Traffic in India
India has one of the largest, but by no means densest, road and rail networks in the world. Despite constant adjustments, the transport system is often completely overloaded. The reasons for this lie in the population growth, which traffic planning and urban development cannot cope with, as well as in the high number of commuters . There is also a lot of goods traffic on water, on land and in the air.
India is not only the largest country in South Asia , but also the economically strongest in this large region and therefore has a high share of freight and cross-border traffic. It borders on eight states, six of them on land, with each of which economic relations are maintained. India has a great need for further expansion of the transport infrastructure, also with regard to the enormous economic development potential.
Road traffic
The Indian road network is 3.3 million kilometers long, only about half of which is paved . The traffic consists mainly of mopeds , cars , auto rickshaws , buses and bicycles. In some metropolitan areas, goods transport is only possible on foot due to the narrowness. Only in Kolkata (Calcutta) are rickshaws still pulled by people. The city of Delhi has 1,749 kilometers of roads per 100 km², making it the densest road network in the country.
Smaller goods are very often transported by cart, in rural areas sometimes with the help of farm animals. In large cities, traffic during the day is overloaded, chaotic and mostly characterized by long traffic jams - including pedestrian traffic. The frequent collapse in traffic has a negative effect on economic strength, as goods transport cannot provide the transport services required. The six-lane Mumbai Pune Expressway is a special road - tolls have to be paid here and the no-stopping ban is enforced by the high police presence. Many trucks and buses are traditionally artistically decorated by painting and rebuilding .
Traffic rules
There is officially left-hand traffic for road vehicles. Otherwise there are only theoretical traffic rules. In practice, the heavier vehicle always has the right of way - trucks cannot be prevented from overtaking by motorcycles in oncoming traffic. Headlight flasher means something like “Get out of the way! I'm not stopping ”. This is z. B. used in oncoming traffic in bottlenecks.
buses
City buses are particularly common in metropolitan areas and are usually operated by state-owned companies. There is also - as is common in many Asian countries - a regular service for overland routes. In overland transport there are also offers from private providers such as B. the company Neeta. Their mostly air-conditioned buses travel overnight and are marketed as luxury.
However, there is usually a much denser and much more frequented network of state bus routes, which usually connects central bus stations (bus stand or bus station) in different cities every half or quarter of an hour (or even more frequently if necessary). Tourist information about these buses (prices, timetables) can usually only be obtained personally from the driver, because tourist information and travel agencies assume that these simple, non-air-conditioned buses would be out of the question for a “rich” tourist.
Trunk roads
The approximately 71,000 km of national highways are mostly single-lane, double-lane (one common lane with one lane in each direction). A smaller part is designed with two lanes, two lanes (structurally separate lanes with one lane in each direction). The state highways of the states are partly only single lane and have a route network of 130,000 kilometers.
The largest long-distance transport project in India is the Golden Quadrilateral (5,846 kilometers), the construction costs of which are estimated at 12.317 billion US dollars. A four- to six-lane road ( Express Highway ) connects the cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai in a trapezoidal fashion. The project was completed after delays in 2012 and is to be expanded into six lanes in a further planning step. The road is the first part of the National Highways Development Project (NHDP), which was decided in 1998. The project aims to further expand the trunk road network.
The Grand Trunk Road , some of which dates back to the 4th century BC. Is a 2500 kilometer long trunk road that connects India with Pakistan and Bangladesh.
| Length (km) | |
|---|---|
| National Expressway | over 1000 km |
| Four- and six-lane streets with a lane divider | over 12000 km |
| National Highway | over 70,000 km |
| State highways | 131,899 km |
| District streets | 46.7763 km |
| Other roads | 2,650,000 km |
| Total (approximately) | 3,300,000 km |
Rail transport
The rail transport was introduced by the British Crown in 1853 that has built up in the aftermath of a railway network between major metropolitan areas. In addition, many other regions are well connected to the rail network. Today, rail transport is the fourth largest in the world. Every year 5 billion passengers and over 350 million tons of goods are handled on the Indian railways.
At 63,940 kilometers, the rail network is the largest in the world under a single administration. In 2003/04 556 million tons of goods were transported, including four fifths bulk goods such as coal , ores , grain , mineral oils , cement , iron and steel and artificial fertilizers . The Indian State Railways ( Indian Railways ) is divided into 16 regional companies, employs 1.6 million people more employees than any other state-owned enterprises in the country. However, all superlatives can hardly hide the sometimes desolate state of the rail network.
The main problems are the uneven and large-meshed development of the country, the mostly outdated technology, the four different gauges ( broad gauge , meter gauge , two narrow gauge gauges ) and the low degree of electrification. Only about a quarter of the route (as of 2003/04) is electrified. India's rail network is the second longest, just behind China , but by no means the densest in Asia . India's rail network ranks fifth on a global scale. The main focus of the state is on electrification and the double-track expansion of the main lines, the conversion of meter-gauge lines to broad-gauge lines and the modernization of technical facilities. In fact, the expansion of the railway can hardly keep pace with the increasing demands of population and industrial growth, which contributes to the rapid development of road traffic.
Steam locomotives are still sometimes in operation on tourist museum routes. These narrow-gauge railways are registered as a World Heritage Site by Unesco, see mountain railways in India .
Long-distance transport
The state railway Indian Railways , which was founded in 1951 and was formed from 42 railway companies, has a monopoly on national long-distance transport by rail. Many of the railway systems (especially stations) and vehicles from the 19th or 20th centuries are still in use today.
Local transport
In rural areas there are no trains that could be compared with German regional trains. However, a long-distance train runs on each route at least once a day and stops at all stations.
Some Indian metropolises have a route network that is comparable to the S-Bahn in Germany. These railways are served by the Indian state railway, Indian Railways . The gauge and tension in the overhead line are identical to those of long-distance traffic, so that the same tracks can be used. In some cases (especially in the city centers) the suburban trains also have their own pairs of tracks. These trains run in the city centers every few minutes. On the side routes to the suburbs outside of the city are also less common, but there are no timetable gaps of more than 2 hours here either. In English these systems are generally referred to as Mass Rapid Transit Systems or Suburban Railway , in Indian colloquial language mostly simply as Local Trains .
Trains can get very full, especially during rush hour rush hour. But even outside of peak hours, when there are still free seats, some passengers stand in the open doors during the journey or even sit on the roof to take advantage of the refreshing breeze. The doors can only be closed by hand. Doors are usually left open while driving. They are actually only closed in heavy rain.
There are local trains comparable to S-Bahns in:
- Delhi Delhi Mass Rapid Transit System (DMRTS)
- Mumbai Mumbai Suburban Railway
- Chennai Chennai Mass Rapid Transit System
- Kolkata Kolkata Suburban Railway
- Hyderabad Hyderabad Mass Rapid Transit System .
Metros
There are four subway systems in India:
- Kolkata had the first subway in 1984: Metro Kolkata , today two lines, 23 stops, 25 kilometers
- Delhi has had the Delhi Metro since 2002 . It has seven lines, 138 stops and a distance of 154 kilometers. The routes run partly as a subway in the tunnel and partly elevated as an elevated railway.
- Bangalore has had the Bangalore or Namma Metro since 2011 . In the medium term, two lines with 40 stops and 42 kilometers of route are planned.
- Mumbai - Metro Mumbai
- Ahmedabad - Metro Ahmedabad
- Chennai - Metro Chennai
- Jaipur - Jaipur Metro
- Lucknow - Metro Lucknow
- Hyderabad - Hyderabad Metro
- Kochi - Kochi Metro
Metro systems are being planned or set up in the following cities:
Nagpur, Pune, Noida, Navi Mumbai, Ahemdabad, Kanpur, Visakhapatnam, Surat, Patna, Coimbatore, Bhopal, Meerut, Varanasi, Kozhikode, Indore, Thiruvananthapuram, Dehradun, Srinagar, Gwalior, Jabalpur.
Trams
Today there are only trams in Kolkata (68 kilometers network). There used to be trams in Mumbai, Kanpur , Nasik and Chennai.
Elevated railways
An alternative to the current means of public transport is the elevated railway . Therefore, in November 2003, the construction of a 1.6 kilometer long test track in Margao (Goa) Skybus Metro began, where the technology is being further developed. Elevated railways should possibly be used in metropolitan areas where other traffic routes cannot be built due to the dense development.
air traffic
There are a total of eleven international and 98 national airports as well as 334 take-off and landing areas for aircraft in civil aviation. Basically, the terminals for domestic flights and international flights are separated and housed in different buildings. B. in Mumbai can be far apart. Access to all Indian flight terminal buildings is only granted to passengers who are able to show a paper booking proof and passport to the armed airport security at the entrance - in the case of non-Indian passengers. The congestion, small size and poor connections of the airports represent a major difficulty. In order to still be able to handle as many flights as possible, there are no night flight bans. Most intercontinental flights land and take off in the middle of the night. At most airports (including Mumbai and Kolkata) only one runway can be used at a time - in many cities, airport extensions or new construction are planned or already underway.
In the past, the two state-owned airlines Air India dominated international flights and Indian Airlines within the country dominated air traffic. There are now several private airlines that have already captured a 40 percent market share within India.
see also list of airports in India
International and domestic air transport
The main international airports are located in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Kolkata and Kochi . The Indira Gandhi International Airport and the Mumbai airport together provide half of civil aviation in South Asia . In international air transport, the two state-owned companies, which are strongly competing with one another, are also facing increasing competition from European and Asian companies.
Domestic air transport
The flight connections between the largest cities in India are operated several times a day. For example, there are currently (August 2011) 17 direct flights a day on the Mumbai-Kolkata route. They are particularly important for connecting remote regions such as the federal states of the Northeast, which are extremely difficult to reach by land, even though only a wealthy minority can raise the financial means to use the plane as a means of transport. The price for a one-way ticket from Mumbai to Kolkata is currently around 4500 rupees (70 €). Indian low-cost airlines such as Go Air , IndiGo , Jet Lite , Kingfisher Red and Spice Jet have gained in importance and some of them also fly to neighboring countries.
shipping
Maritime shipping
The Indian merchant navy fleet in 2004 comprised 321 ships with a carrying capacity of around 11 million dwt . The two largest Indian shipyards in Kochi and Visakhapatnam are state-owned. There are also a number of smaller private and state shipyards.
There are twelve major ports and around 180 medium-sized and small ports for freight traffic. Important international ports are Kolkata (West Bengal), Haldia (West Bengal), Paradip (Orissa), Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh), Ennur (Tamil Nadu), Chennai (Tamil Nadu), Thoothukudi (Tamil Nadu), Kochi (Kerala), Mangaluru ( Karnataka), Mormugao (Goa), Jawaharlal Nehru Port (largest in India, 50% share of internal Indian sea trade), Navi Mumbai and Kandla (Gujarat).
| Cargo handling in 2004/05 in the 12 largest seaports in India | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| seaport | State | Cargo handling in million t | proportion of | |
| 1 | Visakhapatnam | Andhra Pradesh | 50.19 | 13.1% |
| 2 | Kolkata (including Haldia ) | West Bengal | 46.15 | 12.0% |
| 3 | Chennai | Tamil Nadu | 43.80 | 11.4% |
| 4th | Kandla | Gujarat | 41.54 | 10.8% |
| 5 | Mumbai | Maharashtra | 35.12 | 9.2% |
| 6th | Mangalore | Karnataka | 33.89 | 8.8% |
| 7th | Jawaharlal Nehru Port ( Navi Mumbai ) | Maharashtra | 32.94 | 8.6% |
| 8th | Mormugao | Goa | 30.66 | 8.0% |
| 9 | Paradip | Orissa | 30.10 | 7.8% |
| 10 | Thoothukudi | Tamil Nadu | 15.81 | 4.1% |
| 11 | Kochi | Kerala | 14.09 | 3.7% |
| 12 | Only | Tamil Nadu | 9.48 | 2.5% |
| 12 largest ports | India | 383.77 | 100.0% | |
| Source: The Hindu Business Line [1] | ||||
Inland shipping
The inland navigation is for the traffic situation in India of negligible importance. This is mainly due to geographical reasons. On the one hand, the water levels of the Indian rivers are subject to strong seasonal fluctuations due to the monsoons . During the summer monsoon, the larger amounts of water increase the flow rate considerably. This leads to strong currents, sudden changes in the course of rivers or erosion of bank sections, which makes shipping difficult or even impossible under certain circumstances.
In the dry season it is hindered in many places by too low water levels; on the other hand, the navigable rivers are mostly located away from important deposits of raw materials and mineral resources, which are the main goods in inland navigation. In addition, the most important seaports in India are seldom located at the mouth of larger rivers. Only in Goa does inland shipping play a larger role in the transport of iron ore from the interior to the coast.
In the calm waters of the Ganges Delta , ferries connecting islands are common in the absence of bridges. In the backwaters in Kerala also strong boat traffic.
Of the 14,500 kilometers of navigable waters, 5200 kilometers are rivers and 485 kilometers are canals.
See also
Web links
swell
- ^ Stefan Loose Travel Handbooks India [paperback], ISBN 3-7701-6188-2
- ^ Yashodhara Dasgupta: Golden Quadrilateral project connecting Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai, crawling to finishing line. In: Times of India. April 8, 2013, accessed March 1, 2020 .
- ↑ Ejaz Ghani, Arti Grover Goswami, William R. Kerr Author: Highway to Success: The Impact of the Golden Quadrilateral Project for the Location and performance of Indian manufacturing . In: The Economic Journal . tape 126 , no. 591 , 2016, p. 317–357 , doi : 10.1111 / ecoj.12207 (English).
- ↑ www.indianchild.com: Education and Entertainment for Children, Parents and Teachers - Transport in India ( Memento of the original from October 11, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Engl.)
- ↑ http://www.indianrail.gov.in/ (Engl.)
