Transport in India - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Transport in the Republic of India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

is an important part of the nation's economy

Economy of India

The Economy of India is the ninth largest in the world by nominal GDP and the fourth largest by purchasing power parity . The country is a part of the G-20 major economies and the BRICS, in addition to being partners of the ASEAN. India has a per capita GDP of $3,608 as per 2010 figures, making it...

. Since the economic liberalisation of the 1990s, development of infrastructure within the country has progressed at a rapid pace, and today there is a wide variety of modes of transport by land, water and air. However, India's relatively low GDP has meant that access to these modes of transport has not been uniform.

Motor vehicle penetration is low by international standards, with only 13 million cars on the nation's roads

Indian Road Network

India has a road network of over 3.314 million kilometres of roadway, making it the third largest road network in the world. At 0.66 km of highway per square kilometer of land the density of India’s highway network is slightly higher than that of the United States and far higher than...

. In addition, only around 10% of Indian households own a motorcycle

Motorcycle

A motorcycle is a single-track, two-wheeled motor vehicle. Motorcycles vary considerably depending on the task for which they are designed, such as long distance travel, navigating congested urban traffic, cruising, sport and racing, or off-road conditions.Motorcycles are one of the most...

. At the same time, the automobile industry in India is rapidly growing with an annual production of over 2.6 million vehicles, and vehicle volume is expected to rise greatly in the future.

In the interim however, public transport still remains the primary mode of transport for most of the population, and India's public transport systems are among the most heavily used in the world. India's rail network

Rail transport in India

Rail transport is a commonly used mode of long-distance transportation in India. Almost all rail operations in India are handled by a state-owned organisation, Indian Railways, Ministry of Railways. The rail network traverses the length and breadth of the country, covering a total length of...

is the longest and fourth most heavily used system in the world, transporting over 6 billion

EMD E9

The EMD E9 was a , A1A-A1A passenger train-hauling diesel locomotive built by General Motors' Electro-Motive Division of La Grange, Illinois between April 1954 and January 1964. 100 cab-equipped lead A units were produced, along with 44 cabless booster B units. All were for service within the...

passengers and over 350 million tons of freight

Cargo

Cargo is goods or produce transported, generally for commercial gain, by ship, aircraft, train, van or truck. In modern times, containers are used in most intermodal long-haul cargo transport.-Marine:...

annually.

Despite ongoing improvements in the sector, several aspects of the transport sector are still riddled with problems due to outdated infrastructure, lack of investment, corruption and a burgeoning population. The demand for transport infrastructure and services has been rising by around 10% a year with the current infrastructure being unable to meet these growing demands. According to recent estimates by Goldman Sachs, India will need to spend 1.7 trillion on infrastructure projects over the next decade to boost economic growth, of which 500 billion is budgeted to be spent during the Eleventh Five-Year Plan.

Traditional means

Walking

In ancient times, people often covered long distances on foot. For instance, Adi Sankaracharya

Adi Shankara

Adi Shankara Adi Shankara Adi Shankara (IAST: pronounced , (Sanskrit: , ) (788 CE - 820 CE), also known as ' and ' was an Indian philosopher from Kalady of present day Kerala who consolidated the doctrine of advaita vedānta...

travelled all over India. Walking still constitutes an important mode of transport in urban areas. In the city of Mumbai

Mumbai

Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...

, to further improve the transit conditions for pedestrians, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority

Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority

Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority , commonly abbreviated as MMRDA, is a body of the Government of Maharashtra that is responsible for the infrastructure development of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region...

, has commenced the construction of more than 50 skywalks, as part of the Mumbai Skywalk project. Similar Footover Bridge projects have been initiated in other cities, in an attempt to facilitate the movement of pedestrians. The concepts of zebra crossing, footpath and right of way of pedestrians are absent in many urban and semi-urban centres of India, making pedestrians highly prone to accidents and fatalities.

Palanquin

Palanquins, also known as palkis, were one of the luxurious methods used by the rich and noblemen for travelling. This was primarily used in the past to carry a deity or idol of a god, and many temples have sculptures of god being carried in a palki. Later on, it was primarily used by European noblemen and ladies from the upper classes of society prior to the advent of the railways in India. Modern use of the palanquin is limited to Indian wedding

Indian wedding

South Asian weddings are very bright events, filled with ritual and celebration, that continue for several days. They are generally not small affairs, with anywhere between 100 to 10,000 people attending. Often, it is possible that many of the attendees are unknown to the bride and groom themselves...

Bullock carts and horse carriages

Bullock carts have been traditionally used for transport, especially in rural India. The arrival of the British

British Raj

British Raj was the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; The term can also refer to the period of dominion...

saw drastic improvements in the horse carriages which were used for transport since early days. Today, they are used in smaller towns and are referred as Tonga

Tanga (carriage)

A tanga or tonga is a light horse-drawn carriage used for transportation in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh....

or buggies. Victorias of Mumbai

Victoria (carriage)

The victoria was an elegant French carriage, possibly based on a phaeton made for King George IV of the United Kingdom. A victoria may be visualised as essentially a phaeton with the addition of a coachman's box-seat....

are still used for tourist purposes, but horse carriages are now rarely found in the metro cities of India. In recent years some cities have banned the movement of bullock carts and other slow moving vehicles on the main roads.

Bicycles

Bicycle

A bicycle, also known as a bike, pushbike or cycle, is a human-powered, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A person who rides a bicycle is called a cyclist, or bicyclist....

s are a common mode of travel in much of India. More people can now afford to own a cycle than ever before. In 2005, more than 40% of Indian households owned a bicycle, with ownership rates ranging from around 30% to 70% at the state level. Along with walking, cycling accounts for 50 to 75 % of the commuter trips for those in the informal sector in urban areas.

Even though India is the second largest producer of bicycles in the world, a significant prejudice against bicycle riding for transport exists in some segments of the population, generally stemming from the status symbol aspect of the motor vehicle. In India, the word "bike" generally refers to motorcycle

Motorcycle

, and "cycle" refers to bicycle

Bicycle

.

Pune

Pune

Pune , is the eighth largest metropolis in India, the second largest in the state of Maharashtra after Mumbai, and the largest city in the Western Ghats. Once the centre of power of the Maratha Empire, it is situated 560 metres above sea level on the Deccan plateau at the confluence of the Mula ...

was the first city in India to have dedicated lanes for cycles. It was built for the 2008 Commonwealth Youth Games

2008 Commonwealth Youth Games

The 2008 Commonwealth Youth Games were held in Pune, India, a city in the state of Maharashtra. They were the third Commonwealth Youth Games, which are held every four years; they were the first Commonwealth Youth Games to be held in Asia....

.

However, recent developments in Delhi

Delhi

Delhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...

suggest that bicycle riding is fast becoming popular in the metro cities of India. The Delhi government has decided to construct separate bicycle lanes on all major roads to combat pollution and ease traffic congestion.

Hand-pulled rickshaw

This type of transport are still available in Kolkata

Kolkata

Kolkata , formerly known as Calcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River, it was the commercial capital of East India...

wherein a person pulls the rickshaw by hand. The Government of West Bengal

Government of West Bengal

The Government of West Bengal also known as the State Government of West Bengal, or locally as State Government, is the supreme governing authority of the Indian state of West Bengal and its 19 districts...

proposed a ban on these rickshaws in 2005 describing them as "inhuman". Though a bill aiming to address this issue, termed as 'Calcutta Hackney Carriage Bill', was passed by the West Bengal Assembly in 2006, it has not been implemented yet. The Government of West Bengal is working on an amendment of this bill to avoid the loopholes that got exposed when the Hand-pulled Rickshaw Owner's Association filed a petition against the bill.

Cycle rickshaw

The cycle rickshaw is a small-scale local means of transport; it is also known by a variety of other names such as velotaxi, pedicab, bikecab, cyclo, becak, trisikad, or trishaw or, simply, rickshaw which also refers to auto rickshaws, and the, now uncommon, rickshaws pulled by a person on foot...

s were introduced into India in the 1940s. They are bigger than a tricycle where two people sit on an elevated seat at the back and a person pedals from the front. In the late 2000s, they were banned in several cities for causing traffic congestion. Cycle rickshaws have been a feature of Delhi streets since Indian independence in 1947, providing the cheapest way around the capital. The Delhi Police recently submitted an affidavit against plying of cycle rickshaws to ease traffic congestion in the city but it was dismissed by the Delhi High court. In addition, environmentalists have supported the retention of cycle rickshaws as a non-polluting and inexpensive mode of transport.

Trams

The advent of the British saw tram

Tram

A tram is a passenger rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets and also sometimes on separate rights of way. It may also run between cities and/or towns , and/or partially grade separated even in the cities...

s being introduced in many cities including Mumbai and Kolkata. They are still in use in Kolkata and provide an emission-free means of transport. The nationalized Calcutta Tramways Company

Calcutta Tramways Company

The Calcutta Tramways Company Limited is a West Bengal, India government-run company which runs trams in Kolkata and buses in and around Kolkata...

is in the process of upgrading the existing tramway network at a cost of .
Presently the limited tram system in India is extremely slow and technologically backward, new light rail projects are being proposed rather than tram projects which have one reason or another not been very successful in the country

Local transport

Public transport is the predominant mode of motorised local travel in cities. This is predominantly by road, since commuter rail services are available only in the six metropolitan

Metropolitan area

The term metropolitan area refers to a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories, sharing industry, infrastructure, and housing. A metropolitan area usually encompasses multiple jurisdictions and municipalities: neighborhoods, townships,...

cities of Mumbai

Mumbai

, Delhi

Delhi

, Chennai

Chennai

Chennai , formerly known as Madras or Madarasapatinam , is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal. Chennai is the fourth most populous metropolitan area and the sixth most populous city in India...

, Bangalore

Bangalore

Bengaluru , formerly called Bengaluru is the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. Bangalore is nicknamed the Garden City and was once called a pensioner's paradise. Located on the Deccan Plateau in the south-eastern part of Karnataka, Bangalore is India's third most populous city and...

, Hyderabad and Kolkata

Kolkata

Kolkata , formerly known as Calcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River, it was the commercial capital of East India...

, while dedicated city bus services are known to operate in at least 25 cities with a population of over one million. Intermediate public transport modes like tempos and cycle rickshaws assume importance in medium size cities. However, the share of buses is negligible in most Indian cities as compared to personalized vehicles, and two-wheelers and cars account for more than 80 percent of the vehicle population in most large cities.

Traffic in Indian cities generally moves slowly, where traffic jams and accidents are very common. India has very poor records on road safely—around 90,000 people die from road accidents every year. At least 13 people die every hour in road accidents in the country,also in the year 2007 road accidents claimed more than 130,000 lives, overtaking China.
A Reader's Digest

Reader's Digest

Reader's Digest is a general interest family magazine, published ten times annually. Formerly based in Chappaqua, New York, its headquarters is now in New York City. It was founded in 1922, by DeWitt Wallace and Lila Bell Wallace...

study of traffic congestion in Asian cities ranked several Indian cities within the Top Ten for worst traffic.

Buses

The oldest Indian state transport under taking is "North Bengal State Transport Corporation" founded by the Raj Durbar regime in the year 1945, the 1st April.With three buses and three trucks.Is still vibrant and running providing service to hundreds of commuters of North Bengal region of West Bengal. link nbstc.co.in
Buses take up over 90% of public transport in Indian cities, and serve as a cheap and convenient mode of transport

Mode of transport

Mode of transport is a term used to distinguish substantially different ways to perform transport. The most dominant modes of transport are aviation, land transport, which includes rail, road and off-road transport, and ship transport...

for all classes of society. Services are mostly run by state government owned transport corporations. However, after the economic liberalisation, many state transport corporations have introduced various facilities like low-floor bus

Low-floor bus

A low-floor bus is a bus that has no steps between one or more entrances and part or all of the passenger cabin. Being low floor improves the accessibility of the bus for the public, particularly the elderly or infirm, or those with push chairs, and increasingly, those in wheelchairs.In the modern...

es for the disabled and air-conditioned buses to attract private car owners to help decongest roads. Bengaluru was the first city in India to introduce Volvo B7RLE

Volvo B7RLE

Volvo B7RLE is a low-floor single-deck citybus launched initially in Australia in 2001, and then in the United Kingdom in 2003 to supplement the B7L single-decker, which was unsuccessful in both countries. It is similar to the B7L's predecessor, the B10BLE...

intra-city buses in India in January 2006.

New initiatives like Bus Rapid Transit

Bus rapid transit

Bus rapid transit is a term applied to a variety of public transportation systems using buses to provide faster, more efficient service than an ordinary bus line. Often this is achieved by making improvements to existing infrastructure, vehicles and scheduling...

(BRT) systems and air conditioned buses have been taken by the various state government to improve the bus public transport systems in cities. Bus Rapid Transit systems already exist in Pune

Pune Bus Rapid Transit

The city of Pune was the first in India to experiment with a Bus Rapid Transit system. PMPML started plying pilot routes in December 2006. The project consists of of bus lanes along the Pune Satara Road using airconditioned, low-floor more than 500 Volvo B7RLE buses. The project has achieved...

, Delhi

Delhi Bus Rapid Transit System

The Delhi Bus Rapid Transit System is a bus rapid transit being introduced in Delhi. a city in which buses cater to sixty percent of the city's transportation needs. Together with Delhi Metro and soon to be introduced Delhi Monorail and Delhi Light Rail, it will be part of an integrated multi-modal...

and Ahmedabad

Ahmedabad BRTS

Ahmedabad BRTS is a highly ambitious rapid transport system developed by Gujarat Infrastructure Development Board for the city of Ahmedabad, recognizing that no single mode would cater to the mobility needs of the city and that ‘Bus’ forms the most critical segment of the public transport system...

with new ones coming up in Visakhapatnam Hyderabad

Hyderabad BRTS

The Hyderabad BRTS is a proposed transportation scheme for the Indian city of Hyderabad, India. Two corridors have been identified for testing the BRT System...

and Bangalore

Bangalore BRTS

Starting with a comprehensive report in 2007, and even earlier, several proposals have been made to implement Bus Rapid Transport System in Bangalore...

. High Capacity buses can be found in cities like Mumbai

Mumbai

, Bengaluru, Nagpur

Nagpur

Nāgpur is a city and winter capital of the state of Maharashtra, the largest city in central India and third largest city in Maharashtra after Mumbai and Pune...

and Chennai

Chennai

. Bengaluru is the first Indian city to have an air-conditioned

Air conditioning

An air conditioner is a home appliance, system, or mechanism designed to dehumidify and extract heat from an area. The cooling is done using a simple refrigeration cycle...

bus stop

Bus stop

A bus stop is a designated place where buses stop for passengers to board or leave a bus. These are normally positioned on the highway and are distinct from off-highway facilities such as bus stations. The construction of bus stops tends to reflect the level of usage...

, located near Cubbon Park

Cubbon Park

Cubbon Park is a landmark 'lung' area of the Bangalore city, located within the heart of city in the Central Administrative Area. Originally created in 1870, when Major General Richard Sankey was the then British Chief Engineer of Mysore state, it covered an area of and subsequent expansion has...

. It was built by Airtel

Bharti Airtel

Bharti Airtel Limited , commonly known as Airtel, is an Indian telecommunications company that operates in 20 countries across South Asia, Africa and the Channel Islands. It operates a GSM network in all countries, providing 2G or 3G services depending upon the country of operation...

. The APSRTC has introduced Buses with two coaches.These Buses are allowed to operate only in the Greater Hyderabad.
The city of Chennai

Chennai

houses Asia

Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...

's largest bus terminus

Bus terminus

A bus terminus is a designated place where a bus or coach starts or ends its scheduled route. The terminus is the designated place that a timetable is timed from. Termini can be located at bus stations, interchanges, bus garages or simple bus stops. Termini can both start and stop at the same...

, the Chennai Mofussil Bus Terminus

Chennai Mofussil Bus Terminus

The Chennai Mofussil Bus Terminus or CMBT is a modern, state-of-the-art bus terminus located in Chennai, India catering to outstation buses. Spread over an area of in Koyambedu, it is the largest bus terminus in Asia and is accredited with the ISO 9001:2000 quality certification for its quality...

. In 2009, the Government of Karnataka

Government of Karnataka

The Government of Karnataka is a democratically elected body with the Governor as the constitutional head. The Governor who is appointed for a period of five years appoints the Chief Minister and his council of ministers...

and the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation

Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation

The Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation is a government agency that operates the public transport bus service in Bangalore, India.-History:...

flagged off a pro-poor bus service called the Atal Sarige. The service aims to provide low-cost connectivity to the economically backward sections of the society to the nearest major bus station.

Now the Semi low floor buses are in Trivandrum city and Kerala State for comfort Travel. The first bus from the Semi-Low floor Ac & Non Ac fleet of 120 JNNURM buses started service in Trivandrum city. The buses are high standards with air suspension and quality seats for better comfort, LED boards and rear mounted engines. There will be two doors of 1100mm width, one in the front and one in middle which are controlled by driver.

This will facilitate easy entry and exit for the passengers. Semi Low floor non A/c buses are painted green (A/c buses are in Orange) will be having JNNURM and KSRTC logos.

Taxi

Most of the traditional taxicabs in India are either Premier Padmini

Premier Padmini

'Premier Padmini' was an automobile manufactured in India from 1967 to 2000.Premier Automobiles Limited, the erstwhile flagship company of India's Walchand Hirachand Group, assembled Fiat's Fiat 1100 cars from the 1950s until 1997...

or Hindustan Ambassador

Hindustan Ambassador

The Hindustan Ambassador is a car manufactured by Hindustan Motors of India. It has been in production since 1958 with few modifications or changes and is based on the Morris Oxford III model, first made by the Morris Motor Company at Cowley, Oxford in the United Kingdom from 1956 to 1959.Despite...

cars. In recent years, cars such as Chevrolet Tavera

Chevrolet Tavera

The Chevrolet Tavera is a compact MPV produced in Indonesia by Japanese automaker Isuzu Motors and in India by American automaker General Motors sold in ASEAN and Indian markets. It uses the platform of the Isuzu Panther, a diesel-powered multi-purpose vehicle sold in Indonesia...

, Maruti Esteem, Maruti Omni, Mahindra Logan

Dacia Logan

The Dacia Logan is a small family car car produced jointly by the French manufacturer Renault and its subsidiary Dacia of Romania. It is manufactured at Dacia's automobile plant in Mioveni, Romania, and in Colombia, Brazil, Russia, Morocco, Iran, India and South Africa...

, Tata Indica

Tata Indica

The Tata Indica is a hatchback automobile range manufactured by Tata Motors of India. It is the first passenger car from Tata Motors and is also considered India's first indigenously developed passenger car. , more than 910,000 Indicas were produced. The annual sales of Indica has been as high as ...

, Toyota Innova

Toyota Innova

The Toyota Innova is a Toyota-designed Compact MPV i.e. being less than in length as per the European system of size classification, produced in Indonesia under supervision by Toyota Astra Motor since 2003. As with Toyota Kijang, which it replaced, the Toyota Innova is produced and first marketed...

, Hyundai Santro and Tata Indigo

Tata Indigo

-Indigo Sedan :In 2002, Tata introduced India's competitive indigenous sedan: the Indigo. Designed in-house, it is a sedan version of the Tata Indica, with which it shares a large number of parts. Launched with a Turbodiesel and Petrol engines, An intercooled 'TDI' Engine, and Dicor engines were...

have become fairly popular among taxi operators. The livery of the taxis in India varies from state-to-state. In Delhi and Maharashtra, most taxicabs have yellow-black livery while in West Bengal, taxis have yellow livery. Private taxi operators are not required to have a specific livery. However, they are required by law to be registered as commercial vehicles.

Depending on the city/state, taxis can either be hailed or hired from taxi-stands. In cities such as Ahmedabad

Ahmedabad

Ahmedabad also known as Karnavati is the largest city in Gujarat, India. It is the former capital of Gujarat and is also the judicial capital of Gujarat as the Gujarat High Court has its seat in Ahmedabad...

, Bengaluru, Hyderabad,taxis need to be hired over phone, whereas in cities like Kolkata

Kolkata

Kolkata , formerly known as Calcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River, it was the commercial capital of East India...

and Mumbai

Mumbai

, taxis can be hailed on the street. According to government of India regulations, all taxis are required to have a fare-meter installed. There are additional surcharges for luggage, late-night rides and toll taxes are to be paid by the passenger. Since 2006, radio taxis have become increasingly popular with the public due to reasons of safety and convenience.

In cities and localities where taxis are expensive or do not ply as per the government or municipal regulated fares, people use share taxi

Share taxi

A share taxi is a mode of transport that falls between taxis and conventional buses. These informal vehicles for hire are found throughout the world. They are smaller than buses, and usually take passengers on a fixed or semi-fixed route without timetables, usually leaving when all seats are filled...

s. These are normal taxis which carry one or more passengers travelling to destinations either en route to the final destination, or near the final destination. The passengers are charged according to the number of people with different destinations. A similar system exists for autorickshaws, known as share autos.

The city of Mumbai will soon be the first city in India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

, to have an "in-taxi" magazine, titled MumBaee

MumBaee

MumBaee is India's first in-taxi magazine, to be introduced in the taxicabs of Mumbai. It will be provided free of cost to members of the Mumbai Taximens’ Union....

, which will be issued to taxis which are part of the Mumbai Taximen's Union. The magazine debuted on 13 July 2009.

Auto Rickshaws

An auto rickshaw is a three wheeler vehicle for hire

Vehicle for hire

thumb|190px|[[Taxicab]]s in [[New York City]]thumb|190px|right|[[Cycle rickshaw|Velotaxi]] in [[New York City]]A vehicle for hire is a vehicle providing shared transportation, which transports one or more passengers between locations of the passengers' choice .Vehicles for hire can be distinguished...

that has no doors and is generally characterised by a small cabin for the driver in the front and a seat for passengers in the rear. Generally it is painted in yellow, green or black colour and has a black, yellow or green canopy on the top, but designs vary considerably from place to place. The color of the autorickshaw is also determined by the fuel that it is powered by, for example Ahmedabad

Ahmedabad

and Delhi

Delhi

have green autos indicating the use of Compressed Natural Gas

Compressed natural gas

Compressed natural gas is a fossil fuel substitute for gasoline , diesel, or propane/LPG. Although its combustion does produce greenhouse gases, it is a more environmentally clean alternative to those fuels, and it is much safer than other fuels in the event of a spill...

, whereas the autos of Mumbai

Mumbai

, Bangalore

Bangalore

have black autos indicating the use of diesel.

In Mumbai

Mumbai

and other metropolitan cities, 'autos' or 'ricks' as they are popularly known have regulated metered fares. A recent law prohibits auto rickshaw drivers from charging more than the specified fare, or charging night-fare before midnight, and also prohibits the driver from refusing to go to a particular location. Mumbai

Mumbai

and Kolkata

Kolkata

Kolkata , formerly known as Calcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River, it was the commercial capital of East India...

are also the only two cities which prohibit auto rickshaws from entering a certain part of the city, in these cases being South Mumbai

South Mumbai

South Mumbai , sometimes incorrectly referred to by English Media as "SoBo" , the southern-most precinct of the city of Mumbai, India, comprises the city's main business localities and its adjoining areas...

and certain parts of downtown Kolkata. However, in cities like Chennai

Chennai

, it is common to see autorickshaw drivers demand more than the specified fare and refuse to use fare meter

Airports and railway stations at many cities such as Chennai

Chennai

, Bengaluru, Mysore and Hubballi-Dharwad

Dharwad

Dharwad, also known as Dharwar, is a city and a DISTRICT PLACE in India's Karnataka state.Dharwad is the administrative seat of the Dharwad District. The municipality of Hubli-Dharwad covers an area of 200.23 km²...

provide a facility of prepaid auto booths, where the passenger pays a fixed fare as set by the authorities for various locations.

Suburban Railway

The present suburban railway services in India are limited and are operational only in Mumbai

Mumbai Suburban Railway

The Mumbai Suburban Railway system, part of the public transport system of Mumbai, is provided for by the state-run Indian Railways' two zonal Western Railways and Central Railways. The system carries more than 6.99 million commuters on a daily basis. It has the highest passenger densities of any...

, Kolkata

Kolkata Suburban Railway

The Kolkata Suburban Railway is the rail system for the suburbs surrounding the city of Kolkata . Railways such as this are important and heavily-used infrastructure in India....

, Chennai

Chennai suburban railway

Chennai suburban railway is a commuter rail system in the Indian city of Chennai operated by the Southern Railway. Chennai has a complex railway network. The system uses electrical multiple units operating on alternating current drawn from over-head cables through the catenary system...

, Delhi

Delhi Suburban Railway

Delhi Suburban Railway services is a commuter rail service operated by Northern Railway zone of the Indian railways for the National Capital Region. This Railway services covers the city state of Delhi, along with the adjoining districts of Faridabad,Ghaziabad and other adjoining places in Haryana...

and MMTS Hyderabad

MMTS Hyderabad

MMTS or Multi-Modal Transport System is a commuter rail system in Hyderabad, India. It is a joint partnership of Government of Andhra Pradesh and the South Central Railway, and is operated by the latter. MMTS is unusual in providing first class commuter travel.-First phase:The first phase was...

. The Mumbai Suburban Railway

Mumbai Suburban Railway

is the first rail system in India which began services in Mumbai in 1867, transports 6.3 million passengers daily and has the highest passenger density in the world.
The first rapid transit system in India, the Kolkata Suburban Railway

Kolkata Suburban Railway

The Kolkata Suburban Railway is the rail system for the suburbs surrounding the city of Kolkata . Railways such as this are important and heavily-used infrastructure in India....

, was established in Kolkata in 1854. Its first service ran between Howrah and Hooghly covering a distance of 38.6 km (24 mi).

Metro Rail (Mass Rapid Transit System)

The first modern rapid transit in India was the Kolkata Metro

Kolkata Metro

The Kolkata Metro or Calcutta Metro is a mass rapid transit system serving the city of Kolkata and the districts of South 24 Parganas and North 24 Parganas in Indian state of West Bengal. The network consists of one operational line and five lines currently under construction...

, with operations starting in 1984. Chennai MRTS acts as second urban mass transit system since 1997 and differs from country's other MRTS suburban systems. The Delhi Metro

Delhi Metro

Delhi Metro is a rapid transit system serving Delhi, Gurgaon, Noida and Ghaziabad in the National Capital Region of India. It is one of the largest metro networks in the world. The network consists of six lines with a total length of with 142 stations of which 35 are underground...

in the capital city of New Delhi is third conventional metro beginning operations in 2002.The Namma Metro in Bangalore is India's fourth operational rapid transit beginning operations in 2011. Currently, rapid transit systems have been deployed in these cities and more are under construction or in planning in several major cities of India.
Cities that have a metro system:

Kolkata Metro
Kolkata Metro
The Kolkata Metro or Calcutta Metro is a mass rapid transit system serving the city of Kolkata and the districts of South 24 Parganas and North 24 Parganas in Indian state of West Bengal. The network consists of one operational line and five lines currently under construction...
Chennai Mass Rapid Transit System
Mass Rapid Transit System (Chennai)
The Chennai MRTS is an elevated line of the urban mass rapid transit system in Chennai , India. The line currently runs within the city from Chennai Beach to Velachery, covering a distance of 25 km with 21 stations...
Delhi Metro
Delhi Metro
Delhi Metro is a rapid transit system serving Delhi, Gurgaon, Noida and Ghaziabad in the National Capital Region of India. It is one of the largest metro networks in the world. The network consists of six lines with a total length of with 142 stations of which 35 are underground...
Namma Metro

Metro systems under Construction

Mumbai Metro
Mumbai Metro
The Mumbai Metro is a rapid transit system being built in Mumbai, India's largest city. The system is designed to reduce the rapidly-growing city's congestion problems, and will be built in three phases over a 15-year period, with overall completion expected in 2021...
Rapid Metro Rail Gurgaon
Jaipur Metro
Jaipur Metro
The Jaipur Metro is a rapid transit under construction in the city of Jaipur, Rajasthan, India. Construction of the first part of the first line, comprising 9.2 km from Mansarovar to Chandpol, started on November 13, 2010.- Background :...
Chennai Metro
Chennai Metro
The Chennai Metro is a rapid transit system in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. The Phase I of the project consisting of two corridors is under construction. The elevated section of the project is scheduled to be operational by 2013 and the entire project is scheduled to be completed by the financial...
Navi Mumbai Metro
Navi Mumbai Metro
The Navi Mumbai Metro is a rapid transit system under construction in the Indian city of Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra. The completed system will consist of six elevated rail corridors covering a total distance of...
Hyderabad Metro
Kochi Metro
Kochi metro
The Kochi Metro is a proposed rapid transit system for the city of Kochi, in India. It was proposed in the year 2005 but was delayed due to the reason that the union government expressing serious doubts about the economic viability of the project. The alignment was created by the DMRC and is...

Two-wheelers

Motorised two-wheelers like scooter

Scooter (motorcycle)

A scooter is a motorcycle with step-through frame and a platform for the operator's feet. Elements of scooter design have been present in some of the earliest motorcycles, and motorcycles identifiable as scooters have been made from 1914 or earlier...

s, small capacity motorcycle

Motorcycle

s and moped

Moped

Mopeds are a type of low-powered motorcycle designed to provide economical and relatively safe transport with minimal licensing requirements.Mopeds were once all equipped with bicycle-like pedals , but moped has been increasingly applied by governments to vehicles without pedals, based on their...

s are very popular
a mode of transport due to their fuel efficiency and ease of use in congested traffic. The number of two-wheelers sold is several times that of cars. There were 4.75 crore (47.5 million) powered two wheelers in India in 2003 compared with just 86 lakh (8.6 million) cars. Yamaha

Yamaha

Yamaha may refer to:* Yamaha Corporation, a Japanese company with a wide range of products and services** Yamaha Motor Company, a Japanese motorized vehicle-producing company...

, Harley Davidson, Hero Honda

Hero Honda

Hero MotoCorp formerly Hero Honda is a motorcycle and scooter manufacturer based in India. Hero Honda started in 1984 as a joint venture between Hero Cycles of India and Honda of Japan. The company is the largest two wheeler manufacturer in India...

, Honda

Honda

is a Japanese public multinational corporation primarily known as a manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles.Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, as well as the world's largest manufacturer of internal combustion engines measured by volume, producing more than...

, TVS Motors

TVS Motors

TVS Motor Company is the third largest two-wheeler manufacturer in India.It is the flagship company of the parent TVS Group employing over 40,000 people with an estimated 15 million customers. It manufactures motorcycles, scooters, mopeds and auto rickshaws...

, Bajaj Auto

Bajaj Auto

Bajaj Auto is a major Indian vehicle manufacturer started by Jamnalal Bajaj from Rajasthan in the 1930s. It is based in Pune, Maharashtra, with plants in Chakan , Waluj and Pantnagar in Uttaranchal. The oldest plant at Akurdi now houses the R&D centre Ahead...

and Mahindra

Mahindra

Mahindra may refer to:In People*Mahinda, the son of Emperor Ashoka and proponent of Buddha's teachings in Sri Lanka*Anand MahindraIn Companies* Mahindra Group...

2wheeler are the largest two-wheeler companies in terms of market-share. Royal Enfield

Royal Enfield

Royal Enfield was the name under which the Enfield Cycle Company made motorcycles, bicycles, lawnmowers and stationary engines. This legacy of weapons manufacture is reflected in the logo, a cannon, and their motto "Made like a gun, goes like a bullet". Use of the brand name Royal Enfield was...

, an iconic brand name in the country, manufactures different variants of the British Bullet

Bullet

A bullet is a projectile propelled by a firearm, sling, or air gun. Bullets do not normally contain explosives, but damage the intended target by impact and penetration...

motorcycle which is a classic motorcycle that is still in production.

Manufacture of scooters in India started when Automobile Products of India (API), set up at Mumbai

Mumbai

and incorporated in 1949, began assembling Innocenti

Innocenti

Innocenti was an Italian machinery works originally established by Ferdinando Innocenti in 1920.After World War II, the company was famous for many years for Lambretta scooters models such as LI125, LI150, TV175, TV200, SX125, SX150, SX200, GP125, GP150 and GP200.From 1961 to 1976 Innocenti built...

-built Lambretta

Lambretta

Lambretta can refer to:* Lambretta, a petrol-powered scooter made by Innocenti* Lambretta , a clothing brand* Lambretta , a Swedish rock band* The Lambrettas, a British mod revival band...

scooters in India post independence. They eventually acquired licence for the Li150 series model, of which they began full-fledged production from the early sixties onwards. In 1972, Scooters India Ltd (SIL), a state-run enterprise based in Lucknow

Lucknow

Lucknow is the capital city of Uttar Pradesh in India. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of Lucknow District and Lucknow Division....

, Uttar Pradesh

Uttar Pradesh

Uttar Pradesh abbreviation U.P. , is a state located in the northern part of India. With a population of over 200 million people, it is India's most populous state, as well as the world's most populous sub-national entity...

, bought the entire manufacturing rights of the last Innocenti Lambretta model. API has infrastructural facilities at Mumbai, Aurangabad, and Chennai

Chennai

but has been non-operational since 2002. SIL stopped producing scooters in 1998.

Motorcycles and scooters can be rented in many cities. Wearing protective headgear

Helmet

A helmet is a form of protective gear worn on the head to protect it from injuries.Ceremonial or symbolic helmets without protective function are sometimes used. The oldest known use of helmets was by Assyrian soldiers in 900BC, who wore thick leather or bronze helmets to protect the head from...

is mandatory for both the rider and the pillion-rider in most cities.

Automobiles

Private vehicles account for 30% of the total transport demand in urban areas of India. An average of 963 new private vehicles are registered every day in Delhi alone. The number of automobiles produced in India rose from 63 lakh (6.3 million) in 2002-03 to 1.1 crore (11.2 million) in 2008-09. However, India still has a very low rate of car ownership. When comparing car ownership between BRIC

BRIC

In economics, BRIC is a grouping acronym that refers to the countries of Brazil, Russia, India and China, which are all deemed to be at a similar stage of newly advanced economic development...

developing countries, it is on a par with China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

, and exceeded by Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

and Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

.

Compact car

Compact car

A compact car , or small family car , is a classification of cars which are larger than a supermini but smaller than or equal to a mid-size car...

s, especially hatchback

Hatchback

A Hatchback is a car body style incorporating a shared passenger and cargo volume, with rearmost accessibility via a rear third or fifth door, typically a top-hinged liftgate—and features such as fold-down rear seats to enable flexibility within the shared passenger/cargo volume. As a two-box...

s predominate due to affordability, fuel efficiency, congestion, and lack of parking space in most cities. Maruti

Maruti Udyog

Maruti Suzuki India Limited is a subsidiary company of Japanese automobile and motorcycle manufacturer Suzuki. The company offers a complete range of cars from entry level Maruti 800 and Alto, to hatchback Ritz, A-Star, Swift, Wagon-R, Estillo and sedans DZire, SX4, in the 'C' segment Maruti Eeco ...

, Hyundai

Hyundai Motor Company

Hyundai Motor Company is a Korean multinational automaker based in Seoul, South Korea which, along with Kia, comprises the Hyundai Kia Automotive Group, the world's fourth largest automaker as of 2009. As of 2011, it is the world's fastest growing automaker for two years running...

and Tata Motors

Tata Motors

Tata Motors Limited is an Indian multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Mumbai, India. Part of the Tata Group, it was formerly known as TELCO...

are the most popular brands in the order of their market share. The Ambassador

Hindustan Ambassador

once had a monopoly but is now an icon of pre-liberalisation

Economic history of India

The known Economic history of India begins with the Indus Valley civilization. The Indus civilization's economy appears to have depended significantly on trade, which was facilitated by advances in transport. Around 600 BC, the Mahajanapadas minted punch-marked silver coins. The period was marked...

India, and is still used by taxi companies. Maruti 800

Maruti 800

Maruti 800 is a city car manufactured by Maruti Suzuki in India. It is a rebadged version of an old model of the Suzuki Alto. Over 2.5 million Maruti 800s have been sold since its launch in 1983...

launched in 1984 created the first revolution in the Indian auto sector because of its low pricing. It had the highest market share until 2004, when it was overtaken by other low cost models from Maruti such as the Alto and the Wagon R, the Indica from Tata Motors and the Santro from Hyundai. Over the 20 year period since its introduction, about 24 lakh (2.4 million) units of the Maruti 800 have been sold. However, with the launch of the Tata Nano

Tata Nano

The Tata Nano is an inexpensive, rear-engined, four-passenger city car built by the Indian company Tata Motors and is aimed primarily at the Indian domestic market....

, the least expensive production car in the world,

India is also known for a variety of indigenous vehicles made in villages out of simple motors and vehicle spare-parts. A few of these innovation

Innovation

Innovation is the creation of better or more effective products, processes, technologies, or ideas that are accepted by markets, governments, and society...

s are the Jugaad

Jugaad

Jugaad are locally-made motor vehicles that are used mostly in small villages as a means of low cost transportation in rural India. Jugaad literally means an improvised arrangement or work-around, which has to be used because of lack of resources...

, Maruta, Chhakda, peter rehda and the Fame.

In the city of Bengaluru, Radio One and the Bangalore Traffic Police, launched a carpooling drive which has involved celebrities such as Robin Uthappa

Robin Uthappa

Robin Venu Uthappa is an Indian cricketer. His father is Venu Uthappa, an international hockey referee from Kodagu, Karnataka, mother Roselyn is a home maker and hails from Kozhikode, Kerala and his sister Sharon is a business owner. He studied at St. Joseph's Boys High School, Bangalore...

, and Rahul Dravid

Rahul Dravid

Rahul Sharad Dravid , is a cricketer in the Indian national team, of which he has been a regular member since 1996. He was appointed as the captain of the Indian cricket team in October 2005 and resigned from the post in September 2007. Dravid was honoured as one of the top-five Wisden Cricketers...

encouraging the public to carpool. The initiative got a good response, and by the end of May 2009, 10,000 people are said to have carpooled in the city.

Utility vehicles

The first utility vehicle

Utility vehicle

Utility vehicle is used to describe a vehicle, generally motorized, that is designed for a specific task.-Sport utility vehicle:Vehicles similar to a station wagon but built on a light-truck chassis, usually with off-road capability....

in India was manufactured by Mahindra and Mahindra. It was a copy of the original Jeep

Jeep

Jeep is an automobile marque of Chrysler . The first Willys Jeeps were produced in 1941 with the first civilian models in 1945, making it the oldest off-road vehicle and sport utility vehicle brand. It inspired a number of other light utility vehicles, such as the Land Rover which is the second...

and was manufactured under licence. The vehicle was an instant hit and made Mahindra one of the top companies in India. The Indian Army

Indian Army

The Indian Army is the land based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. With about 1,100,000 soldiers in active service and about 1,150,000 reserve troops, the Indian Army is the world's largest standing volunteer army...

and police extensively use Mahindra vehicles along with Maruti Gypsy

Maruti Gypsy

The Maruti Gypsy is a four wheel drive SUV based on the long wheelbase Suzuki Jimny SJ40/410 series vehicles.-History:It is manufactured in India by Maruti Suzuki. It was introduced in the Indian market in December 1985 with the 970 cc F10A Suzuki engine and while sales were never very high it...

s for transporting personnel and equipment.

Tata Motors

Tata Motors

Tata Motors Limited is an Indian multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Mumbai, India. Part of the Tata Group, it was formerly known as TELCO...

, the automobile manufacturing arm of the Tata Group

Tata Group

Tata Group is an Indian multinational conglomerate company headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. Tata Group is one of the largest companies in India by market capitalization and revenue. It has interests in communications and information technology, engineering, materials, services, energy,...

, launched its first utility vehicle, the Tata Sumo

Tata Sumo

Tata Sumo is a multi-utility vehicle produced by India's largest automotive companyTata Motors. The vehicle was launched in 1994 and was one of the first passenger vehicles designed in India. The Sumo received an extensive facelift in 2004 and was renamed the Sumo Victa in face of competition from...

, in 1994. The Sumo, owing to its then-modern design, captured a 31% share of the market within two years. The Tempo trax from Force Motors till recently was ruling the rural areas. Sports utility vehicles now form a sizeable part of the passenger vehicle market. Models from Tata, Honda, Hyundai, Ford, Chevrolet and other brands are available.

Railway

Rail services in India, first introduced in 1853, are provided by the state-run Indian Railways

Indian Railways

Indian Railways , abbreviated as IR , is a departmental undertaking of Government of India, which owns and operates most of India's rail transport. It is overseen by the Ministry of Railways of the Government of India....

, under the supervision of the Ministry of Railways. Indian Railways provides an important mode of transport in India, transporting over 18 million passengers and more than 2 million tonnes of freight

Cargo

daily across one of the largest and busiest rail networks in the world. By 1947, the year of India's independence, there were forty-two rail systems. In 1951 the systems were nationalised as one unit, becoming one of the largest networks in the world. Indian Railways is divided into sixteen zones, which are further sub-divided into sixty seven divisions, each having a divisional headquarters.

The rail network traverses through the length and breadth of the country, covering 6,909 stations over a total route length of around 63465 km (39,435.4 mi). It is the world's largest commercial or utility employer, with more than 1.4 million employees. As to rolling stock

Rolling stock

Rolling stock comprises all the vehicles that move on a railway. It usually includes both powered and unpowered vehicles, for example locomotives, railroad cars, coaches and wagons...

, IR owns over 200,000 (freight) wagons, 50,000 coaches and 8,000 locomotives. It also owns locomotive

Locomotive

A locomotive is a railway vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. The word originates from the Latin loco – "from a place", ablative of locus, "place" + Medieval Latin motivus, "causing motion", and is a shortened form of the term locomotive engine, first used in the early 19th...

and coach production facilities. It operates both long distance and suburban rail systems on a multi-gauge

Rail gauge

Track gauge or rail gauge is the distance between the inner sides of the heads of the two load bearing rails that make up a single railway line. Sixty percent of the world's railways use a standard gauge of . Wider gauges are called broad gauge; smaller gauges, narrow gauge. Break-of-gauge refers...

network of broad

Broad gauge

Broad-gauge railways use a track gauge greater than the standard gauge of .- List :For list see: List of broad gauges, by gauge and country- History :...

, metre

Metre gauge

Metre gauge refers to narrow gauge railways and tramways with a track gauge of . In some African, American and Asian countries it is the main gauge. In Europe it has been used for local railways in France, Germany, and Belgium, most of which were closed down in mid 20th century. Only in Switzerland...

and narrow

Narrow gauge

A narrow gauge railway is a railway that has a track gauge narrower than the of standard gauge railways. Most existing narrow gauge railways have gauges of between and .- Overview :...

gauges, and is in the process of converting all the metre gauge (14406 km (8,951.5 mi)) into broad gauge in a project called Project Unigauge

Project Unigauge

Project Unigauge is an ongoing exercise by Indian Railways to standardise most of the rail gauges in India at 1676 mm broad gauge....

.

The Indian Railways runs a number of special types of services which are given higher priority. The Rajdhani

Rajdhani

Rajdhani may refer to:* Rajdhani, Kotli, a village in Pakistan* Rajdhani Express, passenger train service in India* Rajdhani , 1956 film* Rajdhani, Gorakhpur, a village in India....

trains introduced in 1969 provides connectivity between the national capital, Delhi and capitals of the states. On the other hand, Shatabdi Express

Shatabdi Express

Shatabdi Express trains are a series of fast passenger trains operated by Indian Railways to connect Metro cities with other cities important for tourism, pilgrimage or business...

provides connectivity between centres of tourism, pilgrimage or business. The Shatabdi Express trains run over short to medium distances while the Rajdhani Express

Rajdhani Express

Rajdhani Express is a passenger train service in India connecting New Delhi with other important destinations, especially state capitals. Rajdhani means "The Capital" in Hindi.- History :...

es run over longer distances. Both series of trains have a regular speed of 130 to 140 km/h (81 to 87 mph). The 12001 Bhopal Shatabdi

Bhopal Shatabdi

Bhopal Shatabdi Express is a train operated by the Northern Railway which runs between New Delhi, the main railway station of India's capital territory, New Delhi. and Bhopal Junction the main railway station of Bhopal City, the state capital of central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. The train is...

express, however, runs at a peak speed of 161 km/h (100 mph), which makes it the fastest train in India. The other specialised services operated by the Railways are the Duronto Express and Garib Rath

Garib Rath

The Garib Rath express train is one of the premier trains introduced by the Indian Railways in 2005 by Railways Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav to provide fully air-conditioned travel to those passengers who could not afford the expensive tickets of the fully air-conditioned coaches as in Rajdhani...

s. While Duronto provides non-stop point to point rail services, Garib Rath aims to provide comfortable rail travel at an economical rate. Besides, The Indian Railways also operates a number of luxury trains which cater to various tourist circuits. For instance, the Palace on Wheels

Palace on Wheels

The Palace on Wheels is a luxury tourist train. It was launched by the Indian Railways to promote tourism in Rajasthan, and has been highly popular since its launch....

serves the Rajasthan circuit and the The Golden Chariot

The Golden Chariot

The Golden Chariot is a luxury tourist train that connects the important tourist spots in the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa. It is named after the Stone Chariot in the Vitthala Temple at Hampi. The 19 coaches on the train are coloured purple and gold, and sport the logo of a mythological...

serves the Karnataka and Goa circuits. There are two UNESCO

UNESCO

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...

World Heritage Site

A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...

s on IR — the Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus and the Mountain railways of India

Mountain railways of India

The Mountain Railways of India refer to the five railway lines built in the mountains of India in the nineteenth and early twentieth century, during the British Raj, which are run even today by the Indian Railways...

. The latter is not contiguous, but actually consists of three separate railway lines located in different parts of India:

The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway
Darjeeling Himalayan Railway
The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, nicknamed the "Toy Train", is a narrow gauge railway from New Jalpaiguri to Darjeeling in West Bengal, run by the Indian Railways....

, a narrow gauge railway in West Bengal
West Bengal
West Bengal is a state in the eastern region of India and is the nation's fourth-most populous. It is also the seventh-most populous sub-national entity in the world, with over 91 million inhabitants. A major agricultural producer, West Bengal is the sixth-largest contributor to India's GDP...

.
The Nilgiri Mountain Railway
Nilgiri Mountain Railway
The Nilgiri Mountain Railway is a railway in Tamil Nadu, India, built by the British in 1908, and was initially operated by the Madras Railway Company. The railway still relies on its fleet of steam locomotives. NMR comes under the jurisdiction of the newly formed Salem Division...

, a metre gauge
Metre gauge
Metre gauge refers to narrow gauge railways and tramways with a track gauge of . In some African, American and Asian countries it is the main gauge. In Europe it has been used for local railways in France, Germany, and Belgium, most of which were closed down in mid 20th century. Only in Switzerland...

railway in the Nilgiri Hills in Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...
The Kalka-Shimla Railway
Kalka-Shimla Railway
The Kalka–Shimla Railway is a narrow gauge railway in North-West India travelling along a mostly mountainous route from Kalka to Shimla. It is known for breathtaking views of the hills and surrounding villages.- History :...

, a narrow gauge railway in the Shivalik mountains in Himachal Pradesh
Himachal Pradesh
Himachal Pradesh is a state in Northern India. It is spread over , and is bordered by the Indian states of Jammu and Kashmir on the north, Punjab on the west and south-west, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh on the south, Uttarakhand on the south-east and by the Tibet Autonomous Region on the east...

.
The Maharaja Railways (Gwalior Light Railway), a narrow gauge line of just 0.6m width from Gwalior to Sheopur
Sheopur
Sheopur is a city in Madhya Pradesh state of central India. It is the administrative headquarters of Sheopur District. Sheopur is linked by rail to Gwalior. The town is traditionally famous for its wood carving...

of 198 km. in length is world's longest narrow gauge railway line is in the UNESCO world heritage tentative list.
The Neral-Matheran Railway, a narrow gauge railway connecting Matheran
Matheran
- Getting to Matheran :Matheran is located about 100 km from Mumbai, 120 km from Pune. and 320 km from Surat. It lies on the busy Mumbai-Pune rail link and the nearest train station is at Neral, approximately 11 km from Matheran. From Neral, one can either rent a taxi to the...

is also a historic line.

The Indian Railways has also initiated a number of highly ambitious projects to provide connectivity to the remote and inaccessible areas of the country. The Konkan Railway

Konkan Railway

The Konkan Railway is a railway line which runs along the Konkan coast of India. It was constructed and is operated by the Konkan Railway Corporation...

is one such highly difficult project undertaken by the authorities. The two important port cities of Mangalore

Mangalore

Mangalore is the chief port city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It is located about west of the state capital, Bangalore. Mangalore lies between the Arabian Sea and the Western Ghat mountain ranges, and is the administrative headquarters of the Dakshina Kannada district in south western...

and Mumbai

Mumbai

were not directly connected by the railway network. Even though economic reasons provided a strong need to connect these two cities, due to the uneven terrain of the region railway lines were not laid for many years. The project was undertaken by the Indian Railways in collaboration with a number of states on the Indian Union in the late 1980s, and began operating in 1998. The line is 738 km (458.57 mi) long and consists of 2000 bridges and 91 tunnels. Another such highly ambitious project is the Kashmir Railway, which is to provide reliable strategic connectivity between the northern most state of India and the rest of the country.Kashmir Railway

Kashmir Railway

The Kashmir Railway is a railway line being built in India to connect the state of Jammu and Kashmir with the rest of the country. Officially termed the Jammu Udhampur Srinagar Baramulla Railway Link , the railway starts from Jammu and, when completed, will travel for to the city of Baramulla on...

is the second highest in the world and against numerous challenges first phase was completed in 2009.

Proposals have been made to introduce high-speed rail in India. A proposal has been made to build a Maglev track within the city of Mumbai

Mumbai

, connecting it to the National Capital of New Delhi

New Delhi

New Delhi is the capital city of India. It serves as the centre of the Government of India and the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. New Delhi is situated within the metropolis of Delhi. It is one of the nine districts of Delhi Union Territory. The total area of the city is...

, as well as other parts of Maharashtra

Maharashtra

Maharashtra is a state located in India. It is the second most populous after Uttar Pradesh and third largest state by area in India...

in the form of the Mumbai Maglev

Mumbai Maglev

The Mumbai Maglev is a proposed Maglev railway line starting in the central business district of the city of Mumbai to the national capital region of Delhi and other important cities of india, along with several routes within the city itself.-External links:...

. Another proposal has been made to introduce a High-speed rail in India

High-speed rail in India

India has one of the largest rail networks in the world. As of 2011, India does not have any high-speed rail lines capable of supporting speeds of or more, and none is under construction or subject to definite plans, only of longer-term proposals....

similar to that of the Shinkansen

Shinkansen

The , also known as THE BULLET TRAIN, is a network of high-speed railway lines in Japan operated by four Japan Railways Group companies. Starting with the Tōkaidō Shinkansen in 1964, the network has expanded to currently consist of of lines with maximum speeds of , of Mini-shinkansen with a...

of Japan.

In 1999, the Konkan Railway Corporation

Konkan Railway Corporation

Konkan Railway Corporation is a subsidiary of the Indian Railways . It operates the Konkan Railways, a subsidiary zone of the Indian Railways. It is headquartered at Belapur in Navi Mumbai. The company started its full operations of trains on 26 January 1998...

introduced the Roll On Roll Off (RORO) service, a unique road-rail synergy system

Rolling Highway

A rolling highway is a combined transport system to transport trucks by rail....

, on the section between Kolad

Kolad

Kolad is a village, in Raigad district, Maharashtra State, India.Kolad, a thriving tiny village in the Mahad region in the state of Maharashtra, is blessed with natural foliage and luxuriant greenery...

in Maharashtra and Verna in Goa, which was extended up to Surathkal

Surathkal

Surathkal is a locality under Mangalore City Corporation located in the Dakshina Kannada district, Karnataka state, India...

in Karnataka in 2004. The RORO service, the first of its kind in India, allowed trucks to be transported on flatbed

Flatbed truck

A flatbed truck is a type of truck which can be either articulated or rigid. As the name suggests, it has an entirely flat, level 'bed' body with no sides or roof...

trailers. It was highly popular, carrying about 1,10,000 trucks and bringing in about 74 crore worth of earnings to the corporation till 2007.

International

Rail links between India and neighbouring countries are not well-developed. Two trains operate to Pakistan

Transport in Pakistan

Transportation in Pakistan is extensive and varied but still in its developing stages and serving a population of over 170 million people. Construction of new airports, roads, and railway lines have led to an employment boost in the country. Much of Pakistan's road network and railway network...

- the Samjhauta Express
Samjhauta Express
The Samjhauta Express commonly called the Friendship Express, is a twice-weekly train Tuesdays and Fridays that runs between Delhi and Attari in India and Lahore in Pakistan. The word samjhauta means "Understanding","accord" and "compromise" in both Hindi and Urdu.Until the reopening of the Thar...

between Delhi and Lahore, and the Thar Express
Thar Express
Thar Express is an international train that connects Karachi, Pakistan to Bhagat Ki Kothi, India. Six kilometres apart, Munabao and Khokhrapar are the two last railway stations of the India-Pakistan border. Jamrao, Mirpur Khas, Shadi Pali, Saeendad, Barmer, Pithoro, Dhoro Naro, and Chhore are some...

between Jodhpur and Karachi. Bangladesh

Transport in Bangladesh

- Railways :Railway acts as an important method of mass transport in Bangladesh. Many districts of the country are connected via railroads. Bangladesh Railway was mostly inherited from the British-established Assam Bengal railway system after the partition of India in 1947...

is connected by a bi-weekly train, the Maitree Express
Maitree Express
The Maitree Express or Dhaka-Kolkata Express is an International passenger train serving the railway connecting the Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka and India's West Bengal province's capital Kolkata.This is the only railway link between the cities of the two nations and has been revived after being...

. Nominal rail links to Nepal

Transport in Nepal

-Railways:total: 59 km; between Janakpur and Jainagar, close to Indian bordernarrow gauge: 59 km of gauge-Railway links with adjacent countries: China - proposed - gauge India - yes - gauge preferred, gauge obsolete...

exist — passenger services between Jaynagar and Bijalpura, and freight services between Raxaul and Birganj.

No rail link exists at present with Myanmar

Transport in Myanmar

The government of Burma has two ministries controlling transportation:##-Railways:total: Feb. 2008narrow gauge: gauge-Railway links to adjacent countries: China - no Thailand - no - defunct - see Death Railway. Bangladesh - no India - no - see Timeline below Laos - no- 2007 :* May 17 - The...

, but a railway line is to be built through from Jiribam

Jiribam

Jiribam is a city and a municipal council in Imphal East district in the Indian state of Manipur.- Demographics : India census, Jiribam had a population of 6426. Males constitute 49% of the population and females 51%. Jiribam has an average literacy rate of 73%, higher than the national average...

(in Manipur) to Tamu through Imphal

Imphal

Imphal is the capital of the Indian state of Manipur.In the heart of the town and surrounded by a moat, are ruins of the old Palace of Kangla. Kangla Fort used to be the home of the Assam Rifles, a paramilitary force and on November 2004 it was handed over to state of Manipur by Prime minister Dr....

and Moreh

Moreh, India

Moreh is a ethnic Kuki inhabited town in Chandel district in the Indian state of Manipur. It is a small town in India on the border with Myanmar, with the town of Tamu being close to the border....

. The construction of this missing link, as per the feasibility study conducted by the Ministry of External Affairs through RITES Ltd, is estimated to cost . Rail links with Bhutan

Transport in Bhutan

Transport in Bhutan comprises approximately of roads and two airports, Yongphulla Airport and Paro Airport, the latter of which serves international flights...

have been proposed. No rail link exists with either China

Transportation in the People's Republic of China

Transport in the People's Republic of China has experienced major growth and expansion in recent years. Airports, roads, and railway construction will provide a massive employment boost in China over the next decade....

or Sri Lanka

Transport in Sri Lanka

Transportation in Sri Lanka is based mainly on the road network which is centered on Sri Lanka's capital, Colombo. There is also a railway network, but it is largely a legacy of British colonial rule and is less appropriate for the modern transport requirements of the country...

, however in the disputed region of Gilgit-Baltistan, the current controller of this area, Pakistan has proposed a rail link with China across the Khunjerab Pass

Khunjerab Pass

Khunjerab Pass is a high mountain pass in the Karakoram Mountains in a strategic position on the northern border of Pakistan's Gilgit-Baltistan region within the disputed region of Kashmir and on the southwest border of the Xinjiang region of China...

. However, as India has been extending its railway near the Nathu La

Nathu La

Nathu La is a mountain pass in the Himalayas. It connects the Indian state of Sikkim with China's Tibet Autonomous Region. The pass, at 4,310 m above mean sea level, forms a part of an offshoot of the ancient Silk Road. Nathu means "listening ears" and La means "pass" in Tibetan...

pass with China, and China has plans to extend the Qinghai-Tibet railway to near its border with Nathu La, a petition was set up to promote the idea that both countries could link up their respective proportions for direct train services between the two countries. As of 6 September 2011, the petition had 81 members.

Road

India has a network of National Highways connecting all the major cities and state capitals, forming the economic backbone of the country. As of 2010, India has a total of 70934 km (44,076 mi) of National Highways, of which 200 km (124 mi) are classified as expressways

Expressway (India)

An expressway is a controlled-access highway; it is a highway that controls entrances to it and exits from it by incorporating the design of the slip roads for entry and exit into the design of the highway itself. Access-control should not be confused with collection of toll. An expressway may be...

. Under National Highways Development Project

National Highways Development Project

The National Highways Development Project is a project to upgrade, rehabilitate and widen major highways in India to a higher standard. The project was implemented in 1998. "National Highways" account for only about 2% of the total length of roads, but carry about 40% of the total traffic across...

(NHDP), work is under progress to equip some of the important national highways with four lanes; also there is a plan to convert some stretches of these roads to six lanes. However congestion and bureaucratic delays enroute ensure that trucking goods from Gurgaon

Gurgaon

Gurgaon is the second largest city in the Indian state of Haryana. Gurgaon is the industrial and financial center of Haryana. It is located 30 km south of national capital New Delhi, about 10 kilometers from Dwarka Sub City and 268 km south of Chandigarh, the state capital...

to the port in Mumbai

Mumbai

can take up to 10 days.

As per the National Highways Authority of India

National Highways Authority of India

The National Highways Authority of India is an autonomous agency of the Government of India, responsible for management of a network of over 60,000 km of National Highways in India...

, about 65% of freight and 80% passenger traffic is carried by the roads. The National Highways carry about 40% of total road traffic, though only about 2% of the road network is covered by these roads. Average growth of the number of vehicles has been around 10.16% per annum over recent years. Highways have facilitated development along the route and many towns have sprung up along major highways. Road transport Benchmark Freight Index (BFI) initiative taken in India in recently by itransi.

All national highways are metalled, but very few are constructed of concrete, the most notable being the Mumbai-Pune Expressway

Mumbai-Pune Expressway

The Mumbai Pune Expressway , officially the Yashwantrao Chavan Expressway is India's first six-lane concrete, high-speed, access controlled tolled expressway. It spans a distance of connecting Mumbai, the administrative capital of Maharashtra and the financial capital of India, with Pune, an...

. In recent years construction has commenced on a nationwide system of multi-lane highways, including the Golden Quadrilateral

Golden Quadrilateral

The Golden Quadrilateral is a highway network connecting India's four largest metropolises: Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata, thus forming a quadrilateral of sorts. Four other top ten metropolises: Bangalore, Pune, Ahmedabad, and Surat, are also served by the network...

and North-South and East-West Corridor

North-South and East-West Corridor

The North-South–East-West Corridor is the largest ongoing highway project in India. It is the second phase of the National Highways Development Project , and consists of building 7300 kilometers of four/six lane expressways connecting Srinagar, Kanyakumari, Porbandar and Silchar, at a cost of...

s which link the largest cities in India. In 2000, around 40% of villages in India lacked access to all-weather roads and remained isolated during the monsoon season.

To improve rural connectivity, Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana
Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana
The Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana or PMGSY is a nationwide plan in India to provide good all-weather road connectivity to unconnected villages...

(Prime Minister's Rural Road Program), a project funded by the Central Government

Government of India

The Government of India, officially known as the Union Government, and also known as the Central Government, was established by the Constitution of India, and is the governing authority of the union of 28 states and seven union territories, collectively called the Republic of India...

with the help of World Bank

World Bank

The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...

, was launched in 2000 to build all-weather roads to connect all habitations with a population of 500 or above (250 or above for hilly areas).

As per 2009 estimates, the total road length in India is 3320410 km (2,063,212.2 mi); making the Indian road network the third largest road network in the world. At 0.66 km of highway per square kilometre of land the density of India’s highway network is higher than that of the United States (0.65) and far higher than that of China's (0.16) or Brazil's (0.20).

Type of Road	Length
Expressways Expressway (India) An expressway is a controlled-access highway; it is a highway that controls entrances to it and exits from it by incorporating the design of the slip roads for entry and exit into the design of the highway itself. Access-control should not be confused with collection of toll. An expressway may be...	650 km (403.9 mi) as of 2006
National Highways	66590 km (41,377.2 mi)
State Highways State Highway (India) In the Republic of India, state highway refers to the numbered highways which are laid and maintained by the state government. These are not related to national highways and are not involved with the NHAI or the central government in any way...	131899 km (81,958.4 mi)
Major District Roads	467763 km (290,655.2 mi)
Rural and Other Roads	2650000 km (1,646,637.8 mi)
Total Length

Buses are an important means of public transport in India, particularly in the countryside and remote areas where the rail network cannot be accessed and airline operations are few or non-existent. Due to this social significance, public bus transport is predominantly owned and operated by public agencies, and most state governments operate bus services through a State Road Transport Corporation. These corporations, introduced in the 1960s and 1970s, have proven extremely useful in connecting villages and towns across the country.

Aviation

Rapid economic growth in India has made air travel more affordable. Air India

Air India

Air India is the flag carrier airline of India. It is part of the government of India owned Air India Limited . The airline operates a fleet of Airbus and Boeing aircraft serving Asia, Australia, Europe and North America. Its corporate office is located at the Air India Building at Nariman...

, India's flag carrier, presently operates a fleet of 159 aircraft and plays a major role in connecting India with the rest of the world. Several other foreign airline

Airline

An airline provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines lease or own their aircraft with which to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for mutual benefit...

s connect Indian cities with other major cities across the globe.

Kingfisher Airlines

Kingfisher Airlines

Kingfisher Airlines is an airline group based in India. Its head office is Kingfisher House in Vile Parle , Mumbai. Kingfisher Airlines, through its parent company United Breweries Group, has a 50% stake in low-cost carrier Kingfisher Red....

, Air India

Air India

and Jet Airways

Jet Airways

Jet Airways is a major Indian airline based in Mumbai, Maharashtra. It is India's largest airline and the market leader in the domestic sector. It operates over 400 flights daily to 76 destinations worldwide. Its main hub is Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, with secondary hubs at Delhi,...

are the most popular brands in domestic air travel in order of their market share. These airlines connect more than 80 cities across India and also operate overseas routes after the liberalisation of Indian aviation. However, a large section of country's air transport system remains untapped, even though the Mumbai

Mumbai

-Delhi

Delhi

air corridor was ranked 6th by the Official Airline Guide

Official Airline Guide

OAG, formerly Official Airline Guide, is a United Kingdom based business providing aviation information and analytical services sourced from its proprietary airline schedules, flight status, fleet, MRO and cargo logistics databases....

in 2007 among the world's busiest routes.

India's vast unutilised air transport network has attracted several investments in the Indian air industry in the past few years. More than half a dozen low-cost carrier

Low-cost carrier

A low-cost carrier or low-cost airline is an airline that generally has lower fares and fewer comforts...

s entered the Indian market in 2004-05. Major new entrants include Air Deccan, Kingfisher Airlines

Kingfisher Airlines

, SpiceJet

SpiceJet

SpiceJet is a low-cost airline headquartered in Gurgaon, India. It began service in May 2005 and by 2008, it was India's second-largest low-cost airline in terms of market share. SpiceJet was voted as the best low-cost airline in South Asia and Central Asia region by Skytrax in...

, GoAir, Paramount Airways

Paramount Airways

Paramount Airways was an airline based in Chennai, India, it was a national licensed airline. It operated scheduled services, mainly targeting business travellers. Its hub was Chennai International Airport...

and IndiGo Airlines

IndiGo Airlines

IndiGo is a private, low-cost airline based in Gurgaon, Haryana, India. Since commencing operations in August 2006, it has established itself as one of India's leading airlines using its model of efficient, low-cost operations and by attracting customers with low fares.Following Indian regulations,...

. To meet India's rapidly increasing demand for air travel, Air India recently placed orders for more than 68 jets from Boeing

Boeing

The Boeing Company is an American multinational aerospace and defense corporation, founded in 1916 by William E. Boeing in Seattle, Washington. Boeing has expanded over the years, merging with McDonnell Douglas in 1997. Boeing Corporate headquarters has been in Chicago, Illinois since 2001...

for 7.5 billion while Indian

Indian (airline)

Indian , formerly Indian Airlines was a major Indian airline based in Delhi and focused primarily on domestic routes, along with several international services to neighbouring countries in Asia. It was state-owned, and was administered by the Ministry of Civil Aviation. It was one of the two flag...

placed orders for 43 jets from Airbus

Airbus

Airbus SAS is an aircraft manufacturing subsidiary of EADS, a European aerospace company. Based in Blagnac, France, surburb of Toulouse, and with significant activity across Europe, the company produces around half of the world's jet airliners....

for 2.5 billion.

Jet Airways, India's largest private carrier, has invested millions of dollars to increase its fleet, but this has been put on hold due to the recent economic slowdown. This trend is not restricted to traditional air carriers in India. IndiGo Airlines entered the limelight when it announced orders for 100 Airbus A320

Airbus A320 family

The Airbus A320 family is a family of short- to medium-range, narrow-body, commercial passenger jet airliners manufactured by Airbus Industrie.Airbus was originally a consortium of European aerospace companies, and is now fully owned by EADS. Airbus's name has been Airbus SAS since 2001...

s worth 6 billion during the Paris Air Show

Paris Air Show

The Paris Air Show is the world's oldest and largest air show. Established in 1909, it is currently held every odd year at Le Bourget Airport in north Paris, France...

; The highest by any Asian domestic carrier. Kingfisher Airlines became the first Indian air carrier on June 15, 2005 to order Airbus A380

Airbus A380

The Airbus A380 is a double-deck, wide-body, four-engine jet airliner manufactured by the European corporation Airbus, a subsidiary of EADS. It is the largest passenger airliner in the world. Due to its size, many airports had to modify and improve facilities to accommodate it...

aircraft. The total deal with Airbus was worth 3 billion.

Airports

There are more than 335 (2008 est.) civilian airports in India - 250 with paved runways and 96 with unpaved runways and more than 20 international airports in the Republic of India. The Indira Gandhi International Airport

Indira Gandhi International Airport

Indira Gandhi International Airport is the primary international airport of the National Capital Region of Delhi, India, situated in West Delhi, 16 km southwest of New Delhi city centre. Named after Indira Gandhi, the former Prime Minister of India, it is the busiest airport in India in...

and the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport handle more than half of the air traffic in South Asia

South Asia

South Asia, also known as Southern Asia, is the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan countries and, for some authorities , also includes the adjoining countries to the west and the east...

Length of runways	Airports with paved runways (2008 est.)	Airports with unpaved runways (2008 est.)
3047 m (9,996.7 ft) or more	19	0
2438 m (7,998.7 ft)—3047 m (9,996.7 ft)	55	1
1524 m (5,000 ft)—2438 m (7,998.7 ft)	77	7
914 m (2,998.7 ft)—1524 m (5,000 ft)	84	39
Under 914 m (2,998.7 ft)	16	47
Total	251	94

Heliports

As of 2010, there are 40 heliports in India. India also has the world's highest helipad

Helipad

Helipad is a common abbreviation for helicopter landing pad, a landing area for helicopters. While helicopters are able to operate on a variety of relatively flat surfaces, a fabricated helipad provides a clearly marked hard surface away from obstacles where a helicopter can safely...

at the Siachen Glacier

Siachen Glacier

The Siachen Glacier is located in the eastern Karakoram range in the Himalaya Mountains at about , just east of the Line of Control between India-Pakistan. India controls all of the Siachen Glacier itself, including all tributary glaciers. At long, it is the longest glacier in the Karakoram and...

a height of 6400 metre (21,000 ft) above mean sea level.

Pawan Hans Helicopters Limited

Pawan Hans

Pawan Hans Helicopters Limited is a helicopter service company based in India. The operations are based at Vile Parle . Other than providing helicopter services to ONGC to its off-shore locations, this public sector company is often engaged for providing services to various state governments in...

is a public sector

Public sector

The public sector, sometimes referred to as the state sector, is a part of the state that deals with either the production, delivery and allocation of goods and services by and for the government or its citizens, whether national, regional or local/municipal.Examples of public sector activity range...

company that provides helicopter services to ONGC to its off-shore locations, and also to various State Governments in India, particularly in North-east India

North-East India

Northeast India refers to the easternmost region of India consisting of the contiguous Seven Sister States, Sikkim, and parts of North Bengal...

Ports and shipping

Maritime transportation in India is managed by the Shipping Corporation of India

Shipping Corporation of India

The Shipping Corporation of India is a company owned by the Government of India based out of Mumbai that operates and manages vessels that services both national and international lines.-History:...

, a government-owned company that also manages offshore and other marine transport infrastructure in the country. It owns and operates about 35% of Indian tonnage and operates in practically all areas of shipping business servicing both national and international trades.

It has a fleet of 79 ships of 27.5 lakh GT (48 lakh DWT) and also manages 53 research, survey and support vessels of 1.2 Lakh GT (0.6 Lakh DWT) on behalf of various government departments and other organisations. Personnel are trained at the Maritime Training Institute in Mumbai, a branch of the World Maritime University

World Maritime University

World Maritime University was established in 1983 by the International Maritime Organization. It is located in Malmö, Sweden with campuses in Shanghai and Dalian, China....

, which was set up in 1987. The Corporation also operates in Malta

Malta

Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...

and Iran

Iran

Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...

through joint ventures.

The ports are the main centres of trade. In India about 95% of the foreign trade by quantity and 70% by value takes place through the ports. Mumbai Port & JNPT(Navi Mumbai

Navi Mumbai

Navi Mumbai is a Planned Satellite City on the west coast of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It was developed in 1972 as a twin city of Mumbai, and is the largest planned city on the planet, with under the jurisdiction of the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation and a total area of . Navi Mumbai...

) handles 70% of maritime trade in India. There are twelve major ports: Navi Mumbai, Mumbai, Kolkata

Kolkata

Kolkata , formerly known as Calcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River, it was the commercial capital of East India...

(including Haldia

Haldia

Haldia has a typical moderate climate with winter temperatures ranging from a low of around 7 degrees Celsius to a high of 22 degrees Celsius. Winters are chilly and is when the residents hold the Haldia Utsav festival. Summers can be very hot and humid. Usual summer temperatures in May, the...

), Paradip

Paradip

Paradip, also spelt Paradeep, is a major seaport town and a designated notified area in Jagatsinghpur district of Orissa, India.-Geography:Paradip is located at . It has an average elevation of .-Paradip Port:...

, Vishakapatnam, Ennore

Ennore Port

Ennore Port, located on the Coromandel Coast about 24 km north of Chennai Port, Chennai, it is the 12th major port of India, and the first port in India which is a public company. The Ennore Port is the only corporatised major port and is registered as a company...

, Chennai

Chennai Port

Chennai Port , formerly known as Madras Port, is the second largest port of India, behind the Mumbai Port, and the largest port in the Bay of Bengal. Being the third oldest port among the 12 major ports of India, it is over 125 years old, although maritime trade started way back in 1639 on the sea...

, Tuticorin, Kochi

Kochi

-Places:* Kochi, a city in the state of Kerala, India, formerly known as Cochin* Kingdom of Cochin, a former feudal city-state on Malabar Coast, India** Fort Kochi, one of the three main urban components which constitute the present day city of Kochi, Kerala, India...

, New Mangalore, Mormugao

Mormugao

Mormugao or Marmagao is a city and a municipal council in South Goa district in the Indian state of Goa. It is Goa’s main port. It was featured in the 1980 film The Sea Wolves and the Bollywood film Bhootnath....

and Kandla

Kandla

Kandla is a seaport in Kutch District of Gujarat state in western India. Located on the Gulf of Kutch, it is one of major ports on west coast. Kandla was constructed in the 1950s as the chief seaport serving western India, after the partition of India from Pakistan left the port of Karachi in...

. Other than these, there are 187 minor and intermediate ports, 43 of which handle cargo.

The distinction between major and minor ports is not based on the amount of cargo handled. The major ports are managed by port trusts which are regulated by the central government. They come under the purview of the Major Port Trusts Act, 1963. The minor ports are regulated by the respective state governments and many of these ports are private ports or captive ports. The total amount of traffic handled at the major ports in 2005-2006 was 382.33 Mt.

Waterways

India has an extensive network of inland waterways in the form of rivers, canals, backwaters

Kerala Backwaters

The Kerala backwaters are a chain of brackish lagoons and lakes lying parallel to the Arabian Sea coast of Kerala state in southern India. The network includes five large lakes linked by canals, both manmade and natural, fed by 38 rivers, and extending virtually half the length of Kerala state...

and creeks

Stream

A stream is a body of water with a current, confined within a bed and stream banks. Depending on its locale or certain characteristics, a stream may be referred to as a branch, brook, beck, burn, creek, "crick", gill , kill, lick, rill, river, syke, bayou, rivulet, streamage, wash, run or...

. The total navigable length is 14500 kilometres (9,009.9 mi), out of which about 5200 km (3,231 mi) of river and 485 km (301 mi) of canals can be used by mechanised crafts. Freight transport by waterways is highly underutilised in India compared to other large countries. The total cargo moved by inland waterways is just 0.15% of the total inland traffic in India, compared to the corresponding figures of 20% for Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

and 32% for Bangladesh

Bangladesh

Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...

.

Cargo that is transported in an organised manner is confined to a few waterways in Goa

Goa

Goa , a former Portuguese colony, is India's smallest state by area and the fourth smallest by population. Located in South West India in the region known as the Konkan, it is bounded by the state of Maharashtra to the north, and by Karnataka to the east and south, while the Arabian Sea forms its...

, West Bengal

West Bengal

West Bengal is a state in the eastern region of India and is the nation's fourth-most populous. It is also the seventh-most populous sub-national entity in the world, with over 91 million inhabitants. A major agricultural producer, West Bengal is the sixth-largest contributor to India's GDP...

, Assam

Assam

Assam , also, rarely, Assam Valley and formerly the Assam Province , is a northeastern state of India and is one of the most culturally and geographically distinct regions of the country...

and Kerala

Kerala

or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....

. The Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) is the statutory authority in charge of the waterways in India. It does the function of building the necessary infrastructure in these waterways, surveying the economic feasibility of new projects and also administration and regulation.
The following waterways have been declared as National Waterways:

National Waterway 1: Allahabad
Allahabad
Allahabad , or Settled by God in Persian, is a major city of India and is one of the main holy cities of Hinduism. It was renamed by the Mughals from the ancient name of Prayaga , and is by some accounts the second-oldest city in India. It is located in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh,...

–Haldia
Haldia
Haldia has a typical moderate climate with winter temperatures ranging from a low of around 7 degrees Celsius to a high of 22 degrees Celsius. Winters are chilly and is when the residents hold the Haldia Utsav festival. Summers can be very hot and humid. Usual summer temperatures in May, the...

stretch of the Ganges
Ganges River
The Ganges or Ganga, , is a trans-boundary river of India and Bangladesh. The river rises in the western Himalayas in the Indian state of Uttarakhand, and flows south and east through the Gangetic Plain of North India into Bangladesh, where it empties into the Bay of Bengal. By discharge it...

- Bhagirathi
Bhagirathi River
The Bhāgīrathī is a turbulent Himalayan river in the state of Uttarakhand, India, that is the source stream of the Ganges—the major river of the Gangetic plain of Northern India and the holy river of Hinduism.-Etymology:...

- Hooghly river system with a total length of 1620 kilometres (1,006.6 mi) in October 1986.

National Waterway 2: Saidiya–Dhubri
Dhubri
Dhubri is the headquarters of Dhubri district India. It is a small old town on the bank of the Brahmaputra and Gadadhar Rivers. In 1883, the town was first constituted as a Municipal Board and is situated about west from Guwahati, the state capital.Dhubri was an important commercial centre and...

stretch of the Brahmaputra river system with a total length of 891 kilometres (553.6 mi) in 1988.

National Waterway 3: Kollam
Kollam
Kollam , often anglicized as ', is a city in the Indian state of Kerala. The city lies on the banks of Ashtamudi Lake on the Arabian sea coast and is situated about north of the state capital, Thiruvananthapuram...

–Kottapuram
Kottapuram
Kottapuram is a part of the Thrissur district and at the southernmost border of the Kodungallur municipality. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Kottapuram which is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Verapoly, has its see here....

stretch of the West Coast Canal along with Champakara and Udyogmandal canals, with a total length of 205 kilometres (127.4 mi) in 1993.

National Waterway 4: Bhadrachalam
Bhadrachalam
Bhadrachalam , a town known for the Sri Rama Temple constructed in the year 1674 A.D., is a Municipality in Khammam district, in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India. It is located east of state capital, Hyderabad. The Bhadrachalam Temple, where the presiding deity is Lord Rama, is an important site...

–Rajahmundry
Rajahmundry
Rajahmundry is a city and municipal corporation of the Andhra Pradesh state in India. It is located east of the state capital, Hyderabad, on the banks of the River Godavari. Known as the Cultural Capital, Rajahmundry is noted for its intense Veda culture and intellect...

and Wazirabad
Wazirabad
AYAZ KHANWazirabad is an industrial city located in Gujranwala District, Punjab, Pakistan. Wazirabad is situated on the banks of the Chenab River nearly 100 kilometres north of Lahore on the Grand Trunk Road. It is 45 kilometres from Sialkot, 30 kilometres from the district capital - Gujranwala...

–Vijaywada stretch of the Krishna
Krishna River
The Krishna River , is one of the longest rivers in central-southern India, about . It is also referred to as Krishnaveni in its original nomenclature...

–Godavari river system along with the Kakinada
Kakinada
Kakinada is a city and a municipal corporation in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is located east of the state capital, Hyderabad. It is also the headquarters of East Godavari district. It is nicknamed "Fertilizer City" , "Pensioner's Paradise" and "Second Madras"...

–Pondicherry canal network, with a total length of 1095 km (680.4 mi) in 2007.

National Waterway 5: Mangalgadi–Paradeep and Talcher
Talcher
Talcher is one of the 4 sub-divisions of Anugul district in the Indian state of Orissa . Situated on the right bank of the river Brahmani, the capital of the erstwhile Talcher State is one of the fastest growing industrial and mining complexes of the country.-Geography:Talcher is located at...

–Dhamara stretch of the Mahanadi
Mahanadi River
The Mahanadi in East Central India. It drains an area of around 141,600 km2 and has a total course of 858 km. The river flows through the states of Chhattisgarh and Orissa.-Source:...

–Brahmani river
Brahmani River
The Brahmani is a major seasonal river in the Orissa state of Eastern India. The Brahmani is formed by the confluence of the Sankh and South Koel rivers, and flows through the districts of Sundargarh, Kendujhar, Dhenkanal, Cuttack and Jajapur...

system along with the East Coast Canal, with a total length of 623 km (387.1 mi) in 2007.

Pipelines

Length of pipelines
Pipeline transport
Pipeline transport is the transportation of goods through a pipe. Most commonly, liquids and gases are sent, but pneumatic tubes that transport solid capsules using compressed air are also used....

for crude oil is 20000 km (12,427 mi).
Length of Petroleum
Petroleum
Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights and other liquid organic compounds, that are found in geologic formations beneath the Earth's surface. Petroleum is recovered mostly through oil drilling...

products pipeline is 268 km (167 mi).
Length of Natural gas
Natural gas
Natural gas is a naturally occurring gas mixture consisting primarily of methane, typically with 0–20% higher hydrocarbons . It is found associated with other hydrocarbon fuel, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is an important fuel source and a major feedstock for fertilizers.Most natural...

pipelines is 1700 km (1,056 mi).

The above information was calculated in 2008.

Environmental issues and impact

The National capital New Delhi has one of the largest CNG

Compressed natural gas

based transport systems as a part of the drive to bring down pollution. In spite of these efforts it remains the largest contributor to the greenhouse gas emissions in the city. The CNG Bus manufacturers in India are Ashok Leyland, Tata Motors, Swaraj Mazda and Hindustan Motors.

In 1998, the Supreme Court of India

Supreme Court of India

The Supreme Court of India is the highest judicial forum and final court of appeal as established by Part V, Chapter IV of the Constitution of India...

published a Directive that specified the date of April 2001 as deadline to replace or convert all buses, three-wheelers and taxis in Delhi to Compressed Natural Gas

Compressed natural gas

.

The Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation was the first State Transport Undertaking in India to utilise bio-fuels and ethanol-blended fuels. KSRTC took an initiative to do research in alternative fuel forms by experimenting with various alternatives— blending diesel with biofuels such as honge, palm, sunflower, groundnut, coconut and sesame. In 2009, the corporation decided to promote the use of biofuel buses.

External links

Freight Benchmarking Index
Transport Search in India
India Transport
Ministry of Road Transport & Highways
Motor Vehicles Act, 1988
Railways Information India
Mile by Mile, India Paves a Smoother Road to Its Future, New York Times, December 4, 2005.
Back to the Future - India's transportation sync with the west

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

Traditional means

Walking

Palanquin

Bullock carts and horse carriages

Bicycles

Hand-pulled rickshaw

Cycle rickshaw

Trams

Local transport

Buses

Taxi

Auto Rickshaws

Suburban Railway

Metro Rail (Mass Rapid Transit System)

Two-wheelers

Automobiles

Utility vehicles

Railway

International

Road

Aviation

Airports

Heliports

Ports and shipping

Waterways

Pipelines

Environmental issues and impact

See also

External links