Shangliao Sun
Research expert covering India
As one of the world’s largest countries in both landmass and population, India has a diverse passenger transport system throughout the country. Road transport and railway transport are the most prominent modes of travel, and the railway is particularly popular for long distances, with its relative cheap fares and comprehensive network. With rising economic development and household income, air transport has also become increasingly popular among middle class travelers.
Road transport in India
Since independence, road infrastructure in India saw great expansion, reaching around 6.4 million kilometers in financial year 2019, making it the second largest road network in the world. Among the major metropolitan cities, the capital city of India, Delhi, had the greatest length of roads at over 33 thousand kilometers. Due to the fact that public transportation hasn’t kept up with the exponential growth of Indian cities, roads are dominated by personal vehicles. In financial year 2023, more than 1.57 million passenger vehicles were manufactured in India. However, with the impressive road density and length, the Indian road network suffers from poor quality and maintenance, which is one of the main contributing factors to issues like urban congestion and a high road fatality rate.Indian Railways
Indian Railways is the primary operator of India’s vast rail network. It is a state-owned enterprise managed by the Ministry of Railways. The railway network of the country is the fourth largest in the world, with more than 68 thousand kilometers of railroad. In financial year 2022, the railway sector carried over 3.5 billion passengers across India, or more than 9.5 million passengers per day. The newest development of India’s rail network is the high-speed railway, and its first project, the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail Corridor, is expected to be finished by October 2028, a delay from the original schedule due to land acquisition issues and the coronavirus pandemic.
