Introduction
The Railway system is one of the best systems of transportation in the world. Over time, scores of changes and more advanced methods have been added to the system. This paper presents some of the characteristics of the railway system and its advanced developments in this era. This paper has reviewed an article ‘International Railway Conference in New Delhi’ that presents the railway system in India. It helps us understand how significant the railway system is for the passengers and for exporting stuff within the country. The recently applied strategies have proved to be an instant success as well. Other than this, Russia’s Trans-Siberian Railroad, Tube railroad system in London and The electric rail road system in Japan are also discussed.
The purpose of the paper
The purpose of this paper is to make familiar with some of the advances in the railway transportation system by discussing significant railway systems in the world such as Russia’s Trans-Siberian Railroad, Tube railroad system in London and The electric rail road system in Japan.
International Railway Conference in New Delhi
‘International Railway Conference in New Delhi’ is a fine article that presents core developmental strategies of the Indian railway. The various themes in this article are the “Indian railways: the turnaround, strategic performance enhancement initiatives, key Initiatives involving private sector participation, international benchmarking, and the way forward”. (International railway conference New Delhi, 2007, p.2).
Indian railway has changed and is still changing, a lot for ten years. It was a big loss for the government in its management. But newly applied strategies changed the Indian railway. Now the railway is seeking private involvement to find out the capital for management. “Indian Railways (IR) has been the prime mover of the nation and has the distinction of being the largest railway system in Asia and the second largest railway system in the world under single management.
IR operates more than 11,000 trains per day of which 7000 are passenger trains. The railways have played a critical role in catalyzing the pace of economic development and continue to be an integral part of the growth engine of the country”. (International railway conference New Delhi: Indian railways-the turnaround, 2007, p.3) Indian railway had been running by the public sector but most of the European nations encouraged private participation in its management.
The first strategy that was involved in the encouragement of private participation was the distribution of container operation licenses. The next step was to increase the facility of the passengers and to make some of the railway stations into world-class stop-over centers. It increased the capacity of the coaches to take more passengers and redesigned the three-tier system in the train. Mainly this article says about the improving strategies of Indian railway such as public and private partnership and also various developments in every field such as manufacturing units and the construction of railways, making the train and stations into classic ones.
Russia’s Trans-Siberian Railroad
There were no sufficient transportation facilities and links between the European region of Russia and the eastern part in the nineteenth century. With the foundation of the Vladivostok, which is a pacific port of Russia, the need for transportation facilities became very significant for the growth of the city connecting other parts of the nation as well as other countries. Czar Alexander III drew a new plan to connect the city with other cities by constructing a new transportation system called Trans-Siberian Railroad and this project was continued even after his death.
Trans-Siberian Railroad is the longest railway in the world and it relates with some parts of neighboring countries such as China, Mongolia, etc. Siberian agriculture is highly dependent on this railway since it facilitates the transportation of the export of the agricultural products to the central Russia and Europe. The “30%” of the Russian exportation occurs through the Trans-Siberian Railway. “Today the Trans-Siberian Railway carries about 200,000 containers per year to Europe”. (Trans-siberian railway: Effects, 2010, para.6).
This railway in Russia is very significant for the exportation and for the travel of foreigners and domestic passengers since it reduces the hours of journey. “Places that used to take months to reach by coach over bad roads and sleigh-routes could now be reached in a matter of days. New cities grew up almost overnight and vast tracts of natural resources could now be exploited to the benefit of the nation. The railroad realized Russia’s potential as a world-spanning power by literally spanning a significant portion of the World”. (Mauler, 2001, para.4).
Today, it has come impossible to think of a time that the railway had not existed since thousands of people and containers are carried on a daily basis.
Tube railroad system in London
Tube railway means underground rail road system which is more dominant in London. More clearly, the Tube railway system shows the deep level of bored railway lines and this kind of railway can be seen mostly in the United Kingdom especially in London. The London underground railway system lies about four hundred and eight kilometers and this system controls the total transport system of England. There are several advantages for this system and they are “reduced traffic congestion, reduced traffic accidents, injuries, and fatalities, reduced traffic exhaust pollution and traffic noise, reduced damage to roadways and bridges, reduced petroleum fuel consumption, increased control over delivery schedules, lower freight transportation costs”. (Vance & Mills, 1994, para.4).
The well-developed transportation system of United Kingdom is because of the electrified and sophisticated underground tube railway. The country depends on this railway system highly for its development.
The electric railroad system in Japan
There are so many electric railway companies throughout Japan and one among them is Kobe Electric Railway which is one of the best companies in Japan that promotes the safety of the passengers through electrifying the railways. The aim of the company is to “create a pleasant environment for passengers, and contribute to the local community by providing safe, secure and comfortable services”. (Kobe electric railway co. ltd, 2009, p.2).
The main advantages that the people of Japan benefit are the following. Reduction of noise pollution is one of the advantages of electrified railway system as the train which runs with the use of electricity does not produce much sound. Demand for crude oil is very high while there is no sufficient production of the same. The problem can be solved by the electrification of railways. It does not emit unhealthy gasses to the atmosphere. Electrification of the railway system is very important in Japan since it has the highest density in the world. When more people live in an area, various types of pollutions must be avoided.
Conclusion
Today, rapid rail systems can be found in most countries of the world. They are becoming more important as the urbanization of the world’s population continues at a rapid pace. This transportation system connects various cities and countries. This paper had discussed the four kinds of railway systems existing in four countries. They are the recent developments of Indian railway, Russia’s Trans-Siberian Railroad, the Tube railroad system in London and the electric railroad system in Japan.
Reference List
International railway conference New Delhi: Indian railways–the turnaround. (2007). KPMG, p.3. Web.
Kobe electric railway co. ltd. (2009). Allied Telesis, p.2. Web.
Mauler. (2001). Trans-Siberian railroad. Everything2. Web.
Trans-Siberian railway: Effects. (2010). Wikipedia. Web.
Vance, L., & Mills, M. K. (1994). Potential advantages of the tube freight transportation system. Federal Highway Administration, 58. Web.