

State-owned enterprise, owned and operated by the Government of India through the Ministry of Railways.

Founded- 16 April 1853

Revenue-1634.5 billion(US$25 billion) (2014–15)

Profit-157.8 billion(US$2.4 billion) (2013–14)

Number of emloyees- 1.307 million

Divisions- 17 railway zones

The total length of track used by Indian Railways is about 115,000 km(71,000 mi)(4th largest railway network)

About 24,891 km (15,467 mi) or 38% of the route-kilometer was electrified

The Indian Railways operate in four different gauges-(i) broad gauge (width 1.676 meters)(high stability), (ii) meter gauge (1.000 meter), (iii) narrow gauge (0.762 meter), and (iv) lift gauge (0.610 meter).

Guage Details

Indian Railways uses four gauges:

* 1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in) Broad Gauge(BG), which is also called Indian gauge,

* 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 3⁄8 in) metre gauge (MG),

* 762 mm (2 ft 6 in) Narrow Gauge(NG), and

* 610 mm (2 ft) Narrow Gauge.

Reason for conversion

A broad-gauge network allows bigger trains, higher speeds, and more stability. However, it costs more than smaller gauge. For India, which has one of the world's highest population densities, broad-gauge allows comfortable travel for high volumes of travellers, and is deemed to be economically feasible in the long term.

Total area covered by indian railways in different years

Types of coaches.

1. Unreserved coach (also called General Coach) UR

2. 2nd sitting (or Non AC Chair car) 2S

3. Sleeper (SL)

4. 3E (3rd AC economy class) 

5. 3rd AC ( 3AC Standard)

6. 2nd AC

7. 1AC

8. First Class

Types of locomotives

Locomotives in India consist of electric and diesel locomotives.

Passenger coaches

The coaches used in Indian Railways is produced at Integral Coach Factory, Rail Coach Factory

Freight

Indian Railways earns about 70% of its revenues from freight traffic. Most of its profits come from transporting freight, and this...