In order to upgrade its infrastructure across the country, Indian Railways will get help from the US-based World Bank.

The bank will help the Indian Railways to chalk out plans on how to invest US$77 billion (Rs5 trillion) on its network that will help in country’s growth.

An Indian Railways official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that the World Bank is involved in strategic planning, digitization, technological development, establishing a “Railway University” and a rail tariff authority.

Apart from this, the bank will also set up a management consultancy programme on how to achieve the railways’ goals as well as helping to transform the railways, all of which should be completed in the next three years, the official added.

With this arrangement, India can expect to build rail capacity and deliver projects on time, which would be a great gain for railways, the official said. Indian Railways will also receive help from the World Bank in creating a body that will work on forecasting models, traffic optimization, etc.

The World Bank will also help India create a long-term infrastructure plan that will cover the next 10 to 15 years and will cater to the optimization of freight and passenger growth. The plan will be drawn up using current freight and passenger traffic data, which will be analyzed and used to work out proper plans.

Of the investment planned for the next five years, US$20 billion will be invested in the current financial year (April 2017 to March 2018) on capacity augmentation on freight routes.

This is not the first time the World Bank has worked with Indian Railways. The bank is already working on the Indian Railways Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor (EDFC), which was also funded by the bank. The EDFC is a freight-only rail line that is expected to help with the faster and more efficient movement of raw materials and finished goods between the northern and eastern parts of India. The corridor will also allow Indian Railways to free up capacity and better serve the large passenger market in this densely populated region.

The EDFC is designed specifically to ease congestion choking the railway system and reduce travel time for passenger trains on the arterial Ludhiana-Delhi-Mughal Sarai railway route. The corridor will add additional rail transport capacity, improve service quality and create higher freight capacity.

World Bank financing for the EDFC will cover a route length of 1,130 kilometres (of a total corridor length of 1,839 kilometres) and will be provided in three phases. The project will help increase the capacity of these freight-only lines by raising the axle-load limit from 22.9 tons to 25 tons and will enable speeds of up to 100 km/hr.

Indian Railways is also looking to invest in green energy by installing wind energy facilities at train stations and building rooftop solar plants, along with utilizing clean energy for running trains.

Under this initiative, the railways have recently launched India’s first solar-powered diesel-electric multiple unit (DEMU) train from its state-of-the-art facilities.

Keeping in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Digital India Programme, Indian Railways will also launch a digital enterprise in which the World Bank will play a key role by integrating infrastructure and managing its database.

Indian Railways has also launched a web application aimed at passenger use, including ticket booking, customer service inquiries, on-board cleaning and meal ordering on a single platform.

Overall, Indian Railways has announced that it is investing US$142 billion in the next five years, and hopes to double this investment figure in the following five-year cycle. The majority of the investment will go to suburban rail, metro rail, locomotives and rolling stock, manufacturing and maintenance, signalling and electric works and dedicated freight lines, former Indian Railways minister Suresh Prabhu said during a trip to the United States.

During his trip, the minister held meetings with various financial institutions, including the World Bank and International Finance Corporation (IFC), to explore ways for raising funds for Indian Railways’ ambitious expansion and modernization projects.

The minister also discussed Indian Railways’ efforts to expand, modernize, decentralize decision making, improve efficiency, meet customer expectations, move to clean energy, introduce greater transparency through e-tendering and to change attitudes and mind sets both within and outside the company.

Prabhu urged US companies to invest in India’s railway sector, saying it offers extensive business opportunities. He also met Elizabeth Littlefield, president and CEO of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), to explore the possibility of OPIC financing for Indian Railways.

By Jagdish Kumar

India Correspondent | Mumbai