INTRODUCTIONIndian Railways is an Indian state-owned enterprise, owned and operated by the Government of India through the Ministry of Railways. It is one of the world's largest railway networks comprising 115,000km (71,000mi) of track over a route of 65,436km (40,660mi) and 7,172 stations. In 2014-15, IR carried 8.397 billion passengers annually or more than 23 million passengers a day (roughly half of whom were suburban passengers) and 1050.18 million tons of freight in the year.[3] In 20142015 Indian Railways had revenues of 1634.50 billion (US$26billion) which consists of 1069.27 billion (US$17billion) from freight and 402.80 billion (US$6.3billion) from passengers tickets. Railways were first introduced to India in the year 1853 from Bombay to Thane. In 1951 the systems were nationalised as one unit, the Indian Railways, becoming one of the largest networks in the world. IR operates both long distance and suburban rail systems on a multi-gauge network of broad, metre and narrow gauges. It also owns locomotive and coach production facilities at several places in India and are assigned codes identifying their gauge, kind of power and type of operation. Its operations cover twenty nine states and seven union territories and also provides limited international services to Nepal, Bangladesh and Pakistan.Indian Railways is the world's seventh largest commercial or utility employer, by number of employees, with over 1.307 million employees as of last published figures in 2013 . As for rolling stock, IR holds over 239,281 Freight Wagons, 62,924 Passenger Coaches and 9,013 Locomotives (43 steam, 5,345 diesel and 4,568 electric locomotives).[5] The trains have a 5 digit numbering system and runs 12,617 passenger trains and 7421 freight trains daily.[6] As of 31 March 2013, 20,884km (12,977mi) (31.9%) of the total 65,436km (40,660mi) route length was electrified.[7] Since 1960, almost all electrified sections on IR use 25,000 Volt AC traction through overhead catenary delivery.The above stated facts give rise to the question this study is trying to answer what makes Indian Railways The Life Line of India.

HISTORY OF THE ORGANISATIONThe history of rail transport in India began in the mid-nineteenth century. The core of the pressure for building Railways In India came from London. In 1848, there was not a single kilometre of railway line in India. The country's first railway, built by the Great Indian Peninsula Railway (GIPR), opened in 1853, between Bombay and Thane.[8] A British engineer, Robert Maitland Brereton, was responsible for the expansion of the railways from 1857 onwards. The Allahabad-Jabalpur branch line of the East Indian Railway had been opened in June 1867. Brereton was responsible for linking this with the GIPR, resulting in a combined network of 6,400km (4,000mi). Hence it became possible to travel directly from Bombay to Calcutta. By 1875, about 95 million were invested by British companies in India guaranteed railways. By 1880 the network had a route mileage of about 14,500km (9,000mi), mostly radiating inward from the three major port cities of Bombay, Madras and Calcutta. By 1895, India had started building its own locomotives, and in 1896, sent engineers and locomotives to help build the Uganda Railways.In 1900, the GIPR became a government owned company. The network spread to the modern day states of Ahom Kingdom, Rajputhana and Madras Presidency and soon various autonomous kingdoms began to have their own rail systems. In 1905, an early Railway Board was constituted, but the powers were formally vested under Lord Curzon. It served under the Department of Commerce and Industry and had a government railway official serving as chairman, and a railway manager from England and an agent of one of the company railways as the other two members. For the first time in its history, the Railways began to make a profit.In 1907 almost all the rail companies were taken over by the government. The following year, the first electric locomotive made its appearance. With the arrival of World War I, the railways were used to meet the needs of the British outside India. With the end of the war, the railways were in a state of disrepair and collapse.In 1920, with the network having expanded to 61,220km (38,040mi), a need for central management was mooted by Sir William Acworth. Based on the East India Railway Committee chaired by Acworth, the government took over the management of the Railways and detached the finances of the Railways from other governmental revenues.The period between 1920 and 1929, was a period of economic boom; there were 41,000mi (66,000km) of railway lines serving the country; the railways represented a capital value of some 687 million sterling; and they carried over 620 million passengers and approximately 90 million tons of goods each year.[12] Following the Great Depression, the railways suffered economically for the next eight years. The Second World War severely crippled the railways. Starting 1939, about 40% of the rolling stock including locomotives and coaches was taken to the Middle East, the railways workshops were converted to ammunitions workshops and many railway tracks were dismantled to help the Allies in the war. By 1946, all rail systems had been taken over by the government.On 23 April 2014, Indian Railways introduced a mobile app system to track train schedules.

START OF INDIAN RAILWAYS

Following independence in 1947, India inherited a decrepit rail network. About 40 per cent of the railway lines were in the newly created Pakistan. Many lines had to be rerouted through Indian territory and new lines had to be constructed to connect important cities such as Jammu. A total of 42 separate railway systems, including 32 lines owned by the former Indian princely states existed at the time of independence spanning a total of 55,000km. These were amalgamated into the Indian Railways.In 1952, it was decided to replace the existing rail networks by zones. A total of six zones came into being in 1952. As India developed its economy, almost all railway production units started to be built indigenously. The Railways began to electrify its lines to AC. On 6 September 2003 six further zones were made from existing zones for administration purpose and one more zone added in 2006. The Indian Railways has now sixteen zones.In 1985, steam locomotives were phased out. In 1987, computerization of reservation first was carried out in Bombay and in 1989 the train numbers were standardised to four digits. In 1995, the entire railway reservation was computerised through the railway's internet. In 1998, the Konkan Railway was opened, spanning difficult terrain through the Western Ghats. In 1984 Kolkata became the first Indian city to get a metro rail system, followed by the Delhi Metro in 2002, Bangalore's Namma Metro in 2011 and the Mumbai Metro and Mumbai Monorail in 2014. Many other Indian cities are currently planning urban rapid transit systems.

THE GROWTH OF INDIAN RAILWAYS

The railways were introduced in the country in 1853 by the British almost immediately after it appeared in England. From a modest beginning of 53 kms between Mumbai and Thane, the railways have made a long journey and emerged as the principal mode of transport in the country. After Independence, the railways of the country were totally integrated and brought under the unified management of the Railway Board. Today, the Indian Railways (IR) has a network spread over 63,000 route kms. and 7000 stations throughout the length and breadth of the country. It carries 12 million passengers and more than 1.2 million tonnes of freight daily, accounting roughly for 40 per cent of the freight and 2- per cent of the passenger traffic in the country. These figures, however, mask the true significance of IRs role in the Indian economy which is crucially dependent on it for transport requirements of the core sectors, long-distance travel of the people from one far corner of the country to another and suburban travel. IR also accounts for 8.5 per cent of the organised employment of the country either directly or indirectly.This section shall have an analysis of the growth of the Indian railways as an organisation and its trajectory since the period of independence ( ever since the railways got the autonomy in its management from the British). Also it shall deal with the future prospects of and vision of the Indian railways.The organisation structure of indian railways is as follows :

1947-1959IR History started in 1948 with acute shortage of hardware and the partition and much of the first decade was spent in trying to bring the mess together. Definite plans were put down to modernize the railways with better rolling stock, locomotives and other systems. In 1949 the Chittaranjan Locomotive Works was founded to produce steam locomotives and an agreement was signed withSwiss Car and Elevator Co. of Schlieren-Zurich, Switzerland, for all-steel coaches (the design is still in use today) which would be the best in the World at that time in design and technology. This lead to the establishment of the Integral Coach Factory (ICF) in Perambur, Madras in 1953. Initially the decision was to invest in stream traction and to overcome loco shortage around 1000 WP locos (Vulcan Foundry), Diesel locomotives for all gauges (YDM-1, ZDM-1, NDM-1) and EMU units were imported from UK and Italy between 1948 and 1956 and several all-second class Janata Expresses were started, five of which survive today, one in its original form (Howrah Rajgir Janata Exp). But establishment of standards were not fast enough. Spurred by the Ariyalur disaster, the Railways started modernization programs at breakneck speed and many decisions that would shape the Railways in the future like the adoption of 25kV AC traction for electrification and Zonal grouping of the Railways were made during this time.Hundreds of kilometers of new line were laid and around 2000 km of line was electrified in 5 years as the decision was taken to switch to electric tractionaggressively. New BG locomotives (WCM-1 and 2, WDM-1 imported from ALCO, USA, and WAM-1) were acquired, but almost all traction was on steam.

1960 1969The early 1960s were probably the best times the Indian Railways had seen before 2000, when the network was spanking modern with state-of-the-art locomotives, (comparatively) fast trains, new world-class rolling stock and good service. Electrification was progressing at a rapid pace, DLW was founded and started producing MG diesels, TELCO was producing Shunters, ICF was running on full steam and would produce EMUs and MG coaches in addition to BG coaches, Golden Rock Workshops started producing Wagons and CLW started producing electric locos (including WAG-1s) and diesel shunters, while production of steam declined. The initial orders of Indias Diesel Workhorse WDM-2 were delivered by ALCO in 1962 and by the end of the decade DLW was mass-producing them. The railways had decided to do away with steam altogether by then in favor of electric and diesel. Vestibuling of long distance trains, introduction of electric color-light signals and Long-Welded Rails were all introduced during this time. Tests were conducted for trains to run upto 160 kph in 1963! and many trains were dieselized. But most of these developments happened before 1965. In the aftermath of the Indo-China war the mood of the nation becamesomberand socialist-nationalization caught hold, squeezing the Railways out of its ambitious expansion and modernization plans. Still, several long-distance Air-Conditioned trains and Super Expresses were introduced along with several different types of classes and accommodation configurations. All those experiments culminated in the introduction of the first Rajdhani Express which ran on March 3, 1969 between Howrah and New Delhi. By this time, around 3500 route kilometers were electrified. This decade was also the one where the Indian Railways added the most new track since independence, with around 3500 km of new track being laid.

1970 1979The 1960s were a time of great progress for IR in terms of new locomotives, electrification and upgradation of speed. But that momentum of technological advancement could not be maintained for long and the railways started languishing in the dark ages. From the early 1970s till the late 1980s except for a brief period from 1977-78 to 1981, there was no advancement whatsoever for the railways as various governments were stuck in socialist quagmires and the economy of the country stagnated. Between the WCAM-1 of 1975 and the WAG-5 of 1988, there were no new major non-Shunter locos rolled out in this period except the WAP-1 of 1980. The only major decision that were taken during this period was the formation of CORE to aggressively electrify all feasible routes in India. The WCAM-1 (Dual AC and DC current locos) were one of the greatest achievements of this era and steam production stopped with thelast steam engine rolling out of CLW in 1975.They continued trying to bring about equality among classes by making classless trains like the New Delhi Ernakulam/Mangalore Jayanti Janata Express, Gitanjali Express, Himgiri Express etc, all of which failed. But the highlight of the late 1970s wasIRs continued experiments with accommodation classes. Second (old Inter) Class was abolished and Third Class was renamed Second Class. Many unconventional formats like sleeper-cum-sitting, AC/non-AC composite, First Class/Second Sitting composites etc were tried out but later abandoned. AC 2-Tier coaches however, became widespread.By the end of the 1970strain structures and running methods were overhauled with colonial-era coaches being rapidly replaced by newer Integral ones. Madhu Dandavate, the then Railway minister was the brainchild behind much of these reforms is considered the real modernizer of the Indian Railways as we see it today, his greatest achievement being the two inches of foam he put on the wooden berths and seats of the Second Class.1980 1989The most visible development of the 1980s was the formation of CORE resulting in rampant electrification of lines across the country. Around 4500 route kilometers of track was electrified between 1980 and 1990! But Indian Railways most ambitious and high-tech project which would propel IR into the future was taking shape behind screens. From 1980 to 1990, IR laid the foundations of what would become one of the most complicated and biggest real-time database systems in the World: The Indian Railways Online Passenger Reservation System. It started as standalone computer reservation system in 1985 for some trains at Delhi, then at Madras, Bombay, Calcutta and Secunderabad. However, both these projects pushed though because of individual interest more than concerted efforts. The pathbreaking WAP-1 (1980) and WAG-5 (1988) locomotives were introduced in this decade and the first Shatabdi startedrunningbetween New Delhi and Jhansi and was later extended to Bhopal.But nothing at all worthwhile happened from 1980 1985 as the country was still mired in the Hindu Rate of Growth thanks to economic stagnation. Political upheavals of the 1980s also added to it. A decade was lost for the Railways and for the country. Laying of new lines and expansion of the network would be all but absent in 1980 with a miserable 300 km of lines on an average being laid every year.1990 1999The decade of liberalization. The railways shook off its chains to launch itself on the path of modernization with standardization of train configurations, country-wide introduction of Sleeper and AC 3-tier (1994) classes in large numbers on all trains, wide upgradation to Color-Signaling replacing Semaphore, elimination of steam traction altogether, commencement of Project Unigauge with mass MG to BG conversions, the building and opening of the Konkan Railway and the launchof the completely computerized pan-India reservation system (now called CONCERT). Electrification continued unabated with 2500 km electrified per year, high-powered locomotives were introduced including the indigenous 5350 hp WAP4, the 5450 hp WAP5 and the most powerful loco in India, the 6350 hp WAG9. Many trains could be speeded up and augmented with more coaches increasing carrying capacity. But the 90s will also be remembered for being the decade when populism reared its ugly head. From sometime in the early 1990s, the Railway Budget started to be used by politicians as a tool for handing out goodies for geographies they prefer with no vision or plan for the overall, long-term development of the Railways. Blatant misuse of these populist powers have resulted in lopsided development and anunimaginativeand directionless

2000-2012One word: IRCTC. In one single shot, Indian Railways suddenly became accessible to everyone and traveling by train suddenly became an infinitesimally lesser hassle. Even if you dont have an internet connection, you could approach any of the thousands of agents for a ticket. The IRCTC website was what liberated the Indian Railways, though it got mired in its own success and has like anything Indian, added another layer to the entire process today. Almost all of IRs Meter and Narrow Gauge routes have been converted to Broad Gauge and most of the Railways trunk routes are electrified or are under the process of electrification (a major exemption being the Konkan Railway). The recent past saw the introduction of the hugely popular Garib Rath, Jan Shatabdi and Duronto Expresses and the LHB rakes. Demanding and educated passengers have forced the railways to act in favor of passengers and thestrangleholdof babudom is slowly loosening. However, politicians with their petty interests are running the Railways into the ground, and thedisparatefare structure between passenger andfreightis not doing anything good for anyone. The ultimate WAP7 and the Diesel powerhouses WDP4 and WDG4 were introduced along with LHB rakes for premium trains. Railway patronage has risen to an all-time high with hundreds of special trains being run every year and rarely a train does not go waitlisted. Still, IR is facing heavy losses and frequent accidents with run-down rolling stock and crumbling infrastructure.organization. The rate of accidents shot up with two of Indias biggest rail disasters The Purushottam Express tragedy and the Gaiswal disaster both happening in this decade.

2012- PresentMajor Trends1. There is a rapid increase in demand for urban mass transportation systems in the country. Several metro rail projects are in progress to improve connectivity within cities; the Delhi Metro has emerged as an internationally acclaimed venture.

2. Indian Railways (IR) launched mobile ticketing services in August 2011 to make the ticket issuing process more efficient. Users can directly buy a ticket from their mobiles that would be delivered to them through a non-transferable SMS.

3. IR has attracted increasing investments from overseas through strategic alliances with various countries over the last few years. Subsidiaries of foreign companies are being set up to cater to the huge demand offered by IR.

4. IR is planning to build seven high-speed rail corridors to provide faster rail connectivity across the country. The trains will be capable of running at speeds up to 300 kilometres per hour. Modernisation of Indian railwaysTo modernize Indian Railways, the focus is on two fundamental drivers - Safety and Growth and along a five-pronged strategy

1. Modernise core assets - They are key revenue generating assets 2. Explore new revenue models - To meet the funding needs for modernisation and growth 3. Review projects - To ensure financial viability, social benefits, and timely implementation 4. Focus on enablers - For a holistic and long term approach to modernisation and execution 5. Mobilize resources - To capitalise on an opportunity

PROBLEMS OF INDIAN RAILWAYS

Although Indian Railways have progressed a lot, both quantitatively and qualitatively, during the last few years, this system is still plagued by a number of problems which require immediate attention.A lot has been done, but a lot more is yet to be done. Some of the major problems faced by the Indian Railways are briefly discussed as under:

1. Safety:2. Indian Railways have been in the news albeit for wrong reasons. With the rapid increase in passenger and goods traffic, the frequency of train accidents is increasing very fast. This has raised serious doubts in the public mind about safety of Rail travel and the general health of the railway network.The credibility of an organisation with a long and proud history of nation building seriously eroded. In such a situation it is but natural to ask where the Railways are heading. On an average the Railways report 20 major collisions, 350 derailments and around 80 level crossing accidents in a year.

2. Cost and Revenue Problems:

As is the case with most of the government organisations, Indian Railways face chronic financial crisis. The annual rate of increase in cost has overtaken that of revenues during the last few years.

3. Low level of employee productivity:

Indian Railways face a serious problem of low level of employee productivity. Transport output in terms of passengers and freight tonne kilometres per employee on Indian Railways is only 400 as compared to 500 for Chinese and 570 for French Railways.An estimated 30 per cent surplus workforce and operation of a number of lines with low traffic and assets not essential for the Railways are contributory factors.

4. Social Burden:

Indian Railways have to play a dual role of revenue earning as well as meeting the social obligations. The Expert Group, constituted in December 2008 to study the railway sector, termed it as the split personality. On one hand, the Railways are seen as a commercial organisation and on the other hand, it is treated as a social organisation which must perform its social obligations.The two functions are diametrically opposite and difficult to reconcile. There are several social obligations on the railways which are always running below cost. Suburban passenger services, concessionary travel to certain section of travellers, concessional freight movement of certain commodities, particularly to remote and inaccessible areas like the North-east region, providing rail services to backward regions are some of the outstanding social obligations on the Indian Railways.

5. Other Problems:

A large number of miscellaneous problems include late running of trains, lack of passenger facilities including cleanliness at the railway stations, lack of security arrangement on the railways resulting in theft and dacoities, etc. Political pressure and interference is a very big problem which the Indian Railways are facing with increasing impact. Several projects which are not economically viable have been initiated for political considerations.

Indian Railways is cash strapped and reported a loss of 30,000 crores in the passenger segment for the year ending March 2014. Operating Ratio, a key metric used by Indian railways to gauge financial health, is 91.8% in the year 2014-15. Railways carry a social obligation of over 20,000 crores ($3.5bn). The loss per passengerKM increased to 23 paise by the end of March 2014. Indian Railways is left with a surplus cash of just INR 690crores ($115mn) by the end of March 2014.[54]It is estimated that over 5 lakh crores (about $85 bn at 2014 exchange rates) is required to complete the ongoing projects alone. Railways is consistently losing market share to other modes of transport both in Freight and Passenger Segment.[55]New railway line projects are often announced during theRailway Budgetannually without securing additional funding for them. In the last 10 years, 99 New Line projects worth 60,000 crore were sanctioned out of which only one project is complete till date. In fact, there are 4 projects that are as old as 30 years, but are still not complete for one reason or another.[6]Sanjay Dina Patila member of theLok Sabharecently accused that additional tracks, height of platforms are still a problem and rise in tickets, goods, monthly passes has created an alarming situation where common man is troubled.

FINANCING THE ORGANISATION

Railway Budget of India also referred as Rail Budget is the Annual Financial Statement of the state Indian Railways, which handles rail transport in India. It is presented every year by the Minister of Railways, representing the Ministry of Railways, in the parliament. The Railway Budget is presented every year, a few days before the Union budget of India.Union minister Sadananda Gowda is presenting his first Rail Budget in the Lok Sabha. Here are the highlights:

* Indian railways to become the largest freight carrier in the world.* Social obligation of Railways in 2013-14 was Rs 20,000 crore.* Gross traffic receipts in 2013-14 was Rs 12, 35,558 crore; operating ratio was 94 per cent.* Focus in past has been on sanctioning projects rather than completing them, Railway minister says.* Indian Railways spent Rs 41,000 crore on laying of 3,700 km of new lines in last 10 years.* Fare revision will bring in Rs.8,000 crore; need another Rs.9,000 crore for golden quadrilateral project.*Railways also proposed to set up Food Courts at major stations.* Need to explore alternative sources of resource mobilization and not depend on fare hike alone.* Spend 94 paisa of every rupee earned, leaving a surplus of only 6 paisa.* With 12,500 trains, railways move 23 million passengers every day;*Separate housekeeping wing at 50 major stations.* CCTV to monitor cleanliness activities.* Mechanized laundry will be introduced.*Dedicated freight corridor on Eastern and Western corridors.* 5400 unmanned level crossing removed.* Tourist trains to be introduced to link all major places of tourist interests across the country.* 4,000 women constables to be recruited to ensure safety of women. 17,000 RPF constables to provide safety to passengers.* Setting up of Railway University for technical and non-technical study.* Ultrasonic system to detect problem in track.*Proposal to start Bullet trains on MumbaiAhmedabad route. Speed of important trains will be also raised.* Diamond Quadrilateral project of high speed trains to connect all major metros.*E-ticketing system to be improved. Future e-ticketing to support 7200 tickets per minute & to allow 120,000 simultaneous users* Wi-Fi in A1 and A category stations and in select trains. Internet-based platform and unreserved tickets.*GIS mapping and digitization of Railway Land. Extension of logistics support to various e-Commerce Companies.* Bulk of future projects will be financed through PPP mode.* Facilitate transport of milk through rail. Special milk transportation trains in association with Amul and National Dairy Association Board.*One ticket to reach from Delhi to Srinagar. Uddhampur to Banihal by bus and Banihal to Srinagar by train.* Mumbai local to get 860 new, state-of-the art coaches. 64 new EMUs to be introduced.*Train connectivity to Char Dham.* Paperless office of Indian railways in 5 years. Digital reservation charts at stations.* Ready-to-eat meals to be introduced in phased manners.* 27 Express trains to be introduced.* 5 Jansadharan, 5 Premium AC trains to be introduce.

Highlights of the Indian railways, 2015The key themes of the Budget were in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's initiatives - Swachch Bharat Mission, Make in India and Digital India.1The most-expected part about this year's Railway Budget - there is no increase in passenger rail fares.

2Rs.8.5 lakh crore will be invested in Railways in next 5 years.

3'Operation 5 mins', wherein passengers travelling unreserved canpurchasea ticket in 5 minutes.

4Bio toilets and airplane-type vacuum toilets in trains.

5Surveillance cameras in select coaches and ladies compartments for women's safety without compromising onprivacy.

6Rail tickets can now be booked 120daysin advance.

7Speed on nine railway corridors to go up to 200 km per hour.

8Wi-Fi in more stations, mobile phone charging facilities in all train compartments.

9Facility of onlinebookingof wheelchair for senior citizens.

10Satellite railway terminals in major cities.

11Centrally managed Rail Display Network is expected to be introduced in over 2K stations over the next 2 years.

12All India 24/7 helpline - 138 from March 2015; Toll free No.182 for security.

13917 road under-bridges and over-bridges to be constructed to replace 3,438 railway crossings; at a cost of Rs. 6,581 crore.

14Four Railway Research Centres to start in four universities.

15Details about new trains and increased frequency will be announced later in this session of Parliament after review.

What is the investment plan?The Railway Budget envisages an investment of Rs. 8.5 lakh crore in next five years.How is it going to be mobilized?The Minister suggested that the money could be raised from multiple sources - from multilateral development banks to pension funds.What is the action plan in the sphere fund raising?Go in for partnership with key stakeholders - States, PSUs, partner with multilateral and bi-lateral organizations other governments to gain access to long-term financing. Also, get technology from overseas. The private sector could be roped in to improve last-mile connectivity, expand fleet of rolling stockand modernize station infrastructure.What is the thrust?The thrust will be on revamping management practices, systems, processes, and re-tooling of human resources.What is the proposal on capacity augmentation?1. De-congesting networks with basket of traffic-generating projects will be the priority2. Priority to last-mile connectivity projects3. Fast-track sanctioned works on 7,000 kms of double/third/fourth lines4. Commissioning 1200 km in 2015-16 at an investment of Rs. 8,686 crore, 84% higher Y-O-Y.5. Commissioning 800 km of gauge conversion targeted incurrentfiscal.6. 77 projects covering 9,400 km of doubling/tripling/quadrupling works along with electrification, covering almost all States, at a cost of Rs. 96,182 crore, which is over 2700% higher in terms of amount sanctioned.7. Traffic facility work is a top priority with an outlay of Rs. 2374 crore.8. Award of 750 km of civil contracts and 1300 km of system contracts in 2015-16 on Dedicated9. Freight Corridor (DFC); 55 km section of Eastern DFC to be completed in the current year.10. Preliminary engineering-cum-traffic survey (PETS) for four other DFCs in progress.11. Acceleration of pace of Railway electrification: 6,608 route kilometers sanctioned for 2015-16, an increase of 1330% over the previous year.

HYPOTHESIS RESEARCH

A hypothesis is a proposed explanation for a phenomenon. Any hypothesis will enable predictions by reasoning. It predicts the outcome of an experiment. On the basis of the above discussion and through primary (questionnaires, telephonic interviews, etc.) and secondary research (literature review) the following three hypothesis were developed including a null and an alternative hypothesis. The null hypothesis refers to a general statement or default position that there is no relationship between two measured phenomena. A statistical hypothesis is an assumption about a population parameter. This assumption may or may not be true. Hypothesis testing refers to the formal procedures used by statisticians to accept or reject statistical hypotheses.A statistical hypothesis is a scientific hypothesis that is testable on the basis of observing a process that is modelled via a set of random variables.A statistical hypothesis test is a method of statistical inference used for testing a statistical hypothesis.Statistical hypothesis testing is a key technique of both Frequentist inference and Bayesian inference, although the two types of inference have notable differences. Statistical hypothesis tests define a procedure that controls (fixes) the probability of incorrectly deciding that a default position (null hypothesis) is incorrect. The procedure is based on how likely it would be for a set of observations to occur if the null hypothesis were true. Note that this probability of making an incorrect decision is not the probability that the null hypothesis is true, nor whether any specific alternative hypothesis is true. This contrasts with other possible techniques of decision theory in which the null and alternative hypothesis are treated on a more equal basis.One naive Bayesian approach to hypothesis testing is to base decisions on the posterior probability but this fails when comparing point and continuous hypotheses. Other approaches to decision making, such as Bayesian decision theory, attempt to balance the consequences of incorrect decisions across all possibilities, rather than concentrating on a single null hypothesis. A number of other approaches to reaching a decision based on data are available via decision theory and optimal decisions, some of which have desirable properties. Hypothesis testing, though, is a dominant approach to data analysis in many fields of science. Extensions to the theory of hypothesis testing include the study of the power of tests, i.e. the probability of correctly rejecting the null hypothesis given that it is false. Such considerations can be used for the purpose of sample size determination prior to the collection of data. Process of testing hypothesis-1.The first step is to state the relevant null and alternative hypotheses. This is important as mis-stating the hypotheses will muddy the rest of the process.2.The second step is to consider the statistical assumptions being made about the sample in doing the test; for example, assumptions about the statistical independence or about the form of the distributions of the observations. This is equally important as invalid assumptions will mean that the results of the test are invalid.3.Decide which test is appropriate, and state the relevant test statistic.4.Derive the distribution of the test statistic under the null hypothesis from the assumptions. In standard cases this will be a well-known result. For example the test statistic might follow a Student's t distribution or a normal distribution.5.Select a significance level (), a probability threshold below which the null hypothesis will be rejected. Common values are 5% and 1%.6.The distribution of the test statistic under the null hypothesis partitions the possible values of T into those for which the null hypothesis is rejectedthe so-called critical regionand those for which it is not. The probability of the critical region is .7.Compute from the observations the observed value of the test statistic T.8.Decide to either reject the null hypothesis in favour of the alternative or not reject it. The decision rule is to reject the null hypothesis H0 if the observed value tobs is in the critical region, and to accept or "fail to reject" the hypothesis otherwise.There is an initial research hypothesis of which the truth is unknown.The alternative hypothesis is the hypothesis used in hypothesis testing that is contrary to the null hypothesis. It is usually taken to be that the observations are the result of a real effect. The four hypothesis proposed are:

HoNull Hypothesis(Negative aspect)

H1Alternate Hypothesis(Positive aspect)

1. Ho - The current railway policies are ineffective.H1 The current railway policies are effective.

2. Ho Railway services are unsatisfactory.H1 Railway services are satisfactory.

3. Ho Most people do not depend on railways as inter-city travel.H1 Most people depend on railways as inter-city travel.

PRESENT HYPOTHESIS-1.Ho - The current railway policies are ineffective. H1 The current railway policies are effective.In order to bring about greater efficiency in administration, speedy implementation of on-going projects, better customer care, reduction of workload on General Managers etc., Indian Railways have decided to create seven new zones by territorial re-adjustment of existing zones. The new zones, having limited financial burden on Railways, will have thin and lean, efficient and modern administrative set up. Two of the new zones have already started functioning. With a view to complete strategically important projects within a stipulated period of time, a non-budgetary investment initiative for the development of Railways has been launched.. Under the scheme all the capacity bottlenecks in the critical sections of the railway network will be removed at an investment of Rs.15,000 crore over the next five years. These projects would include: 1.Strengthening of the golden Quadrilateral to run more long-distance mail/express and freight trains at a higher speed of 100 kmph.2.Strengthening of rail connectivity to ports and development of multi-modal corridors to hinterland.3.Construction of four mega bridges - two over River Ganga, one over River Brahmaputra, and one over River Kosi.National Train Enquiry System" has been started in order to provide upgraded passenger information and enquiries. This system provides the train running position on a current basis through various output devices such as terminals in the station enquiries and Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS) at important railway stations. So far the project has been implemented at 98 stations.Freight Operations Information System (FOIS) Computerisation of freight operations by Railways has been achieved by implementing Rake Management System (RMS). Such FOIS terminals are available at 235 locationsRailways have established their own intra-net Railnet It provides networking between Railway Board, Zonal Headquarters, Divisional headquarters, Production Units, Training Centers etc.4.Accelerated completion of those projects nearing completion and other important projects.

TESTING HYPOTHESIS-Therefore, assuming the significant level () to be 50% of the total population(76) that is 38, which would be common for all the three hypothesis.The number of people who believe that the current policy or the Railway budget of 2015 is satisfactory is- 32 in number that is a little less than the significant level prescribed catering to the null hypothesis requirement and so it is passed.However, more than 50% of the population(39 in number) had no comments to give on the Railway Budget.It may be assumed that the population who had an idea about the budget is more or less satisfied.

2.Ho Railway services are unsatisfactory. H1 Railway services are satisfactory.Organizations and companies succeed, or fail, based on the quality and effectiveness of their employees. Quality is one of the key parameters in order measure the performance of the products or services and even it is one primary indicator to organizational performance. As customer perception plays a significant role in order to measure service quality of the service provider and hence the performance of the organization. It is also evident that superior quality of services helps to gain customer satisfaction, loyalty, increased market share and thus increased productivity and performance.Indian railways are commonly referred to as the as Provide what is better Promote what is best Preserve what is good, by making movement of people and freight thought Indian at large scale. Service quality can be described as a rationale of differences between expectation and competence along the important quality dimensions. Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry identified ten requirements useful for Passengers evaluation of the quality of services: reliability, responsiveness, tangibles, Information, Assurance, Empathy, Food plazas, timeliness, understanding the Passengers and service accessibility. Rail transport system is the main public transport system in India and is administered by the Federal Government of India namely, Indian Railways. Rail transport system is connected With all the major cities of the country. Rail transport system is aiding movement of the people with lowest fare and the source of transportation from big cities like Delhi, Chennai, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore and Hyderabad. Especially on these routes, a number of nonstop trains are operated in order to minimize the time and reduce the distances. According to Annual reports of Indian Railways, it carries about 8500 Million passengers per day and about 84,26 Lakhs passengers during the year of 2011-2012.The Indian Rail transportation is gaining importance day by day. With the increase of passengers, the Indian Railways has focused to extend its attention to satisfy the needs of customers and made initiatives to improve the quality of service to enrich the satisfaction of customers. Even though repeated attempt made by the Railways to improve the quality of services. This reveals that, continuous, comprehensive, lengthy intentional performance and attempts are essential to fill any service gaps.

We studied the satisfaction level of population on various aspects such as cleanliness, availability of tickets, maintenance of stations and tracks, etc. A high majority of people believe that the service offered in general are pretty unsatisfactory, on an average only 4.5% find the services to be satisfactory.

Therefore, clearly null hypothesis holds applies in this case.3. Ho Most people do not depend on railways as inter-city travel. H1 Most people depend on railways as inter-city travel.The Indian Railways is the worlds third largest rail network under a single management. Indian Railways is a commonly used mode of public transportation in the country.By the help of secondary sources we know that, during 2010-11, it carried 7,651million passengers as against 7,246 million in 2009-10 thus registering a volume growth of 5.6%. Passenger kilometres ,which is calculated by multiplying the number of journeys by mean kilometric distance was 979 billion, up by 8.3% from 903billion in the previous year. Passenger earnings also increased by 2,291.2 crore (9.8%) in comparison with 2009-10.The trend of passenger traffic since 1950-51 till 2011 are shown below:

Hence, It may be believed that the dependency on railways of the citizens of the nation has increased immensely over the years.Alternate hypothesis holds true for this, rejecting the null hypothesis.

RESPONSES TO THE QUESTIONNAIRE

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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