(GIST OF YOJANA) National Rail Plan

(October-2023)

National Rail Plan

Introduction :

Indian Railways has prepared a National Rail Plan (NRP) for India – 2030. The plan is to create a ‘future-ready’ railway system by 2030. The NRP is aimed at formulating strategies based on both operational capacities and commercial policy initiatives to increase the modal share of the railways in freight to 45%. The objective of the plan is to create capacity ahead of demand, which in turn would also cater to future growth in demand right up to 2050, increase the modal share of railways to 45% in freight traffic, and continue to sustain it.

Vision:

To develop capacity and infrastructure and enhance rail freight share ahead of demand. Develop capacity by 2030 that will cater to growing demand up to 2050. The key objectives of the National Rail Plan are:

Formulate strategies based on both operational capacities and commercial policy initiatives to increase the modal share of the railways in freight to 45%.
Reduce transit time of freight substantially by increasing the average speed of freight trains to 50 kmph.
As part of the National Rail Plan, Vision 2024 has been launched for the accelerated implementation of certain critical projects by 2024, such as 100% electrification, multitracking of congested routes, upgradation of speed to 160 kmph on Delhi-Howrah and Delhi-Mumbai routes, upgradation of speed to 130 kmph on all other Golden Quadrilateral Golden Diagonal (GQ/GD) routes, and elimination of all Level Crossings on all GQ/GD route.
Identify new Dedicated Freight Corridors.
Identify new High Speed Rail Corridors.
Assess the rolling stock requirement for passenger traffic as well as wagon requirement for freight.
Assess the locomotive requirement to meet twin objectives of 100% electrification (Green Energy) and increasing freight modal share.
Assess the total investment in capital that would be required, along with a periodical breakup.
Sustained involvement of the Private Sector in areas like operations and ownership of rolling stock, development of freight and passenger terminals, development and operations of track infrastructure, etc.