Question

Mention any two merits of railways.

Answer 1

Hint: India’s national railway system operated by the Government of India is the third-largest railway system in the world by size. The total route length of the Indian Railways is 68,155 km and it carries 844 crore passengers and 123 crore tonnes of freight traffic every year as of 2019. The first passenger railway line in India was laid down in 1853 between Mumbai (Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus) and Thane and covered a distance of 34 km.

Complete answer: Some merits of railways include:
-This form of transportation is very dependable as it is the least affected by weather conditions such as rains, fog etc. compared to other modes of transport.
-Its service is more certain, uniform and regular in comparison to other forms of transportation. Fixed schedules and routes make railways more organised.
-Transportation via railways is economical, quicker and best suited for carrying heavy and bulky goods over long distances as it has a larger capacity to carry goods.
-In India, railways provide large employment opportunities for both skilled and unskilled labour. As a public sector undertaking, these opportunities are much more stable.

Note: There are four different types of railway gauges used in India—broad gauge (1.676 m), standard gauge (1.435 m), narrow-gauge (0.762 m) and meter gauge (1 m). More than 1,20,000 km of Indian Railways use broad gauge. The standard gauge is widely used for metros, monorail and trams in India. About 2% of the total Indian Railways system (or roughly 1500 km) uses narrow gauge and the Nilgiri mountain railway is the only line that uses metre gauge.